Tottenham became the first away team to win at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium with this 3-0 victory. Micky van de Ven was the Spurs hero, scoring twice in the first half from corners, as well as playing his part at the other end to secure a clean sheet. His brace came either side of Everton having a Jake O’Brien header disallowed for offside, as the Toffees tried in vain to get on the scoresheet. Instead it was another Tottenham header, from substitute Pape Matar Sarr, that put the game to bed late in the second half.
Below we have the managers’ verdicts and match statistics. Then scroll down to see the key tactical points from the game, as analysed by our UEFA-licensed coaches.
How the managers saw it
“I don’t think that we deserved to lose 3-0,” said David Moyes. “But if you don’t defend set-pieces well enough, then you’re always liable to lose the game. It’s not something that’s been a big problem with us but it was today, whether that was because of the quality Spurs had or whether it was down to how poor we were defending it, then that could be argued.”
“Overall a very solid performance,” said Thomas Frank. “Especially pleased with the first half. I think we were good in phase one, good in phase two, more passes, control of the game more in phases, in general. The second half was a little bit more of a dogfight at times. Very happy with the set-pieces as well.”
Advancing the left-back
From an initial 4-2-3-1, Everton pushed left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko very high into a narrowed attacking position. There, he often attached himself to Pedro Porro, creating more time and space for Jack Grealish to receive. From this side, Grealish’s dangerous crosses created chances for Everton. With Beto also moving across, sometimes Everton could find Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall between the lines, especially if the three left at the back played forward quickly (below).
On Everton’s right, winger Iliman Ndiaye held the width while right-back O’Brien remained part of the back line. Everton’s defence was very forward-thinking in its passing, regularly playing long into Beto, who had a constant battle against Kevin Danso. They also found their widest players as quickly as possible, skipping players to find Grealish on the left – with Mykolenko staying high and narrow – or the isolated Ndiaye to attack Djed Spence. Everton also used Dewsbury-Hall as a central link to play wide when possible. Although Spurs had more possession in the early stages, Everton’s forward intent and progression from wide areas produced some dangerous crosses.
Tottenham also advanced their left-back from an initial 4-2-3-1, but in their case Spence stayed wide, unlike Mykolenko. Xavi Simons narrowed to attack from the inside channel, sometimes moving into the centre to allow Mohammed Kudus more licence to move wider, often to the right. Ahead of their fixed double pivot, Kudus connected with Porro, who supported from deep for the most part from within the converted back three (below), while Brennan Johnson stayed wide right.
In an attempt to regain from their 4-4-2 mid-block, Everton often left huge central spaces. Kudos’ movement to the right attracted one of Everton’s central midfielders. Tottenham’s double pivot drew the other, and number 10 Dewsbury-Hall often jumped to press around Beto.
When Everton’s wingers pressed the widest of Tottenham’s back three, more space appeared between the lines (below). However, Spurs’ inability or unwillingness to play forward into that space, plus their sloppy passing just before the halfway line, meant they rarely penetrated or progressed despite having more possession in the first half. Instead, their two-goal lead came from set-piece potency.
Everton’s aggressive reaction
Everton began the second half pressing aggressively on to Tottenham’s back line, with Dewsbury-Hall jumping from midfield to join Beto. In their 4-4-2 shape they forced the ball wide, particularly to their right. With Van den Ven then receiving under significantly more pressure, Spence dropped from his previously high position and Spurs were no longer able to recreate their first-half build shape. More dropping Tottenham players invited more pressure, with Everton’s back line willing to go all the way to add more numbers to their high press (below).
The Everton back line also took up very aggressive positions when their side was attacking. This helped to squeeze Tottenham well inside their own half, stopping the away team’s front line from breaking out too often. From there, Everton’s access to wide areas was regular and immediate, with crosses from Mykolenko, Grealish and Ndiaye working the ball into the box. Tottenham’s deep defending, however, meant they had numbers to compete against Everton’s nine and 10 (below). Although Everton continued to regain high and attack often, other than an outstanding Vicario save from an acrobatic Beto effort, they struggled to create clear chances.
Frank looked to solidify the wide areas by replacing the much more attacking Simons with Lucas Bergvall, to limit Ndiaye’s output against Spence. Moyes responded by moving James Garner to right-back, with Ndiaye connecting inside for the first time in the match. Working well from the nine and 10, Everton began to attack more centrally, with Grealish still giving them width on the left (below). Despite some promising Everton moments, however, Tottenham – particularly their centre-backs – defended the box well.
Frank referred to it afterwards as a “clean sheet mentality”, calling it “a very good foundation to stand on”. It allowed his team to seal victory with a third goal, while the three points lifted Tottenham to third in the table after nine games.