Tottenham Hotspur became the first team to beat Everton at their new stadium in the Premier League after their set pieces proved too much for David Moyes’ side.
The first half was a tale of three corners, with Spurs taking the lead through Micky van de Ven’s header on 19 minutes, the first set-piece goal Moyes’ side have conceded in the league this season.
Everton equalised through Jake O’Brien’s header — only for two of his team-mates to be ruled offside and interfering sufficiently for the goal to be denied. Van de Ven then outmuscled Jordan Pickford to score his second from another corner in first-half stoppage time.
Everton had the greater possession across the game, but Pape Matar Sarr headed in a third in the 89th minute and the result lifted Tottenham to third in the Premier League table.
Here, The Athletic’s Jay Harris breaks down the key talking points.
How has Frank got Van de Ven scoring?
Micky van de Ven has scored five times for Spurs in 14 appearances under Thomas Frank. Any defender would be proud to boast that record, but it is even more remarkable when you consider that he did not score in any of his 22 matches last season.
Nobody was surprised that Spurs struggled to create chances from open play against Everton, but they are formidable at set pieces. Van de Ven scored twice from corners and they executed different routines on both occasions.
Tottenham’s opening goal arrived in the 19th minute when Mohammed Kudus hit an inswinging delivery deep towards the back post. Rodrigo Bentancur beat Vitaliy Mykolenko in the air and appeared to purposefully direct the ball with his shoulder back across the box, leaving Van de Ven with a simple chance from a few yards out.
Van de Ven’s second goal, which arrived in first-half stoppage time, was even sweeter. The Netherlands international lurked at the back post unmarked. He then ran behind Jake O’Brien along the goal line and darted in front of Jordan Pickford to connect with Pedro Porro’s curling ball.
It was an intelligent run which deceived Everton’s defence…
Van de Ven will take the headlines but Andreas Georgson deserves a lot of credit. The Swede, who previously worked with Frank at Brentford, has had a huge impact on Tottenham’s set-pieces since he joined the coaching staff in the summer. Corners and free-kicks were neglected by former head coach Ange Postecoglou but are now a key weapon in Spurs’ armoury.
What did Kolo Muani show he can do?
There was a moment in the first half which offered Tottenham supporters a glimpse of what Randal Kolo Muani is capable of.
The ball was pumped long towards the France international near the right wing, but instead of controlling it and waiting for his team-mates to catch up, he had the confidence to effortlessly roll past James Tarkowski. Everton’s defender made a desperate lunge to clear the ball and conceded the corner from which Spurs took the lead. If Tarkowski had not attempted the challenge, then Kolo Muani would have been free to charge into the box.
Kolo Muani’s speed and directness will be a valuable asset for Spurs when he is fully up to speed. A dead leg disrupted his momentum after arriving on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of August. This was only his first start and fourth appearance overall.
There were other promising moments before Kolo Muani was replaced by Richarlison midway through the second half. In the 10th minute, the forward held off his marker to receive the ball inside the box from Mohammed Kudus and set up Xavi Simons with a deft first-time pass. Simons should have been stronger to hold off Michael Keane and shoot.
In the 35th minute, he reclaimed the ball from a corner and found Rodrigo Bentancur unmarked on the edge of the area. Bentancur’s crisp half-volley flew narrowly over the bar.
Kolo Muani did suffer from the same affliction which has impacted Richarlison and Mathys Tel this season. Spurs do not look fluid in attack and struggle to create chances. Kolo Muani tried to pose a consistent threat, but it is difficult when you rarely receive the ball.
It was an encouraging first look at the 26-year-old, though, and hopefully there will be a lot more to come.
How will Spurs feel about this performance?
A significant section of Tottenham’s fanbase probably groaned when they saw the starting XI against Everton included Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur. There is a growing feeling that the pair exclusively offer defensive security and not much else. That is slightly unfair but this performance underlines why lots of people are keen to see either Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr start more regularly.
Bergvall is clever in possession and can glide past players to drive Spurs up the pitch while Sarr is a threat with his late runs into the penalty area. Sarr’s header in the 88th minute perfectly proved this point as he started the move in the centre circle and finished it inside Everton’s six yard box.
With Sarr and Bergvall on the bench, Frank tried a different approach to improve his side’s chance creation by moving Mohammed Kudus centrally behind Randal Kolo Muani. Brennan Johnson started out wide on the right instead with Xavi Simons on the opposite flank.
Kudus could not resist drifting towards his normal role out on the right and Xavi was ineffective so the changes did not exactly work even if Spurs won 3-0. It was important though that Spurs regained some momentum after losing to Aston Villa last week and somehow escaping with a point from Wednesday night’s Champions League tie with Monaco. It might not have been a pretty performance but it was a great result especially as Chelsea, Liverpool and Brighton all dropped points this weekend.
Why was O’Brien’s header ruled out?
Everton thought they had equalised on 24 minutes when Jake O’Brien headed in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner, only for it to be overturned by the officials.
Referee Craig Pawson initially gave the goal but then ruled it out when sent to the screen by VAR Stuart Attwell, who had spotted that Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye were both in an offside position after O’Brien’s header.
Pawson decided after review that they were interfering sufficiently with Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario’s attempts to reach the ball for the goal to be ruled out.
What did Frank say?
“Very, very happy with that, I think overall very solid performance, especially pleased with the first half. I think we were good in phase one, good in phase two,” Frank said in his post-match press conference.
“In general, the second half was a little bit more of a dogfight at times. Going here to Everton, which is against a very good team, well set up by David Moyes and a very good home crowd, they’ve been unbeaten here so far. So, yeah, very happy, happy with obviously the set pieces as well. What I would say, the clean sheet mentality, that is a very good foundation to stand on.
“That gives you an ability to perform at a certain level where you want to always do a little bit more, but be really, how can you say, competitive and especially away from home.
What next for Spurs?
Wednesday, October 29: Newcastle (Away), Carabao Cup round of 16, 8pm UK, 4pm ET
(Photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)