Tottenham put in a high quality away performance in the Premier League this evening to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and move within touching distance of the top four. Spurs’ class was typified yet again by Rafael van der Vaart, who is proving to be a real steal for Harry Redknapp this season.

It was van der Vaart who opened the scoring after a frantic start to the match, with Luka Modric’s raking cross field pass finding Alan Hutton, who crossed to the Dutchman who in turn neatly finished in the corner. Tottenham were then harshly reduced to ten men as Jermain Defoe was sent off for an alleged elbow on James Collins, but Spurs continued to expertly keep hold of the ball. Tottenham’s second goal was a thing of beauty, with a break that involved Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon coolly finished by van der Vaart again. Spurs had to withstand some late pressure as Villa pulled a goal back, but were well worth the three points that extends their fantastic run in the Premier League.

So what five things did we learn about Tottenham today?

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