Aston Villa came painfully close to distancing themselves from the relegation zone with a point against Tottenham Hotspur, but the hosts ultimately finished the game with nothing. Dean Smith bemoaned the use of VAR after the game, but there was nothing he could do to prevent one of his defenders from having a calamitous afternoon. Bjorn Engels epitomised the Villans Premier League campaign with a turbulent performance which had multiple ups and downs.
It began poorly for the Belgian, as he the referee judged he had taken Steven Bergwijn down in the area and the defender allowed Spurs to take the lead from the penalty spot. Pepe Reina did well to save the initial effort from Son-Heung Min but could not prevent the South Korean from poking in the rebound. Next came the high of Engels’ afternoon, leaping above the Spurs defenders at a corner to bury a header past Hugo Lloris and set the scores level, just as Toby Alderweireld had done before him after scoring an own goal. But in horrifying fashion, the Villa centre back made an error by letting a loose pass roll under his leg to allow Son to tear through on goal and win the match for the visitors.
The topsy turvy afternoon Engles endured was a microcosm of Villa’s return to the Premier League. While Smith’s side have struggled at times to defend and have the worst record in the division as the first side to concede 50 top-flight goals. There have also been occasions where the Villans have looked imperious with Jack Grealish at the helm, terrorising opposition defences by scoring seven and assisting six in the Premier League. But a mid-season injury crisis to three critical assets, Wesley Moraes, Tom Heaton and John McGinn, stalled their progress and required an emergency January transfer splurge which left them with the second-largest deficit in Europe.
It has been a case of one step forward and two back for Smith’s side at times this season, some factors out of their control have been unkind to them, such as the VAR decision with Engels, but they have also made mistakes of their own doing, much like Son’s winner. Much like the Belgian defenders game on Sunday, the errors may outweigh the positives come the end of the season.
