Tottenham Hotspur thump 10-man Aston Villa in crucial top-four battle at Villa Park

James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min and Timo Werner scored the goals for Ange Postecoglou's side, who remain fifth in the Premier League table but are now just two points behind fourth-placed Villa with a game in hand.

Spurs are also now crucially six points ahead of sixth-placed Manchester United with a match spare, and fifth spot in the division could be enough to qualify for the 2024-25 Champions League.

Villa, who had captain John McGinn sent off in the 65th minute, entered the match off the back of three straight league wins, but they were in Europa Conference League action away to Ajax on Thursday evening, and Unai Emery's side were comfortably short of their best on the afternoon.

Villa had an injury scare in the fifth minute of the contest, with Ollie Watkins going down and staying there under a heavy challenge from Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, but the forward eventually returned to his feet.

Pedro Porro had a sight of the Villa goal in the seventh minute, but the right-back's effort from a wide angle just missed the crossbar, and there were few openings in the early stages of the match.

Villa had a golden chance in the 18th minute when Watkins was released into a one-on-one with Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but the striker decided to look for the pass into Leon Bailey when the shot appeared on, and Spurs were able to clear their lines.

Matty Cash had a half-chance in the 29th minute when the ball broke for the right-back inside the Spurs box following a deflected cross from Bailey, but he could only poke wide of the post.

The final opportunity of the first period also came for Villa, but Lucas Digne angled a header wide of the target off a cross from McGinn, and the two teams headed down the tunnel at 0-0 following an opening 45 minutes which lacked quality in the final third of the field.

Tottenham managed to make the breakthrough in the 50th minute of the contest, though, with Maddison turning into the back of the net from close range after a brilliant delivery from Pape Sarr.

The North London outfit are now on a club-record run of scoring in 39 successive league matches, last drawing a blank against Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 2023.

Spurs then doubled their lead in the 53rd minute, with Johnson sweeping the ball into the roof of the net after being found by Son inside the Villa box; it was a huge mistake from Ezri Konsa, though, with the Villa defender losing the ball just outside his own box.

Villa had a chance to halve the deficit in the 64th minute when McGinn delivered a brilliant cross towards Nicolo Zaniolo, but Porro was on hand to make an excellent challenge.

Less than a minute later, the home side were reduced to 10 men, with McGinn shown a straight red card for a poor challenge on Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie.

The dismissal of their captain appeared to end any slight hopes of a late comeback for Villa, who were comfortably short of their best on home soil, and Spurs were able to add a third in stoppage time courtesy of a thumping effort from Son in the middle of the goal, before Werner found the top corner in the 95th minute for four.

Villa's attention will now switch back to the Europa Conference League, preparing to welcome Ajax for the second leg of their last-16 clash on Thursday, with the two teams level at 0-0 from the first leg, before returning to league action away to West Ham United next weekend.

Tottenham, meanwhile, now have a free week before returning to league action away to Fulham next weekend.