Tottenham defeated Everton 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday evening.
The hosts had the first big opportunity of the match in the fourth minute, and they really should've taken it. Iliman Ndiaye put a brilliant chipped cross into the box, and his delivery fell perfectly to Jack Grealish, who volleyed the ball first time, but his powerful effort was blocked on the line by Pedro Porro. If Grealish had aimed his shot quite literally anywhere else, Everton would've taken a 1-0 lead, but he instead aimed it right at the Spaniard, although it was a very good and important block.
In the 19th minute, Everton were made to pay for their early missed opportunity, as Tottenham took the lead. Mohammed Kudus lofted an excellent corner deep to the back post, and to meet the delivery was Rodrigo Bentancur, who headed it across to Micky van de Ven, who was just yards out, and the big Dutchman headed the ball into the bottom corner to give his side a 1-0 lead. Everton were defensively poor for the goal, as they were too slow to get out to Bentancur, and van de Ven was also unchallenged
Shortly after Tottenham took the lead, Everton had the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-1, but their goal was disallowed. Jake O'Brien converted a bullet header past Guglielmo Vicario into the back of the net, but upon review of the goal, Ndiaye was in an offside position, and he appeared to be in the way of the goalkeeper. Therefore, the goal was disallowed. David Moyes and the Everton backroom staff were visibly furious with the decision, and you can't really blame them, as it was very controversial.
In the 51st minute, right before half-time, Tottenham doubled their lead to two goals. Exactly like their first goal, their second came from another corner, and once again, it was defensively poor by the hosts. Porro whipped an excellent cross into the box, but once again there, unchallenged, was van de Ven, who headed it into the back of the net. Jordan Pickford was in no man's land as he tried to come out to make himself big, but instead, what he did was costly and pretty much gifted the Dutchman a free header.
The first half came to a close with Tottenham leading 2-0.
The first big chance of the second half came in the 54th minute, and Beto almost scored a spectacular goal. The big striker met Ndiaye's cross with an overhead kick, which he managed to get on target, but Vicario was equal to it and produced a brilliant save to protect Tottenham's 2-0 lead.
In the 89th minute, Tottenham secured all three points, as Pape Sarr scored to make it 3-0. Porro found Richarlison with a brilliant cross in the box, and the Brazilian headed it across the box to Sarr, who placed his header past Pickford to secure all three points for his side.
Sarr's goal was the last action of the match, and Tottenham saw out the match to win 3-0.
Match Highlights
Everton Player Ratings
GK: Jordan Pickford - 5/10
Probably could've done more and could've been stronger for Tottenham's opening two goals, as they were relatively simple set pieces. For van de Ven's second goal, the England number one was pretty much in no man's land.
RB: Jake O'Brien - 6.5/10
Was very unfortunate to have his headed goal ruled out. The Irishman was fine defensively, but outside of his disallowed goal, he offered very little going forward.
CB: James Tarkowski - 6/10
Struggled when coming up against the pacy Spurs attackers. Despite seeing plenty of the ball, Tarkowski didn't really do anything with it to get his side further up the pitch, which affected their performance.
CB: Michael Keane - 6.5/10
Produced plenty of headed clearances and blocks, but looked shaky defensively, quite like Tarkowski, when having to deal with the pace and trickery of Tottenham's attackers.
LB: Vitaliy Mykolenko - 5.5/10
Defensively timid and didn't really offer anything going forward. The Ukrainian was also quite sloppy in possession of the ball.
CM: Idrissa Gana-Gueye - 6/10
Solid defensively and worked hard in midfield, but was pretty average in possession of the ball and didn't want to take any risks to get his side forward.
CM: James Garner - 7.5/10
Whipped some good crosses into Tottenham's penalty area, but his teammates weren't able to meet them. Garner was almost faultless in possession and worked his socks off in the middle of the park.
AM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - 5.5/10
Ran a lot and worked hard, but didn't produce a thing in the final third despite playing in the number 10 role.
RW: Iliman Ndiaye - 7.5/10
Tried his best to make things happen in the final third, but a lot of the chances he created, his teammates weren't at the end of. Ndiaye put a lot of good crosses into the box and regularly threatened with his pace and trickery.
ST: Beto - 5.5/10
Outside of coming close in the second half to scoring a brilliant overhead kick, the big striker didn't really contribute much and was dealt with quite easily by the Tottenham defenders.
LW: Jack Grealish - 7/10
Like his fellow Everton player on the right wing, Grealish also put in a decent performance, but a lot of what he created couldn't be converted by his teammates.
SUB: Thierno Barry - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Merlin Rohl - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Carlos Alcaraz - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 8/10
Produced two really good saves in the second half and was a key part in Tottenham seeing out the victory.
RB: Pedro Porro - 8/10
Provided a brilliant assist for van de Ven's second goal and also had a huge part to play in Tottenham's third goal as well. Porro was defensively shaky at times, but going forward, he was excellent.
CB: Kevin Danso - 8/10
Caused a lot of problems for Tottenham going forward with his long throws, but he was also defensively excellent. The Austrian produced a countless number of blocks and clearances, which helped Tottenham secure all three points.
CB: Micky van de Ven - 9/10 (Man of the Match)
The best player on the pitch. Not only did the Dutchman score two headed goals, but he was also excellent defensively and very good with the ball at his feet.
LB: Djed Spence - 6.5/10
Struggled defensively at times against Ndiaye, but he stayed resilient and didn't really put a foot majorly wrong.
CM: Joao Palhinha - 7.5/10
Worked his socks off in the midfield and provided a lot of defensive support for his side.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 8/10
Provided an assist for van de Ven's opening goal, and like his midfield partner, Palhinha, he was also defensively very good and worked hard.
AM: Mohammed Kudus - 7.5/10
Outstanding in the first half but quiet in the second. Kudus whipped plenty of very good crosses into the box, one of which had a huge part to play in Tottenham's first goal.
RW: Brennan Johnson - 7/10
Didn't see that much of the ball, but when he did, he made things happen in the final third and got the better of Mykolenko more often than not.
ST: Randal Kolo Muani - 7/10
Although he was often isolated up front on his own, Kolo Muani did brilliantly well to create his own chances by working hard and stretching the Everton defence with his pace and movement.
LW: Xavi Simons - 5.5/10
Hardly produced anything in the final third and was dealt with quite easily by O'Brien.
SUB: Lucas Bergvall - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Richarlison - 7.5/10
Had an instant impact on the match. The Brazilian provided a good assist for Sarr's goal and also came close to scoring a goal himself.
SUB: Pape Sarr - 7.5/10
Made an instant impact off the bench, scoring Everton's third goal.
SUB: Mathys Tel - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.