article: No gilet; no problem for Tim Sherwood. Make no bones about it, the Aston Villa manager enjoyed this victory. Beating the club who ruthlessly relieved him of his duties last summer, on their home patch, as his side took a giant step towards Premier League survival — it does not get much better than that. He knew it, too, ecstatically saluting the Villa faithful with both fists clenched at the final whistle before shaking Mauricio Pochettino’s hand. Christian Benteke heads Aston Villa into the lead against Tottenham in the 35th minute of the game . Benteke celebrates the goal that gave Tim Sherwood's team the advantage at the end of the first half . Benteke continued his fine form for Villa from Tuesday, where he scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with Queens Park Rangers . Benteke (second left) is mobbed by his Villa team-mates after scoring the opening goal against Tottenham . Benteke points to the sky as he led the Villa attack against Tottenham in the Premier League . Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm 6; Chriches 4.5 (Yedlin 79), Dier 6, Fazio 6.5, Rose 6.5, Mason 6.5, Bentaleb 6.5; Townsend 5.5 (Lamela 79), Eriksen 6, Chadli 5.5 (Soldado 62, 5); Kane 6.5. Subs not used: Paulinho, Friedel, Stambouli, Davies. Booked: Bentaleb, Rose, Lamela . Aston Villa: Guzan 7.5; Bacuna 7.5, Clark 6 (Baker 18, 7.5), Vlaar 8, Richardson 7; Sanchez 7, Cleverley 7, Delph 8; Agbonlahor 7 (Cole 70, 6.5), Benteke 8.5, Grealish 7 (Weimann 63, 6.5). Subs not used: Okore, N'Zogbia, Given, Lowton. Booked: Benteke, Richardson . Sent-off: Sanchez . Goal: Benteke, 35 . Referee: Lee Probert . Att: 35,687 . MOM: Benteke . The Premier League standings after Villa's victory over Totteham . Sportsmail's Match Zone shows the pattern of play which led to Benteke's goal . Sherwood went back for more, striding on to the pitch he called home last season for another double-fisted celebration as Villa supporters cheered wildly. All this without his trademark body-warmer on a mild day in north London. ‘This is my most satisfying victory as a manager, because it’s at such an important stage of the season and no-one gave us a chance,’ said Sherwood. ‘This week I’ve had so many people tell me, “You can’t win at White Hart Lane, Villa never win there”. ‘I’ve been in the pressure of a title race as a player, but this is worse. When you’re a player you only think about yourself. As a manager you’ve got the expectations of the whole club — and this isn’t a little club, it’s massive.’ Villa manager Sherwood was visibly ecstatic at recording the win and getting three points upon the final whistle . Leandro Bacuna (centre) of Villa reacts to missing a chance to get on the scoresheet against Tottenham . Sherwood (left) greets Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino before the start of the Premier League encounter . Villa midfield player Tom Cleverley (left) takes the ball past Tottenham's Christian Eriksen . Nabil Bentaleb (left) of Tottenham challenges Jack Grealish of Villa for possession in the first half . Villa midfielder Carlos Sanchez was sent off for committing a second bookable offence in the final exchanges against Tottenham . As for Tottenham, they can kiss the idea of Champions League football goodbye after this lacklustre defeat. This display suggests they do not deserve a top-four finish. Federico Fazio, alongside Eric Dier in central defence, was handed the unenviable task of taming Christian Benteke after Jan Vertonghen missed out through illness. The Belgian striker’s run of seven goals in five games had given Villa’s survival hopes a shot in the arm. By the final whistle Fazio was probably wishing Vertonghen had taken a shot of something to cure his illness as the brilliant Benteke fired Villa to victory. Spurs carved out the first clear-cut chance in the 27th minute, Brad Guzan saving well after Harry Kane had played in Danny Rose down the left. That was as good as it got for Tottenham, though, as Benteke’s influence grew. Crowd reaction . All was going well until his exuberant celebrations at the final whistle, which prompted an angry reaction from the home fans in the West Stand but he merely shook his fist at them and disappeared down the tunnel. Got an easy ride during the game, though, and gave the Villa fans a wave after they asked for one in the 16th minute. Touchline behaviour . The spring weather allowed to him leave his gilet indoors so there were no flying jackets this time. He did not leave his seat until the eighth minute