Richarlison scored and reached double figures as Tottenham Hotspur beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park on Sunday, a win that pushed Spurs out of the relegation zone.
Conor Gallagher opened the scoring in the 12th minute and Richarlison added Tottenham's second before the half-hour mark, the club's second goal inside the opening 25 minutes of a game in two years. The victory, in front of 60,000 at Villa Park, was Tottenham's second straight league win and the first time they have won back-to-back league games since the second weekend of the season.
Roberto de Zerbi's side travelled to Birmingham knowing that a positive result would end their spell in the relegation places for now. The triumph came a day after West Ham lost heavily to Brentford, a result that helped clear Tottenham's path out of the drop zone on the premier league table 2026.
The result carries extra weight because this season has been unstable for Spurs: the club has been managed by Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and Roberto de Zerbi and had arrived at Villa Park described as injury-hit and short of goals. De Zerbi's team had not produced consecutive league wins since that second weekend of the season until Sunday.
The tension in the match was how quickly some of Tottenham's familiar problems were papered over. A side short of goals before the game produced two early strikes, and a squad that has changed managers three times this season found an immediate answer in the opening half-hour. Richarlison's strike — his second goal in the opening period of a match in two years for the club — underlined his growing importance after a season that has already delivered him into double figures.
Richarlison's form carries a historical echo: in 2022 he almost single-handedly saved Everton from relegation, and on Sunday he provided the cutting edge de Zerbi needed. For Spurs, the win offers breathing room in the table but also sharpens the requirement that they turn a brief run of two straight wins into sustained form if they are to stay clear of the bottom places.
