There were no major changes in the line-up, with Leon Bailey perhaps a surprise and definitelye fortunate starter. Phillipe Coutinho was missing from the bench with what’s turned out to be another injury and the spine of the team showed that Unai Emery preferred the ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach that’s served him well since Christmas over the fear of tiredness that’s seemed to be setting in recently. When the team was announced there were a few mutterings that the manager might have made a mistake or two, but we should know by now; Unai knows better than any of us. Football is a game of opinions but that one’s not up for debate.

It took just eight minutes for Emery’s team to prove their superiority. Jacob Ramsey picked out Bailey from midfield, moved into space and hit a first-time shot home to give Villa the lead. From then on it was like watching the Villa of a month ago. Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia brought out fine saves but there were no further goals before half-time.

The second half saw a defensive mix-up almost give Spurs an equaliser, but Villa’s response was a twenty-five yard free kick from Douglas Luiz that was perfectly placed. Two-nil and the only question now was whether Villa could get the additional goal that would have taken them above Spurs in the table. It didn’t happen and instead we got a reminder that no matter whether Villa are above Spurs or not, there’s only one team who are going to get the contentious decisions go their way. A butterfly flapped its wings over the Pacific and Spurs were awarded a penalty. It was the only way they were going to score and it was followed by another bit of unnecessary drama when a clearly offside attacker was allowed to run on and put the ball into the net before it was disallowed. Why the flag couldn’t have gone up right away is a mystery known only to the Premier League and, I suspect, their paymasters.