Garth Crooks: Why this Tottenham star’s performance didn’t surprise me

Garth Crooks says he wasn’t surprised by Hugo Lloris’s performance at Villa Park after he criticised the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper last week.

The former Spurs man had claimed that Lloris struggles to perform in Tottenham’s biggest games after their recent London derbies against West Ham and Arsenal.

However, Lloris made two saves and made two claims to help Mauricio Pochettino’s side secure a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

And Crooks was full of praise for the France international after his previous criticism of the 29-year-old shot stopper.

“I’m told that Spurs fans got upset with me via social media last week when I maintained that Hugo Lloris struggles in big games. Well, true to form, he was outstanding against Aston Villa and I’m not surprised,” Crooks told BBC Sport.

Tottenham moved to within two points of Leicester City thanks to their 2-0 win against Villa.

However, Claudio Ranieri’s side restored their five-point lead at the top of the table on Monday night thanks to their 1-0 win against Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United side.

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Tottenham are in action against Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday night.