Back home to the Hill Dickinson Stadium after the disappointing loss to City last week. Today, Spurs came to town after a loss to Aston Villa last week and a draw against Monaco on Wednesday. Although Tottenham had only lost one of their last 12 Premier League away games against Everton (W3 D8), Spurs were winless in their last six visits (D5 L1), with the one loss being the 3-2 in January.
Everton looked to continue their unbeaten run at their new home and with it being Sunday you would have thought that the points were in the bag. Everton had won their last five Premier League matches played on Sundays, all under David Moyes since his return in January.
Team News
No big surprises as Jack Grealish was back in the starting lineup with Charly Alcaraz returning to the bench. This was the first time that David Moyes could select his first choice midfield since the draw with West Ham more than a month ago.
Thomas Frank made four changes to his side with Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons coming in. Former Blue Richarlison started on the bench.
Match Report
Before the kickoff, Craig Pawson needed to break up David Moyes and Thomas Frank who clearly have a bit of a bromance going on. The rain was falling as Forever Everton was sung with passion by the 50,000 Evertonians in the ground.
The Everton high press was on display early and Spurs were uneasy with it. It looked like Everton were starting with a back three with Mykolenko being given the license to get well-forward. Everton’s first chance was a big one as Ndiaye drove to the line and a flick on by Beto landed on the foot of Grealish who blasted the ball goalward. Vicario was motionless but Romero made the block.
Tottenham finally got on the ball and attempted to slow the game down. A couple of long ball over the top by Spurs did not come off. The third one needed some strong defending by Keane to deny Simons. It was then Everton’s chance to go forward and it was Grealish who was the point of the arrow.
Tottenham’s first corner was delivered by Kudus and was met by Bentancur who’s header went back across goal and was met by van de Ven who headed it into the back of the net. It was Everton’s first goal conceded from a set play all season. From Everton’s perspective, they could take solace from the fact that since the start of last season, no side has lost more Premier League matches when scoring first than Tottenham.
Everton tried to respond immediately and James Garner forced a great save from Vicario. The resulting corner was taken by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall which was met by O’Brien who powered it into the goal. Incredibly, VAR looked at the goal and checked to see if Ndiaye was offside and interfering with the keeper. Incredibly, Pawson overturned the goal.
The crowd was livid and their sarcastic cheering for a foul on Ndiaye set the tone. Tottenham were happy to slow the game down again. A long throw by Danso took forever and the Evertonians were even more upset. Pawson called for the captains when van de Vende and Pickford were getting in each others faces. The resulting corner saw Bentancur drive the ball goalward but it snuck by the outside of the post.
On the counter attack, Beto got his first touch right but could not beat Vicario. Another nice foray into the Spurs end needed a good block by Van de Ven. Everton were pushing for an equalizer and when Ndiaye delivered a lovely cross, van de Ven was there again to deny Beto.
Everton were controlling the play and Everton’s fourth corner was delivered by Garner but the Blues could not capitalise. Seven minutes of additional time was announced as Everton continued to press forward. However, a series of corners for Spurs were defended well until Porro delivered a fourth one and it was met by van de Ven who redirected it into Pickford’s net.
The first half ended with Tottenham wasting more time until Craig Pawson blew his whistle. The disappointed Evertonians had seen the ball in the back of the Spurs goal but at the end of the half they had not recorded a shot on net.
The second half started with no changes to either side. Everton were the first to come close when Grealish used the outside of his boot to get the ball in to KDH who went down under the challenge of Porro. No call from Pawson and as the play continued, Ndiaye had his shot go just wide of the net.
When Ndiaye drove to the line again, his cross was brilliant and when Beto got his overhead kick on goal it took a save of the season from Vicario to deny the big forward. Everton’s first shot on net after 55 minutes.
A yellow card was given to James Garner for a late challenge on Kudus. Another corner for Spurs was delivered by Kudus but this time it was poor. Spurs made two changes taking off Simons and Kolo Muani for Richarlison and Bergvall. It only took two minutes for Richarlison to be in alone but Pickford made a nice save.
With thirty minutes to go in the match, David Moyes made his customary switch of Beto to Barry in hopes of sparking something. He also brought on Merlin Rohl to replace Jake O’Brien. Garner moved to right back with Rohl going into the middle.
A rare free kick for Everton in the Spurs end was delivered by KDH and when Tarkowski went down, VAR turned down any appeals as there was “normal contact”. The ire of Evertonians was raised again when Bentancur took Grealish down again and should have been a yellow but Pawson ignored the calls. In fact, Grealish was given a yellow for his frustrated response.
It was Ndiaye again who forced another great save from Vicario. Kudus then took down Gueye in the box and VAR ignored the calls from everyone in blue. Everton were pushing which was leaving some gaps at the back. Grealish slid the ball into KDH who overhit the final pass to Barry.
Spurs withdrew Kudus with Sarr coming into the match. Seconds later, Rohl met a cross strongly but his header was well over the bar. Some good holdup play by Barry led to a corner which was delivered by Garner and when Gueye went down a free kick was given. Time was against the Blues as Alcaraz was introduced with Gueye giving way.
The gaps at the back were getting bigger and when Spurs counter attacked, a cross to Richarlison was headed back across goal to the onrushing Sarr who headed the ball home. The Evertonians flooded to the exits as the lilywhites celebrated. Pawson eventually put the Blues out of their misery when his whistle ended the match. The unbeaten run at Hill Dickinson had ended and the excellent away form of Tottenham continued.
Everton’s Man of the Match
Iliman Ndiaye: Once again, the Senegalese winger was the one threat in attack for the Blues. With Grealish being double and triple marked, it gave Ndiaye some room and his close ball control was on show again. He made 4 successful dribbles in the match and made 10 defensive contributions. In a team that did not give much to cheer about, he was the best in blue.
Instant Reaction
This was a game that turned when Everton took the lead and the VAR call overturned the goal. From that moment, the high press disappeared and the team lacked any confidence going forward. It was not until they were down by two goals and there was only 15 minutes to go that Moyes made some changes. Barry showed some nice touches and Rohl looked like he was willing to go forward. A goal did not come, but the attacking intent was at least visible. Beto should have scored (again) but he did not. Everyone knows we need another striker but Beto has shown that he is just not up to it. Give Barry a chance from the start and in multiple games.
The VAR decision was another disappointment that had gone against the Toffees. On the TV coverage there was a camera behind the goal that showed that Vicario was not impeded by Grealish and Ndiaye. Once again, this view was not shown to Pawson on the pitch side monitor. When the referee is shown video, he should be shown more angles rather than the same one over and over again.
Coming into the match, Everton had not conceded a goal from a set piece all season. Today, it was corners that undid the Blues. In the first half, the two goals were given to Tottenham. The defending was weak on the first goal and Pickford, who so often makes these saves, did not challenge for the second. At the other end, Vicario made three incredible saves which shut down any chance of Everton getting into the match.
In the first half, Everton had delivered 14 balls into the Spurs box had only been met by one Everton player. It is great to see them getting more crosses but if no one is on the end of them there is a futility and many lost opportunities. That changed in the second half but too often we were out jumped by the players in white. They only completed 9% of crosses at the end.
With all that being said, Everton travel away to Sunderland next week and have 8 days before that happens. Moyes needs to address the shortcomings of this match and get them ready to go when they meet the high flying Wearsiders.
