Tottenham player ratings vs Aston Villa: 9/10 for 'priceless gem' and plenty of 7s in terrific away win

Tottenham stormed Villa Park and turned the race for Champions League football on its head with a hard-earned 4-0 win over Unai Emery's Aston Villa. Emery had won all three league games against Spurs since he took over Villa, but this one was different, this was unique in many ways. 

Villa lacked energy and that transmitted into the crowd, Spurs smelled blood and went for it, first, the priceless Pape Matar Sarr stretched his legs before brilliantly picking up James Maddison in between two Villa defenders to open the scoring. 

The England midfielder immediately acknowledging the quality of Sarr's ball by running to the Senegal midfielder to celebrate the goal. Three minutes later, Dejan Kulusevki would rob Villa of the ball before threading it to captain Son Heung-min, the Spurs skipper carefully passing to Brennan Johnson to make it 2-0 and effectively seal the game. 

Sarr has been a revelation this season and it's fascinating to think he was on his way out on loan before the arrival of manager Ange Postecoglou, the Australian clearly transforming the young midfielder into an asset.

John McGinn, Villa's trusted captain, showed his frustration as their day of challenges went from bad to worse by angrily wiping out Destiny Udogie, his punishment, a straight red card. This was a brilliant away performance from Spurs who took their time and controlled every detail. Son and Timo Werner scored late to make it 4-0 but the game had been won long before then.

The total number of games Tottenham can play now is 41 games this season, but this was Villa's 41st game already so fatigue might have played a role but Spurs won't mind. Here is how we rated the Lilywhites out there.