Tottenham Hotspur beat Aston Villa 2-0 at White Hart Lane courtesy of second-half goals from Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon.
Spurs started brightly and had two chances inside the opening three minutes. First Gareth Bale fired wide before Jermain Defoe put one over the bar.
Hugo Lloris was called into action for the first time in the 18th minute as Christian Benteke struck at goal.
Jan Vertonghen put a volley just wide in the 34th minute before Lloris was out well to pluck the ball from the feet of Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Lloris almost gifted Villa a goal in the 53rd minute but Benteke headed just wide following the goalkeeper's poor throw.
Spurs took the lead after 58 minutes as Defoe shot from the far post, but the ball struck Steven Caulker on the way in.
It was 2-0 and game over for Spurs in the 67th minute as Clint Dempsey found Aaron Lennon, who finished low and hard.
Dempsey missed the target with a free header from six yards out, but fortunately for him Spurs had already done enough to wrap up the 2-0 win.
Matt Domm
