Aston Villa will be heading back up the M40 feeling very sore and not a little grateful to come away from White Hart Lane with a point following a fairly anaemic 0-0 draw with Tottenham.  If Spurs are looking for answers about why they failed to capitalise on periods of control, they need only look in the mirror.  In truth, a seriously decent side would have gone a couple ahead inside the first 20 minutes.

Despite a very shaky start, the back four and Friedel defended like heroes when called upon and were once again willing to throw their bodies in front of everything Spurs threw at them.  Once again Richard Dunne and Brad Friedel deserve special recognition.  For Tottenham’s part, if they couldn’t realise that some real invention would be required to get on the score sheet today, that’s their problem.

If Tottenham lacked the spark of true quality going forward, Villa looked more like a Neanderthal without the first clue about the concept of fire at all.  They were also their own worst enemies and the number of unforced errors that led to a loss of possession during the few promising moves forward were frustrating to say the least.

However, looking for positives; Milner forced a very good save out of Gomes and Gabby’s follow up on the rebound also took a strong effort to prevent a goal.  Villa had a good shout for a penalty when Dawson handled the ball as he fell, but Spurs fans might lament a Petrov challenge on Defoe in the box late on in the game that was turned away.  I might be biased, but Dawson’s handball was undeniable, but I’d be tempted to argue that Defoe made the most of little, if any, contact from Petrov.
Continued…