Mon Sep 15 17:40:43 2008

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Spurs still on bottom after Villa defeat

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London, England (Sports Network) - Nigel Reo-Coker and Ashley Young scored goals to help Aston Villa defeat Tottenham, 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Monday.

Darren Bent grabbed Tottenham's lone goal in the 87th minute after the Villains built a 2-0 lead, and Spurs now sit on the bottom of the table with just one point from four games.

The win puts Villa in fourth with seven points from four matches, and they will have a good chance to pick up three more points on Sunday when they visit West Bromwich.

It took just five minutes for Villa to get on the scoreboard as Young played a ball down the left wing for Gabriel Agbonlahor. He then drove a low cross to the front of the goal that sailed past John Carew and found Reo-Coker for an easy finish at the back post.

The game was played at a good pace but Villa continued to get the better of the play, with Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes keeping his team in the match with a pair of top-notch saves.

It remained a one-goal game into the second half, but the visitors doubled the lead nine minutes after the restart with a good move from Gareth Barry. He took the ball in his own half and beat both Jermaine Jenas and Roman Pavlyuchenko before feeding a pass to Young.

The former Watford striker carried the ball towards goal, blowing past Michael Dawson and firing a low shot underneath Gomes and into the back of the net.

Bent deflected a Jenas shot with four minutes to play and the ball found its way past Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel to prevent the clean sheet.