Tottenham climb out of relegation zone with win at Aston Villa
BIRMINGHAM, England: Tottenham Hotspur eased their Premier League relegation fears with a vital 2-1 victory at Aston Villa to move above West Ham United and out of the bottom three on Sunday. West Ham’s defeat by Brentford the day before opened the door for Tottenham and they took full advantage with Conor Gallagher’s low shot and Richarlison’s header punishing a lacklustre Villa inside the opening 25 minutes. Fifth-placed Villa were poor as they appeared to have one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semifinal, second leg against Nottingham Forest and their only effort on target was Emiliano Buendia’s consolation header seconds before the final whistle. Tottenham had gone 15 games without a league win and were careering toward their first relegation since 1977 before they finallystopped the rot at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week. Despite a host of injuries they returned to the West Midlands to produce a display that was unrecognizable from most of what they have served up this season. New manager Roberto de Zerbi has now taken seven points from his first four games in charge and while Tottenham are far from safe, they have momentum and belief heading into their final three games of the season. The win moved them into 17th place with 37 points from 35 games with West Ham on 36 from 35. They also have a far superior goal difference to their London rivals.