Final: Tottenham 2-0 Aston Villa - Villa Look Flat in Defeat

Aston Villa were longshots to win Sunday's match at White Hart Lane, but many gave them a chance to snag a point against Tottenham. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so and ended up giving up two second-half goals to drop the match 2-0.

Paul Lambert stirred up controversy before the match even began by keeping Darren Bent on the bench in favor of Christian Benteke. After Benteke missed two relatively easy chances, there is sure to be a lot more criticism of Lambert's decision. The second chance in particular, a 52nd minute header that went just wide, was an opportunity that should be converted 9 times out of 10.

In terms of quality of play, Aston Villa were never great, but they did keep Tottenham off the board for quite a while. The first half was a well-balanced affair, and it seemed as if the claret and blue could escape with a point. Tottenham didn't look to have much in them and Villa seemed content to look for a chance to counter.

In the second half, however, Tottenham seemed much more focused on attacking, and the goals were inevitable. Jermaine Defoe sent in the first strike in the 58th minute (it was credited to Steven Caulker, but really it was a Defoe goal that just nicked off Caulker's heel) and Aaron Lennon added another nine minutes later. Lennon's goal was an incisive strike and served to put the match out of reach. You can see both goals here, by the way.

After that, Villa were unable to create anything, and the lone moment of note for the rest of the match was Joe Bennett's 76th minute injury. He tangled with Gareth Bale and seems to have injured his knee while crashing into the advertising boards near the Aston Villa goal. No word yet on the severity, but it seems a good bet that he won't be back for a bit.

Aston Villa have the week off and will next take the pitch against Fulham on October 20th.