Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa (Johnson 49′, Solanke 75′, 79′, Maddison 90+5′ \ Rogers 32′)
When Dominic Solanke signed for Spurs in August, he would have dreamed of days like Sunday. Of scoring in front of the vast south stand, celebrating with a nod to his beloved anime and hearing all four corners of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium singing his name.
The moment duly arrived during a thrilling 4-1 comeback win over Aston Villa in which Solanke scored the decisive second and third goals. His Spurs career has lift off.
When Brennan Johnson nipped in ahead of Solanke to convert Son Heung-min’s sumptuous cross to the back post it seemed symptomatic of the £65m striker’s spell in north London. At times, Solanke has looked cursed, arriving either a split second ahead or behind the ball as it spins and squirms out of his reach in the six-yard box.
Before Sunday, Solanke had gone six games without a goal and taken only three shots on goal in that time. His relentless work off the ball meant that Spurs supporters had taken to him anyway, but a goal or two always helps to strengthen that connection.
Here was proof that he can offer both endeavour and end product. His first finish which turned the game in Tottenham’s favour was exquisite, a delightful dink over the onrushing Emi Martinez as Dejan Kulusevski’s cute defence-splitting pass rolled across his body.
Even in a fallow period, Solanke’s striker’s instincts have remained sharp. He didn’t look up once. The goalposts don’t move.
Solanke’s second that followed just four minutes after his first might have pleased Postecoglou even more. He was in the right place at the right time to bundle in Richarlison’s cut-back in front of an empty net.
The simple finishes are ones that strikers cherish, a reward for the hours spent honing their instincts and timing their runs on the training pitch. Solanke followed the ball into the net.
The goals will lift a weight from Solanke’s shoulders, but they will not change him. Four minutes into 10 added on he hurtled back towards his own goal to dispossess Pau Torres and initiate a Spurs counter-attack midway through Aston Villa’s half. It was a moment that sparked more adulation from the stands and applause from his manager.
Solanke made more successful pressures in the final third than any other Premier League player last season. It was a big reason why Postecoglou wanted him. Spurs press high in a bid to win the ball as close to their opposition’s goal as possible and so bought the best pressing forward in the division.
The big question mark over Solanke when he joined was whether he could successfully fill the goalscoring void that opened up when Harry Kane left. A strike rate of four in eight league matches looks far healthier than two from seven did.
Before Solanke’s clinical chip, it was unclear how a seven-day period in which Spurs had lost dismally at Selhurst Park and beaten Manchester City magnificently would end. Spurs spent large swathes of the first-half camped in Aston Villa’s half before succumbing to a familiar frailty as Morgan Rogers became the latest beneficiary of their set-piece sloppiness.
Johnson’s goal was perfectly timed, arriving less than five minutes after Spurs had been booed off at half-time. It was the Welshman’s seventh club goal of the campaign and encapsulated his own turnaround in fortunes after facing fierce criticism in the early autumn.
Solanke’s double took the game away from Aston Villa, but James Maddison had the final say with a sublime free-kick that left Martinez statuesque. It was a lovely moment for Maddison who had been left out of the starting line-up and only summoned late on with his side already 3-1 up.
Spurs have now won nine of their last 11 matches in all competitions and are now just two points behind their north London neighbours Arsenal in fourth.
As Freed From Desire bellowed from the speakers, it was difficult to shake the feeling that momentum is finally building, for both Spurs and their centre forward.