then remained standing for the most part. Little more than a subtle fist pump when Christian Benteke scored the winner but his emotions poured out at the final whistle. Told someone on the Spurs bench to ‘shut the f*** up’ as tempers flared in stoppage time. Tactics . Sherwood has shown once again that he knows how to get a striker scoring. Benteke, who fronted a three-pronged attack, scored the winner before the manager set his side up perfectly to deal with the second-half Spurs fightback, although it never seemed to come. Verdict . Low-key return for Sherwood who nailed the game plan and left with three precious points. Looks a different, more relaxed man, although he showed a glimpse of the old Tim at the final whistle. Villa striker Benteke shoots at goal in an attempt to score his second goal of the game against Tottenham . Andros Townsend (centre) of Tottenham takes the ball beyond Kieran Richardson (left) as Villa captain Fabian Delph looks on . Tottenham striker Harry Kane (right) takes on Ron Vlaar of Villa in an attempt to get his team back into the game . Nathan Baker (right) a substitute for Villa, slides in against Kane and wins the ball . Grealish (right) jostles for possession of the ball alongside Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches . Townsend (centre) leaps over a challenge from Kieran Richardson as Tottenham battled against Villa . Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan (centre) leads the celebrations with the away supporters at the final whistle . Gabriel Agbonlahor should have been allowed to go one on one with Michel Vorm as he sprung Tottenham’s offside trap, but he was wrongly flagged in the 31st minute. The decision sparked the first animated complaint from Sherwood, who had been unusually subdued to that point. Four minutes later, Sherwood was back on his feet. Not in anger this time, but in delight. If Villa preserve their top-flight status they will owe it to Benteke. They will also have Spurs defender Vlad Chiriches — filling in at right back for the injured Kyle Walker — to thank. The Romanian, who has been a peripheral figure for Pochettino, was having an uncomfortable afternoon, and the home fans were letting him know it, too. Chiriches’s carelessness led to Villa’s winner. After he sloppily conceded possession around 10 yards outside his area, the ball eventually fell to Bacuna, from whose cross Benteke out-jumped Fazio and directed his header past Vorm. Villa deserved their lead; without being easy on the eye, there was an intensity to their game that Tottenham could not handle. And in first-half stoppage time they very nearly doubled their advantage. Not for the first time, a long pass found Benteke, whose header released Agbonlahor, who cut inside Dier before watching his low drive from the edge of the area hit the post. Any faint hopes Pochettino still harboured of a top-four finish were fading fast. Tottenham did step up the tempo in the second half; Rose and Kane both went close with speculative efforts. But if Benteke was Villa’s first-half hero, their central-defensive partnership of Ron Vlaar and Nathan Baker took the honours after the break as Sherwood’s men soaked up the pressure. Tottenham midfield player Ryan Mason (left) holds off Grealish as he tries to get Spurs back into the game . Tottenham's temporary captain Kane (left) is closed down in possession of the ball by Grealish . Gabriel Agbonlahor winces after getting a knock in Villa's game at Tottenham on Saturday . Pochettino made a double switch 11 minutes from time: Erik Lamela replaced Andros Townsend and DeAndre Yedlin came on for his Spurs debut in place of Chiriches, who departed to ironic applause. But it was Villa who missed two glorious chances to wrap up victory, Vlaar and Fabian Delph spurning gilt-edged opportunities in the closing stages. To add to Sherwood’s anxiety, Villa had to play the final few minutes with 10 men after Carlos Sanchez picked up a second yellow card for a late challenge on Rose. The match descended into farce as both teams were involved in a melee just before the final whistle. Soon afterwards, though, Sherwood and Villa erupted.
highlights: Christian Benteke headed Aston Villa into the lead in the 35th minute against Tottenham at White Hart Lane .
  Tottenham had Harry Kane as captain for the second consecutive Premier League game .
  Villa held on for three points to considerably boost their survival hopes but Carlos Sanchez was sent off .
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