Aston Villa 0 Tottenham 4: Heung-Min Son nets hat-trick as Spurs open up three-point lead over Arsenal in top-four race

MIRACLES really do happen.

And we are not talking about Tottenham tearing past Arsenal and taking the fourth Champions League spot, an event which looks increasingly likely to happen.

Quite how Spurs survived an unbelievable first half battering to escape Villa Park with three points and a clean sheet was a proper miracle.

It is difficult to remember a football team – apart from one at the wrong end of the table – suffered a mauling like Spurs endured in a remarkable first half.

And to make matters worse for Villa, who have now suffered four successive Premier League losses, they were the ones who suffered a bit of mauling.

But an early setback at the hands of Son Heung-Min, Steven Gerrard’s team had TEN chances to both draw level and move into a comfortable lead.

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They were all really good opportunities, as well, not speculative shots which ended up flying 20 feet over the bar.

But a mixture of brilliant goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris and bloody awful finishing gave Antonio Conte’s side a lifeline.

Dejan Kulusevski struck early in the second half and Son completed his hat-trick with goals three and four in the space of five minutes.

This could prove to be a memorable day of the season for Spurs in their race with wobbling rivals Arsenal for the fourth spot.

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Conte claimed it would be a miracle if Spurs qualified for the Champions League but with a fourth successive win, you must now make them favourites.

St Totteringham’s Day was the name given to the day when it became mathematically impossible for Tottenham to finish above Arsenal in the Premier League.

This happened for 21 uninterrupted years.

But just when it looked as though Mikel Arteta’s team would finish the season on top, it seems as though Tottenham will rule north London for a sixth successive year.

Despite a really poor first half, Spurs are playing with real organisation and belief. Once again, Harry Kane played an absolutely crucial part without scoring.

Vila had barely managed a kick of the ball until Son stuck his shot via the post.

Eric Dier’s long punt was met with a weak header by Ezri Konsa. Kane’s shot rebounded off Matty Cash and fortunately for the South Korean, the ball fell straight in his path near the penalty spot.

In an enjoyable and bone-crunching first half, Villa showed some guts to bite back. It needed Lloris to deliver the saves to deny Cash and Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn.

The Villa chances kept on coming. Ings anticipated Coutinho’s clever free-kick – which had clearly been practised at the training ground – but the striker, completely unmarked, managed a weak volley that fell into the grateful arms of Lloris.

Ollie Watkins had a couple of chances, Ings wasted another one, Cash went close again and then Coutinho – having an increasing influence on the game – could have scored a couple.

The Brazilian’s best chance came in first-half injury time when he came close to scoring a free-kick from a ridiculously tight angle. But once again, the outstanding Lloris was there.

After some strong words from Conte at half-time, Spurs came out a different team. Like the first half, they clobbered Villa early on.

It was another long ball, this time from Lloris, Kane showed strength to beat Konsa to a header and Kulusevski danced past a weak challenge from Cash and threaded the ball through Tyrone Mings’ legs into the corner.

And it got worse for a stunned-looking Villa, who looked as though they were desperate to run off the pitch and go home.

Once again, Kane beat Konsa to a header following a long ball from Sergio Romero. Son took one touch to take the ball away from Cash before burying a shot past Martinez.

And the Spurs man completed his hat-trick with just 71 mins with a curling shot via the post after more quality work from Kulusevski.

At that moment, you could hear the sounds of hundreds of seats flipping onto their backs as the Villa fans had seen enough. And little wonder.

You see why some of the club’s fans are yet to be convinced by Gerrard as defensively, they do look fragile.

Meanwhile, Tottenham fans absolutely adore their boss, which you could hardly say about the previous couple of coaches at White Hart Lane.

Spurs are absolutely flying. They now face Brighton, Brentford and Leicester before travelling to Liverpool on May 7.

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Watching their team in the Europa Conference League was not much fun for Tottenham’s fan, especially as it was a waste of money as the club was chucked out of the competition.

But right now, apart from the top three, it looks as though they will be the best of the rest and be back among the big boys. Unlike Arsenal, it seems.

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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk