Harry Winks’ audacious curler was not far away before VAR intervened again to flag up the fact that Bergwijn had been fouled by defender Engels as he burst into the box. We were two minutes into additional time by the time Son stepped up to take the resulting penalty, Reina saved it but Son was quickest to the rebound to tuck home his 50 th Premier League goal and send us in at the break 2-1 up.
The frenetic nature of the game did not subside after the restart as Bergwijn embarked on a terrfic solo break in which he beat two players to go running through on goal, only for Frederic Guilbert to get back and tackle him as he entered the box, with El Ghazi’s snap-shot well stopped by Lloris before Villa snatched an equaliser out of nothing in the 53 rd minute, as Grealish’s corner was met by Engels with a simple header in the middle.
We kept pushing forward, playing through the lines with some excellent one-touch play, but Reina was there to deny both Bergwijn and Son as good chances went begging. Villa were a threat from corners but all the chances in the latter stages of the game were ours, Bergwijn’s shot from Serge Aurier’s cut-back deflected over, Dele denied by Reina on the break and both Son and substitute Giovani Lo Celso also thwarted by the veteran stopper.
But in the fourth of the initially-added four minutes, just as it looked like we’d be forced to settle for a point, Sanchez went long looking for Son, Engels missed his kick and the forward surged in behind before calmly planting past Reina from the left angle to send the away end into raptures.
Key moment
While our pressure eventually told at the end of the second half, returning left-back Davies came up with a crucial moment in the 18 th minute when we were still 1-0 down.
Grealish had broken away down the left and pulled the ball back across the box for Douglas Luiz to strike in the middle with the goal gaping. With Lloris sprawling down to his left, Davies somehow got a block in to divert the shot over the bar, denying Villa a certain goal. Had they taken a 2-0 lead, our task would have been been much more difficult.
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