Not every game can be a historic epic, and this was an inevitable come-down from Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat of Chelsea on Wednesday. But it was a win, their sixth in a row, putting them into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

They needed two second-half changes to finally find their way past an Aston Villa team who came to White Hart Lane to get a 0-0. With 20 minutes left they were heading for a draining un-wanted replay at Villa Park, a game they desperately did not want, a game that could only get in the way of their push to the top.

Mauricio Pochettino had to be ruthless to turn this match around and finally find a way through Aston Villa. He hauled off Vincent Janssen for Dele Alli, and then took off Toby Alderweireld for Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, switching his 3-4-3 for a 4-2-3-1.

Heung Min Son scores Spurs' second goal (Getty Images)

N’Koudou moved onto the left wing and with his very first touch, on 70 minutes, receiving a pass from Alli, he whipped in a right-footed cross. Ben Davies, the left back, darted to the near post, before James Chester saw him. Davies bent his body to angle a header into the bottom corner, breaking the deadlock. It was a moment of immense relief for Spurs, killing the prospect of one extra match on their calendar.

The lead freed Spurs up to attack, and 10 minutes later they had their second. Kieran Trippier and Moussa Sissoko exchanged passes on the right, and Sissoko burst away from Jordan Amavi into the box. From the by-line he pulled the ball back to Heung-Min Son, hovering in the box, and he finished into the corner.

That 2-0 lead was how the game finished, and it was a fair reflection of the chances created. But before the changes that turned the game, this felt like a match going nowhere. If Wednesday night’s epic defeat of Chelsea was one of the great White Hart Lane nights of recent years, the first half of this game was the exact opposite. That was a dramatic clash between two of the best teams in the country, a night of tangible tension, elite high quality sport and deep historical importance. This game had none of that.

Mike Dean was a controversial choice as referee (Getty Images)

The fact that Tottenham made nine changes from that team showed where it stood in their priorities. Aston Villa only made four but they came to White Hart Lane hoping for a replay. The result was 70 minutes of sterile attack versus defence, as Spurs tried and tried to unpick their way through Villa’s drilled defence. Harry Winks was outstanding again in central midfield but there was not enough good movement in front of him and Spurs struggled to make real chances against an effective back six.

It did not help that their nominal cutting edge Vincent Janssen was so obviously blunt. Pochettino rested Harry Kane to give Janssen another try up front but it was painful to watch. The Dutch international is not a bad player but he is so short of confidence and rhythm, and so off the brisk pace of this Spurs team, that he simply cannot function as their lone striker. He worked hard for the team but nothing he tried came off and, tellingly, he hardly ever got into goal-scoring positions.

Kieran Trippier puts a challenge in on Aston Villa's Jordan Amavi (Getty)

Janssen did have Spurs’ first real chance of the game, shooting straight at Sam Johnstone from the edge of the box after exchanging passes with Son soon after half-time. But it was sadly clear that for as long as he was up front Spurs were not going to threaten. Only when Pochettino took him off, after an hour, for Dele Alli, did Spurs start to open Villa up.

Villa offered very little here and their one half-chance was when Toby Alderweireld had to block from Gabriel Agbonlahor. Soon after Spurs were ahead and there was never any prospect of Villa getting back into it.

Tottenham (3-4-3): Vorm; Carter-Vickers, Alderweireld (N’Koudou, 70), Wimmer; Trippier, Winks, Dier, Davies; Sissoko (Onomah, 84), Janssen (Alli, 60), Son

Aston Villa (4-4-1-1): Johnstone; Hutton, Chester, Baker, Amavi; Adomah (Green, 77), Jedinak (Davis, 77), Tshibola, Bacuna; Grealish; Agbonlahor (McCormack, 77)