Tottenham 0 - Aston Villa 1: Sherwood is back with a bang as Benteke's strike rocks Spurs

TALK about many happy returns. And they don’t come much happier than this for Tim Sherwood.

Pochettino: Spurs Euro dream fading [AMBIENT]

Returning for the first time to the club that cynically sacked him was fine enough.

To leave with three precious points that take Villa a step nearer Premier League survival was positively euphoric.

As he admitted afterwards: “This is probably my most satisfying win because no one really gave us a chance and it was so important.

"It helps you so much when you get results like this.”

The only downside to his day is that he will almost certainly be without Gabby Agbonlahor, Ciaran Clark and Carlos Sanchez – sent off in injury time for a second yellow card that he took for the team – for next Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

Sherwood added: “Carlos has probably never been to Wembley before but he has sacrificed himself for the side today and we have to applaud that.

Tim Sherwood returned to White Hart Lane to secure a 1-0 victory over his former sideGETTY

Tim Sherwood returned to White Hart Lane to secure a 1-0 victory over his former side

“It looks as if Ciaran and Gabby won’t make it either, which is a shame because it will be a great day – especially after this result.”

On-fire Christian Benteke –Villa’s hat-trick hero against QPR in midweek – made sure of that with a super matchwinning goal.

Leandro Bacuna probably shouldn’t have been given the opportunity to cross the ball when he did, but the way the big Belgian duped Federico Fazio to head it in off the post suggested Villa wouldn’t have been in the relegation scrap they are if he hadn’t been out so long with injuries.

I didn’t really have anything to prove to Spurs

Tim Sherwood

That crucial 34th-minute strike was pretty well the only highlight of a tame first 45 minutes in which that other man of the moment, Harry Kane, was unusually anonymous at the other end.

Things didn’t get a lot better after the interval either as the strangely out-of-sorts Spurs simply kept running into the brick wall that the impressive Ron Vlaar, who enjoyed a much better day than he might have expected, built around himself and goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

And let’s be honest here, if Fabian Delph hadn’t hit the post in the first half and chipped Michel Vorm instead of shooting straight at the keeper late on, Villa’s margin of victory would have been at least double what it was.

It was Christian Benteke's strike that secured the victory for Aston VillaGETTY

It was Christian Benteke's strike that secured the victory for Aston Villa

Sanchez may now miss next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final after being sent off at the death, but the joy Sherwood showed when he saluted Villa fans at the end proved a very big point. Or three to be precise.

Sherwood added: “I didn’t really have anything to prove to Spurs. 

“They have been very good to me over the years and I wouldn’t be Aston Villa manager today if it wasn’t for them.”

Mauricio Pochettino, the man who took his place at Spurs, was understandably not so happy about a result that makes their chances of qualifying for the Europa League next season a distinctly tall order.

The Argentinian added: “We were not at our best today and, to be realistic, it is going to be very difficult.

“We need to improve our performances and win all our games from now on.”

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?