Ange Postecoglou has paid tribute to “incredible” Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke after his stylish second-half brace inspired an emphatic 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.

Villa started the day five points ahead of Spurs, having also beaten the north London club into the top four last season, and took the lead in the 32nd minute when Morgan Rogers shot from a corner.

It halted the momentum Postecoglou’s side had built in midweek with a fine Carabao Cup triumph over Manchester City, but they were transformed in the second half and blew away their Midlands rivals.

Captain Son Heung-min scored Brennan Johnson his seventh goal of the season in the 49th minute before Solanke completed a quickfire double in the final quarter of an hour after a run of six games without a goal.

James Maddison, a late substitute for substitute Richarlison, capped a fine afternoon for Spurs with a free-kick in stoppage time as the hosts moved back up to seventh, but the day belonged to Solanke as his recent excellent tireless performances finally brought a reward ahead. aim.

Postecoglou said: “I just think of the enormous effort he put in on Wednesday night to help us win a football game, not just physically but mentally, and his ability to help the team in any way possible … To back that up today with such a massive effort against a pretty tough team to play against, it’s just incredible.

“Yes, the goals are great and of course as a striker I’m sure he likes the fact that he can score a few goals, but even if he hasn’t I can’t speak highly enough top of what he contributes to our team at the moment.

“And long may it continue, because with him playing that way, it makes us a better team.”

It was not good news for Tottenham, who had to remove Cristian Romero and Richarlison, after also losing Micky van de Ven to a hamstring injury in midweek.

Romero limped off in the 61st minute with a right foot problem and Richarlison appeared to suffer a muscle problem when he cut back for Solanke to score in the 79th minute.

“Richy obviously felt something during the action of scoring the goal in his hamstring, so we’ll see,” Postecoglou said.

“I don’t have any other information (on Romero) but he’s a pretty tough cookie and for him to pull through, it has to be painful.

“It’s not ideal but I hope the two of them aren’t serious.”

The impressive result came despite Postecoglou removing Son in the 56th minute, with the Tottenham captain appearing frustrated by the decision.

However, Postecoglou insisted that had always been the plan after the striker missed six of Spurs’ previous seven matches with a hamstring problem.

“He got injured, he came back and the last time it was around the 60 minute mark he was tired, so he was never going to play more than 45-60 no matter how the game went. was unfolding,” Postecoglou said.

“The good thing is he made quite a big contribution before that with a great ball for our first goal.”

Villa had won four of their previous six league matches, but the defeat in north London led to back-to-back defeats and a poor week for Unai Emery’s men after also exiting the Carabao Cup following the 2-1 victory in Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Wednesday. night.

“We’re competitive and we’ve been consistent,” Emery said.

“Of course the first half was much better than the second half and the team knew how competitive we can be, close to winning, close to having a better chance of being among the seven first in the Premier League.

“And we accept the result because in the second half when they scored two goals and took the advantage on the pitch, they are a team in transition, very good and we made some mistakes.”