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Tottenham: Dominic Solanke class and new Spurs depth shines through in one of best wins under Ange Postecoglou

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Dominic Solanke scored twice as Tottenham produced an outstanding second-half comeback to thrash Aston Villa 4-1 in north London.

Trailing at half-time to Morgan Rogers' goal from a corner, Spurs levelled at the start of the second half through Brennan Johnson before Solanke twice finished inside the box.

James Maddison added a fourth with a curling free-kick in stoppage-time, as Spurs moved to within two points of fourth-placed Arsenal.

Here are three Spurs talking points…

Spurs blow Villa away after the break

Another impressive win capped an outstanding week for Spurs, who have responded to their abject defeat at Crystal Palace by dumping Manchester City out of the League Cup and underlining their credentials in the Premier League with a thumping victory over fellow top-four hopefuls Villa.

At half-time, the game felt all-too-familiar for Spurs, who had more of the ball in the opening period but struggled to create chances and conceded a sloppy goal from a set-piece.

For 45 minutes, Villa calmly followed Arsenal’s blueprint for beating Ange Postecoglou’s side at home: stay compact, funnel Spurs down the middle of the pitch and capitalise with a dead-ball goal.

But Spurs were outstanding in the second half, producing a characteristic and exhilarating comeback in front of their single-tier South Stand.

Heung-min Son’s outstanding cross for Johnson’s back-post finish was the piece of quality the hosts needed to unlock the game and, from there, Spurs never looked back.

Solanke had cut a frustrated figure in the first half - finishing it with just nine touches - but the England striker demonstrated what he can do with service, twice finishing slick moves in the box to take the game away from Villa.

His first goal was outstanding, a cute dink over the onrushing Emiliano Martinez from Dejan Kulusevski’s pass.

Pape Sarr, who was outstanding, was involved in the build-up to both Solanke’s goals, underlining his growing importance to Postecoglou’s side.

Maddison, though, offered a reminder of his own quality with a brilliant free-kick in stoppage-time, adding gloss to the performance and ensuring this will go down as one of the best wins under Postecoglou.

Brace: Dominic Solanke scored twice late on (Getty Images)
Brace: Dominic Solanke scored twice late on (Getty Images)

Squad depth shines through

For most of Postecoglou’s tenure, his starting XI has more or less picked itself.

Increasingly, though, it feels like the Australian has emerging options across the pitch, which was demonstrated in the second half against Villa.

Maddison’s brilliant free-kick actually felt timely because Sarr had been so influential beforehand, pressing superbly and driving up the pitch ahead of both Solanke’s goals.

With Kulusevski thriving in his new role and teenager Lucas Bergvall pushing for minutes, Spurs have real competition at No8.

At holding midfield, too, Postecoglou can pick between Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma, who effectively completed a job share here.

Bentancur played the first 56 minutes, flying into challenges in a fired-up display, before Bissouma replaced him and was similarly imposing at the base of midfield.

Radu Dragusin also impressed at centre-half, ensuring Spurs did not feel the absence of Micky van de Ven, while Ben Davies did well after replacing the injured Cristian Romero on the hour.

Then there was the effective cameo from Richarlison, who made the third goal from the bench with a cut back for Solanke but appeared to injure himself in the process.

On the one hand, the injuries do appear to be piling up for Spurs but on the other they look far more equipped to deal with it this year.

Blow: Cristian Romero was forced off with an injury (Getty Images)
Blow: Cristian Romero was forced off with an injury (Getty Images)

Romero injury adds to Postecoglou headache

That said, Tottenham are facing the unwelcome prospect of losing both centre-backs at the same stage of the season for the second year running after Romero was forced off mid-way through the second half.

It was hard to have any sympathy for Romero, who appeared to injure himself flying into a dangerous lunge on Rogers on the halfway line, which earned the Argentine a booking.

Van de Ven was already watching from the sidelines after suffering a midweek hamstring injury, which will keep him out until after the international break, while Romero could now be facing a spell out.

Dragusin and Davies finished a second consecutive game at centre-half and may now need to have a run in the side, with teenager Archie Gray - a midfielder or right-back by trade - on stand-by to fill in at centre-half if required.