Tottenham player lucky after what Dermot Gallagher noticed in loss v Aston Villa
Tottenham fell to defeat against Aston Villa, but things could have been far worse for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
It has been the case for some time now, but any Premier League fixture for Tottenham is essentially a dead rubber game given what else is at stake.
A 17th-place finish beckons for Tottenham, who have endured a horrendous domestic campaign, though they could still end it with a trophy via the Europa League.
With that said, Postecoglou will have wanted to see his team carry some form into the final with Man United, but they failed to do that against Villa, and they also got rather lucky after one incident.
Mathys Tel could have seen red v Aston Villa
Postecoglou’s men fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Aston Villa on Friday night, making it now seven games since they last won in a domestic competition.
The lack of form will be worrying for Tottenham, but, despite the defeat, they actually got rather lucky when Mathys Tel was involved in an incident with Ezri Konas.
The Frenchman seemed to swing an elbow towards the Villa defender, but because he didn’t connect, no punishment was given, and Dermot Gallagher thinks he got away very luckily.
Via Sky Sports Ref Watch, Gallagher said: “Not a wise thing to do, but he’s very fortunate that he didn’t connect that some players have connected in the past. Not the wisest thing to do.
“He may well have been cautioned for the totting-up procedure. Would he have committed that second Konsa challenge after getting a yellow card?”.
Postecoglou’s side are sleepwalking into the Europa League final
Entering a cup final with no momentum behind you very rarely brings success, and that will be the main concern lingering over Tottenham ahead of Wednesday night’s clash in Bilbao.
| Competition | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| Premier League | 37 | 11 | 5 | 21 |
Their entire season hinges on this one result, and a failure to bring the trophy back to North London will have some serious knock-on effects for the new campaign.
Postecoglou will be aware of that, just as he will be aware that his job hangs in the balance ahead of their encounter with the Red Devils.