Antonio Conte led his Tottenham side to their fourth win in a row, with a 4-0 victory at Villa Park on Saturday. Another solid team display, with more standout individual performances, means Spurs have more confidence going into their final seven games of the season.
The Lilywhites currently sit fourth in the league, three points ahead of Arsenal, although their north London rivals do have a game in hand. With a number of winnable matches in their fixture schedule, the prospect of Champions League football for next season is becoming more of a reality.
A hattrick scored by Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski bagging another was where the goals came on Saturday, with Harry Kane registering two assists. After the good weekend, football.london takes a look at what Conte did during the fixture.
READ MORE: Spurs player ratings: Son sublime, Lloris brilliant, Hojbjerg battles, Kane & Kulusevski create
Pierluigi Gollini celebrations
When his side scores a goal, Conte shows his passion with his celebrations and Saturday was no different. When the first goal went in, in the third minute, the Italian kept his celebrations tame, with just a shout in happiness that his side had taken the lead.
There were still over 85 minutes of the game to play and the Italian will know all too well that the match was far from over. The celebrations increased with every goal that went in.
When Kulusevski doubled Tottenham's lead, Conte went to the dugout to celebrate with his coaching staff and was seen hugging Cristian Stellini and Pierluigi Gollini. The goalkeeper is second choice to Hugo Lloris, so has to watch on from the sideline in most games.
However, on multiple occasions, the keeper has been seen as one of the first Conte celebrates with. The 52-year-old still seemed to be encouraging his players to keep up the high energy throughout the game with his gestures, despite their winning position, which can only help give his side a boost until the final whistle.
Strong relationships
Since Conte's arrival, he has already built up strong relationships both on and off the pitch, which was also highlighted at Villa Park. When Son was replaced with Lucas Moura in the 78th minute, the Italian made sure to congratulate him on his solid performance.
Conte gave the South Korean a kiss on the side of the head and a big hug before he went and took his seat in the dugout. At full-time, the 52-year-old made his way on the pitch to shake hands with both his own players and the opposition.
The Spurs boss again went over to Son and gave him a hug and handshake, with the 29-year-old holding the match ball in reward for his hattrick. Conte also showed his appreciation for the travelling fans after the final whistle.
The Italian made his way over to them, clapping them as he went, and then punched the air, shouting and smiling at them. The Tottenham fans travel all over the country to follow their club and have given Conte a warm welcome since his arrival in November, so moments like that show their support is appreciated.
Fouls throughout
The match against Steven Gerrard's side was a fiery one, with challenges flying in all over the pitch, notably from the Aston Villa players. Conte showed his frustration with some of the decisions made by referee, Craig Pawson.
Sergio Reguilon was brought down by Danny Ings and it led to the Italian having words with the Villa boss about the challenge, with Pawson standing in between the two managers.
There was irritation from the Tottenham manager and fans for a number of the decisions not going Sours' way. Matty Cash's challenge on Matt Doherty caused a rupture of his medial collateral ligament, keeping him out for the rest of the season (up to 12 weeks), football.london understands.
The frustration of some of the strong challenges luckily didn't block Spurs from securing maximum points from the tie, but it has left Conte a man down for the final stretch of the campaign. The Italian will hope someone else can step in to replace the Irishman for the rest of the season and help the Lilywhites secure a top-four spot.
