'Credit to Aston Villa' - Hugo Lloris praises Steven Gerrard despite bruising Tottenham defeat

Hugo Lloris has praised Aston Villa's "offensive" plan to take the game to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.

Villa's efforts, especially in the first half, were in vain as Spurs won the game 4-0 to strengthen their grip on the Champions League places. Son Heung-min's opener came in the third minute of the contest, but Gerrard's side responded well and created enough chances to go into half time with the lead.

But opportunities to score were squandered by Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins before the interval. Home fans clapped their players off the pitch at half time for their positive display, though, by the end of the game defensive frailties were exposed once again.

Son completed his hat-trick to round off the scoring while Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski also got in on the act early in the second half. But Tottenham captain Lloris praised Villa's approach to the game at full-time.

The France international said: "We need to give credit to all of the players, because it was a tough battle, as we expected. We finished the game tired!

"We gave everything, even if it was the first time since Antonio Conte arrived that we conceded so many chances. We also have to give credit to the Aston Villa players, because they created a lot, they were aggressive, direct into the box, very offensive.

"But we also feel at this moment in the season that we can score, we are very clinical, and that is something that we can keep until the end."