Credit: Imago

Declan Carr

Sun 3 May 2026 21:20, UK

Tottenham Hotspur beat Aston Villa 2-1 for a crucial three points on Sunday.

Conor Gallagher and Richarlison struck in the first-half, which was enough to make Emi Buendia’s late goal meaningless.

The result means that spurs climb out the relegation zone at the expense of West Ham, with just three matches left to play.

Roberto De Zerbi looks as though he will lead the Lilywhites out of the relegation and to Premier League safety if he can continue to get results.

Tottenham fans will be jubilant, but here is three things that they may have missed when watching the contest.

Roberto De Zerbi still nervous despite comfortable Tottenham lead

De Zerbi knows that he still has a lot of work to do to keep Tottenham up, so his celebrations were initially reluctant.

Journalist Tom Barclay said: “And they have done, 2-0, Richarlison. Barely a flicker of celebration from De Zerbi.”

He later spotted the Spurs boss releasing his emotion and celebrating the header from the Brazilian forward, saying: “Scratch, that just saw the RDZ celebration, he looked pretty pumped!”

That shows that the Italian knows exactly how hard it will be to keep his side in division, which can only be a positive thing as he will not allow the side to slack.

Conor Gallagher gets full appreciation from Tottenham fans

Conor Gallagher has not had the finest of times since joining Tottenham, but supporters were in full appreciation in the Midlands.

The Englishman scored the opening goal and was a general nuisance for Unai Emery’s side and the fans recognised his showing.

Barclay noticed them signing about him more than once during the first-half of the contest, saying: “That’s twice now Conor Gallagher has had his name sung by the travelling fans, which tells you how well it’s going for Spurs so far today.”

Hopefully, he can now kick on and become a key player in De Zerbi’s plans for the foreseeable future.

Unai Emery stunned by Tottenham showing

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is normally one of the most animated figures in the top-flight but that was not the case against the Lilywhites.

The Athletic’s Aston Villa correspondent Jacob Tanswell compared the Villans’ boss and his staff to statues in the late stages, as they struggled to break the N17 outfit down.

The manager had his hands in his pockets and substitutes were not warming up, according to the journalist.

He said: “The usual animated touchline – Emery kicking every ball, subs warming up – have seen them all turn into statues. Subs not moving, hands on hips, Emery with hands in pockets.”

It sounds like a rather strange sight, with the usually lively manager stunned by the way Spurs had performed in the contest.