Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Aston Villa: 5 talking points as Matt Targett own goal hands Spurs the win | Premier League 2021-22

Tottenham Hotspur head into the international break with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League.

An own goal from Matt Targett in the 70th-minute canceled out Ollie Watkins' equalizer for the visitors. This ended Spurs' three-game losing run in the league.

After struggling to find an opening during the initial exchanges, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fired Tottenham in front. He made an excellent finish from the edge of the box that whizzed past a stream of claret shirts.

Villa were on the ropes even after the break as the hosts started the second-half brightly. But they slowly worked their way back into the match in the 67th minute when Watkins turned home a cross from Targett.

Tottenham, having lost each of their last three league games, were supposedly headed towards another disappointing result. But just four minutes later they regained their lead after Targett accidentally converted a cross from Son into his own net.

Nuno Santo's men had few opportunities to extend their advantage. But wastefulness by some of their players kept the tie in the balance until the end, but eventually took home all three points.

Spurs won for the first time in four league games and moved up to eighth in the standings, while Villa remain rooted on 10th.

Here are the major talking points from the match:

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#1 Tottenham's finishing still not the best

Spurs wasted some good chances throughout the match

Despite the victory, Tottenham Hotspur were not impressive going forward. The side created some good chances in the match, especially in the second-half, but struggled to put them away.

Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min all could've bagged goals during that period.

Yet the best chance fell to Giovani Lo Celso. He, after a neat one-two with Kane and Son, got in behind the Villa defense. He had the entire frame of the goal to shoot, but his shot was blocked right in time by Tyrone Mings.

Really unfortunate there, but it merely summed up their afternoon as Tottenham endured a frustrating spell in front of goal today. This was a stark contrast to their free-scoring form in Europe on Thursday.

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#2 Son impresses again with his creative wizardry

Son was on fire once again

Son may have been guilty of wasting a few chances himself. But he's the very reason Tottenham clinched a three-pointer in the match. The South Korean magician was the creative inspiration for them, the source of everything good coming from the side.

Industrious and visionary, Son regularly broke open the Lions with his expansive passing range and proficient crossing ability. He created quite a few good chances for his teammates, including the one which forced the own goal.

He worked hard to win the ball too, winning five of his nine ground duels. He also tested Villa with his boisterous dribbles on the flanks as their back-three were hardly ever given a moment's rest.

It was a wonderful performance. A goal or two would've topped it off perfectly.

#3 Spurs responded brilliantly to Villa's equalizer

Targett, under pressure from Moura, accidentally pushed the ball over the line

It was supposedly going to be another long afternoon for Tottenham Hotspur when Villa leveled the proceedings midway through the second-half. But to their credit, the hosts showed great character and responded by fighting back and regaining their lead just four minutes later.

Spurs upped the ante almost immediately after Watkins scored, keeping hold of the ball and passing it around swiftly to get on the attack.

After a few nervy moments, Son found an opening on the left and drove forward, leaving Villa defenders in the dust. He then squared the box inside the area for an on-rushing Moura. But Targett, who was marking the Brazilian, ended up pushing the ball over the line himself.

A tangible sense of relief permeated through the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and a beleaguered Nuno was pumped too, as Spurs produced a good response. His team has shown real quality that's been missing from their game since their last few domestic outings.

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#4 Tottenham's new signings impress

Emerson put in a terrific shift in defense

Following their wretched North London derby loss to Arsenal last weekend, Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Santo was always going to shake things up a little in the starting XI.

And so he did, making three changes today which saw new signings Emerson, Cristian Romero and academy graduate Oliver Skipp all named in the line-up. Davinson Sanchez, Dele Alli and Japhet Tanganga dropped to the bench.

It wasn't surprising to see this, considering the Portuguese manager got a lot of flak for his decision to exclude all of them from the XI for the derby. But he's sure back in their good books again, as each of them impressed too.

Romero and Emerson were strong in defense, showing excellent positional sense and accounting for a combined 15 clearances. Skipp also nicely linked the defense and the attack and distributed the ball around excellently.

They're here to stay.

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#5 Kane still goalless in the league

Kane's dry spell in front of goal continued

On Thursday, Kane scored a superb hat-trick against Mura in the Europa Conference League. He broke his duck in front of goal to suggest he's finally returning to form again.

But all that chatter was quickly laid to rest today when the striker drew another blank. He is now without a goal in the Premier League so far this season after almost 500 minutes of action.

It wasn't for the lack of trying, though. Villa deserve credit for keeping him isolated upfront. But when an opportunity finally showed up during the final 10 minutes of the game, Kane wasted it. He fired his effort straight at Martinez despite being under no pressure from anyone.

He simply hasn't looked the same this season and seems to have lost some of the confidence he normally exudes in goal. But the Spurs faithful will be hoping to have their talisman firing again after the international break.