Aston Villa v Tottenham player ratings: Coutinho 7, Ings 4; Son 9, Kulusevski 8

Spurs run out 4-0 winners at Villa Park to boost Premier League top four hopes

• 

  ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez 5 - Saved well from a dangerous deflected shot from Reguilon to keep the score at 1-0 before the break but soon had to pick the ball out of his net multiple times in the second half. Getty

• 

  Matty Cash 4 - Started brightly but fizzled out of the game in the second half. PA

• 

  Ezri Konsa 4 - A poor header cleared the ball into Harry Kane’s path whose strike deflected for Son Heung-min to score the opener. The defender has to do much better. PA

• 

  Tyrone Mings 4 - Didn’t do enough to organise a shocking Villa defence in the second half. It seemed like the energy had ran out in midfield and Steven Gerrard’s defenders couldn’t deal with the pressure that Spurs applied. Getty

• 

  Lucas Digne 4 - Too much was allowed to come down the left-back’s side, with Kulusevski and Son playing through the flank too easy for the 4th goal. PA

• 

  John McGinn 5 - Played with intensity and challenged players strongly but didn’t really do much with the ball outside of a shot that was saved by Hugo Lloris. PA

• 

  6 - Kept cool for the 90 minutes and was one of the few Villa players who didn’t make a plethora of mistakes. Made a good number of tackles in the match. PA

• 

  Philippe Coutinho 7 - Caused problems when on the ball and was fearless with running at Spurs defenders. Often the man who looked most likely to make something happen. Getty

• 

  Jacob Ramsey 6 - Provided energy in the middle of the park and came agonisingly close to levelling the scoring after slaloming his way through Spurs defenders. Reuters

• 

  Danny Ings 4 - Couldn’t connect properly from Coutinho’s pass before the half hour mark and sometimes could have took more care with his passing. Squandered another big chance from close-range close to half time. Getty

• 

  Ollie Watkins 5 - Didn’t do enough to establish himself in the game, though wasn’t helped by a poor second half display from Aston Villa. PA

• 

  SUBS: Leon Bailey (Ings 70') 6 - Tried to stretch the pitch but the game was already over just moments after his introduction. PA

• 

  Emiliano Buendia (Coutinho 70’) 5 - Came on and saw his team down by four after a minute. Getty

• 

  Ashley Young (Digne 80) N/A - A silly challenge on Harry Kane was reckless from the substitute. Getty

• 

  TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris 7 - A strong hand denied John McGinn as the Scotland international tried to level the scoring. Saved well from a free-kick that Coutinho thought he had converted. Reuters

• 

  Cristian Romero 8 - Aston Villa were constantly frustrated by Romero who was often the Spurs man to make the important challenge at the right time. A great performance from the centre-back. PA

• 

  Eric Dier 7 - No nonsense from Dier who regularly cleared the danger, and the defender looked a lot more confident in the second half as Spurs took over the game. AFP

• 

  Ben Davies 7 - Another assured performance from Davies in the centre-back position. Spurs had to ride the wave at times in the first half but they took control in the second half with an excellent performance at the back after some tweaks by Antonio Conte at the break. Getty

• 

  Emerson Royal 7 - Made frequent runs up the channel to stretch the play and helped create space for Spurs’ front three..Had a lot of the ball and looked assured when in possession. Getty

• 

  Rodrigo Bentancur 7 - Worked hard on both ends of the pitch as Bentancur helped transition attacks while putting in a solid defensive shift in the first half under pressure. Reuters

• 

  Pierre Hojbjerg 7 - Battled throughout the game in aggressive midfield exchanges. Booked in the first half harshly. Getty

• 

  Matt Doherty 6- Took a heavy challenge from Matty Cash and didn’t quite recover. Substituted in the 20th minute. Reuters

• 

  Dejan Kulusevski 8 - An accurate finish doubled Spurs’ lead as Kulusevski drilled the ball across Emiliano Martinez’s goal and perfectly into the sides of the net. Kept cool inside the box and picked out Son to help him complete his hat-trick. Getty

• 

  Harry Kane 8 - Solid hold up play in the second half helped Spurs double their lead as Kane shielded the ball from Konsa and flicked it on towards Kulusevski who finished emphatically. Picked up another assist for Son’s brace. Getty

• 

  Son Heung-min 9 - Gave the goalkeeper no chance with his strike that put Spurs into the lead just three minutes into the game. The South Korea international was clinical at Villa Park, completing his hat-trick from Kulusevski’s pass. Reuters

• 

  SUBS: Sergio Reguilon (Doherty 20) 6 - Always an option on the flank and didn’t allow himself to be beaten easily by Aston Villa wingers. AFP

• 

  Lucas Moura (Son 76) N/A - On for the final minutes as Spurs played out the game. Getty

• 

  Steven Bergwijn (Kulusevski 84) - N/A. Getty

Son Heung-min struck a superbly taken hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur took a grip on fourth place, romping to a 4-0 win at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.

With Arsenal losing earlier on Saturday, Spurs have a three point lead over their North London rivals with 57 points from 31 games - the Gunners have played one game less.

South Korean Son fired Spurs ahead in the third minute when a blocked shot from Harry Kane fell to him on the edge of the box and his first time, left-foot, shot flew in off the inside of the post.

Villa then had a host of chances to get level but a combination of wasteful finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris ensured Spurs went in with the lead at the break.

Kane then created the second for Spurs in the 50th minute, flicking on a long ball into the path of Dejan Kulusevski who burst into the box and beat Emiliano Martinez with a low shot.

There was a similar pattern to the third goal with Kane cleverly flicking on another long pass right into the stride of Son who ran goalwards before providing a clinical finish to make sure of a fourth win in a row for Spurs.

Son completed his hat-trick in the 71st minute when, from the right flank, he found Kulusevski inside and the Swedish forward unselfishly returned the pass to the South Korean who drilled home off the post.

Adam Brown has provided the player ratings from Villa Park in the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.