Tottenham player ratings vs Aston Villa: Conor Gallagher comes up clutch! Midfielder drops clinic to guide Spurs out of relegation zone

It's official: Tottenham are out of the Premier League relegation zone. Spurs capitalised on a sluggish Aston Villa performance and West Ham's defeat to Brentford a day prior to escape the bottom three on Sunday night, unexpectedly running out comfortable 2-1 winners over Unai Emery's out-of-sorts side at Villa Park.

The north Londoners utterly dominated the first period against a Villa team that was heavily rotated ahead of their Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest on Thursday. Conor Gallagher - who shone throughout - opened the scoring after just 12 minutes, controlling a clearance exquisitely on the edge of the box and arrowing a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner.

Joao Palhinha had a fierce long-range drive tipped onto the post by Emiliano Martinez five minutes later, and Argentina's No.1 then did well to deny Randal Kolo Muani from close range, but he could do nothing to keep out Richarlison's header as the visitors doubled their lead in the 25th minute.

Villa were improved in the second 45 having been booed off at the break, but the damage was already done. They had to wait until the 89th minute for what was nothing more than a half-chance, as Tyrone Mings nodded over. Emiliano Buendia did pull one back right at the death with a clever header, but it was merely a consolation.

Tottenham are now one point clear of West Ham in 18th, courtesy of their first back-to-back wins since the very start of the season as Roberto De Zerbi oversees a perfectly-timed turnaround.

GOAL rates Tottenham's players from Villa Park...

Goalkeeper & Defence

Antonin Kinsky (6/10):

Virtually a spectator throughout as Villa barely entered his penalty area, although did flap at one cross. Stranded for the late goal.

Pedro Porro (6/10):

Inverted into midfield as often as he could but not actually as involved as he usually is going forward.

Kevin Danso (7/10):

Operated with a real calmness and helped to progress the play up the pitch, albeit had to be bailed out after one bad giveaway.

Micky van de Ven (7/10):

Some clever bits of defending, utilising his pace and strength - most notably in a last-ditch challenge on Tammy Abraham. Perhaps should have done better to stop Buendia heading home.

Destiny Udogie (6/10):

The Italian's underlapping runs were a real problem for Villa, although he was helped by the ineffective Jadon Sancho giving him an easy ride at the other end.

Midfield

Joao Palhinha (7/10):

Denied an early goal by a miraculous Martinez save. A very tidy midfield performance with a sprinkling of his usual aggression in the tackle.

Rodrigo Bentancur (7/10):

Happy to do the dirty work with Gallagher given the freedom to play further forward, and picked up a booking on his team's behalf as a result.

Conor Gallagher (8/10):

Undoubtedly his best performance yet for Spurs. He led from the front, popping up everywhere and pressing relentlessly. His pinpoint early finish was the highlight of a tireless display - his first goal for the club.

Attack

Randal Kolo Muani (7/10):

Showed really good energy and industry on the right flank and was unlucky not to score. Ian Maatsen will be having nightmares about him tonight.

Richarlison (7/10):

Peripheral before popping up to make it 2-0 with a simple header. Didn't really do anything of note after that, either, but he won't really care.

Mathys Tel (7/10):

Like Kolo Muani, caused his marker plenty of problems, and his perfect cross made Richarlison's job easy.

Subs & Manager

Yves Bissouma (6/10):

Fresh legs in the middle of the park. Did what was expected.

Djed Spence (6/10):

Came on out of position on the right wing. Not particularly effective but helped see out the game.

Pape Matar Sarr (N/A):

Brought on in the dying embers to run down the clock.

Lucas Bergvall (N/A):

Same as Sarr, as he was introduced in the final minute of normal time.

Roberto De Zerbi (8/10):

The best performance yet of his dawning tenure. It was a display that boasted all the hallmarks of 'De Zerbi-ball' and suggests things might just be clicking at the perfect moment for Spurs in their bid to escape the drop.