Birmingham: Rafael van der Vaart returned from injury to score twice for 10-man Tottenham in a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Netherlands play-maker opened the scoring by finishing off a flowing move in the 23rd minute before Spurs had England striker Jermain Defoe sent off four minutes later for elbowing Villa defender James Collins.
The visitors belied their numerical inferiority by dominating possession and going further in front in the 67th when Van der Vaart ran onto Aaron Lennon's cross to shoot low into the corner.
Marc Albrighton set up a tense finish when his 82nd-minute cross avoided everyone in the box and curled into the corner, but fifth-place Spurs held on.
Harry Redknapp's team is now just a point behind fourth-place Chelsea, which has a game in hand — at Arsenal on Monday.
Defoe was denied by Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel and Spurs center back Younes Kaboul had a goal disallowed because the ball had gone out of play before Van der Vaart scored his seventh of the season.
Some intricate passing helped send fullback Alan Hutton away down the right and his cross was neatly sidefooted home by Van der Vaart.
The red card shown to Defoe by referee Martin Atkinson — after consultation with his linesman — came after the striker caught Collins in going up for a header.
But it was difficult to tell which team had 10 men given the way the visitors controlled possession and continued to create openings.
A shot by Wilson Palacios was deflected just wide minutes before halftime but Van der Vaart, back in the team after a hamstring injury, doubled the lead midway through the second half.
The Dutch midfielder began the counterattack with a pass to Gareth Bale and when he passed to Lennon, the England winger's cut-back was met with a fine finish by Van der Vaart.
Villa, which is now just four points off the relegation zone, finished strongly as Spurs tired and Albrighton's fortuitous goal gave the hosts some hope.
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