Hosts take race for Champions League to the last day

THE race for Champions League qualification will go down to the final day for Aston Villa after they beat Tottenham 2-0 on Friday night.

- By JOHN TOWNLEY

Ezri Konsa broke the deadlock on the hour mark before Boubacar Kamara doubled the lead in the 73rd minute.

Villa were in fourth place at the time of their win, before Chelsea scored and then beat Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in the later kick-off last night.

Here are the talking points from Villa's win...

Winning was the only way

After losing late on against Manchester City, Villa had to win their final four games of the season.

Beating Fulham and Tottenham were always going to be their 'easier' tests at fortress Villa Park, while Bournemouth would provide the sternest test.

A trip to Old Trafford awaits next, which is never going to be easy either.

Villa were excellent at the Vitality Stadium and reduced Bournemouth's threat until Jacob Ramsey was sent off late on.

Like the win over Spurs, only another victory will do against United on the final weekend of the campaign.

The first half against Spurs was not a great watch for a neutral, but going into the break, few fans would've felt pessimistic about Villa's chances of scoring at least once at the Holte End.

Ange Postecoglou didn’t even name his best three defenders in his squad - Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, and Destiny Udogie - while Pedro Porro was on the bench.

With Konsa's goal came a sigh of relief from all four stands at Villa Park, before Kamara’s was met with a brilliant celebration from Unai Emery.

The Villa boss knew that a two-goal lead would be too much for Spurs to overturn, considering they were concentrating on the final as the game wore on at Villa Park.

"Very happy," Emery said after full-time. "We won and we are on a run but still have work to do. We have to be ready and be consistent.