Rafael Van Der Vaart yet another Real Madrid castoff is proving to be the signing of the season.
For Tottenham. Two clinical finishes from the Dutchman was enough to see Spurs through against
Villa who are reeling under Gerard Houllier. Two wins in 12 matches has seen Villa slip to 15th,
four points above relegation threatened Fulham.
Martin O'Neill's resignation from the managerial position at Aston Villa just days before a ball
was kicked in August came as something of a shock to many of the club's supporters. Four months on,
Villa supporters could be forgiven for pondering whether O'Neill saw this coming. Their form now
feels more like a collapse than a slump and the question of whether this team at this time has the
stomach for a relegation battle is now starting to come to the forefront of the minds of many
supporters.
The enfant terrible of the Serie and now the Premiership scored from two penalties and after
Brad Friedel could not handle a weak David Silva shot was left with the simple task of stroking the
ball into an empty net. Not exactly scintillating stuff but any hat trick looks good on the
resume.
