Jake O’Brien had a goal ruled out as Everton suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur.
Everton’s unbeaten record at Hill Dickinson Stadium is over after losing to Tottenham Hotspur.
Micky van de Ven headed Tottenham in front before repeating the trick from another corner before half-time.
Everton couldn’t break Tottenham down in the second half, and Pape Mate Sarr’s header secured a 3-0 win for Spurs.
Everton have now tasted back-to-back defeats since the international break, and David Moyes will seek answers.
David Moyes on Jake O’Brien’s disallowed goal
Everton appeared to have scored an equaliser when Jake O’Brien headed home Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner.
However, the goal was disallowed after a lengthy VAR check, with referee Craig Pawson encouraged to take a look for himself on the sideline.
Pawson determined that Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish fouled Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from offside positions.
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Everton fans booed loudly, but Toffees boss Moyes wasn’t too unhappy.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the full-time whistle, Moyes admitted his belief that Pawson got it right.
Moyes added that he would have been angry if such a goal had stood against Everton, so he had no complaints.
“Since I have seen it, I agree it was offside. If it had been the other way around, I would be claiming it was an offside goal, so I think they got it right,” said Moyes.
Everton almost got it right against Tottenham Hotspur
Everton enjoyed success from set pieces against Tottenham in 2024, and Moyes was looking to repeat the trick.
The idea was right enough; Dewsbury-Hall whipped in a fine inswinging delivery and O’Brien, one of Everton’s main aerial threats, created space to head the ball in.
Ndiaye was used to disrupt Vicario, a tactic which worked under Sean Dyche at Goodison Park last year.
The contact on Vicario surely wouldn’t have been enough for a foul if Ndiaye was onside.
Instead, Ndiaye and Grealish were both caught offside, and Everton paid the price.
Everton must continue to be dangerous from set pieces, though, and continuing to find O’Brien could bring rewards.