Everton 3-2 Tottenham: Spurs slump to ANOTHER defeat as pressure builds on Ange Postecoglou after rejuvenated Toffees' first-half blitz
Tottenham suffered another setback after losing 3-2 to Everton at Goodison Park
David Moyes' side scored three goals in the first half to wrap up the points
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Of all the ways Tottenham have found to lose games during this awful midwinter demise this is a strong contender to be the worst.
Worse than the tame surrender at Arsenal on Wednesday. Worse than humbling defeats on home soil against Chelsea, Newcastle or struggling Ipswich. Worse than the six-goal hammering at home to Liverpool.
Two late goals flattered the performance. They were three down by halfway against an Everton team who had forgotten how to score and had not beaten Spurs at Goodison Park since David Moyes was in charge the first time around.
With Moyes back on the touchline for the second game of his second coming, they sensed weakness in their visitors, set about them and although they probably went down through the gears too soon, they ended a run of six without defeat in the Premier League.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin led the goal rush, playing like a ‘real centre forward’ according to Moyes.
Iliman Ndiaye conjured a wonderful solo goal albeit with minimal resistance, Archie Gray stuck one in his own net just before half time and Spurs had a series of saves by goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to thank for limiting the damage.
Ange Postecoglou’s tactical plan to cover the holes in a team depleted by 10 absentees with a change of formation went badly wrong.
They fared better after the interval with Dejan Kulusevski launching a belated fightback in the 77th minute with a delicate, clip over a crowd of players, to spark a late flurry, and Richarlison bundling in another from close range in stoppage time.
Nerves jangled around the stadium, but Everton had done enough and Moyes basked in the grand old Goodison roar once again.
Tottenham returned to the capital fortunate not to be nursing a more embarrassing results, and nobody in the away end was fooled. They were rolling through the protest songs about chairman Daniel Levy, who looked on impassively from the VIP seats.
For all the goodwill about his style of play and understanding at boardroom level that injuries have made circumstances very difficult, pressure is building on Postecoglou ahead of a trip to Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday.
Tottenham, with all their Champions League pretensions, are 15th in the Premier League and Everton, one place behind, are up and running under Moyes. Every other team in the bottom eight, except Spurs and Ipswich have changed managers and the Australian knows he cannot carry on losing.
Fresh injuries to Brennan Johnson, Yves Bissouma and Dominic Solanke rocked Postecoglou just as he dared to think his crisis might be easing and his bench told the story. There was a fourth-choice goalkeeper, six teenagers with one Premier League start between them, a left-back they've been trying to sell for two years and Richarlison.
It forced Postocoglou into a reshuffle. With Ben Davies back, he changed the Spurs shape to a back three with wing backs and Heung-min Son up front through the centre with James Maddison and Kulusevski in support.
The plan, however, backfired. Tottenham could find no fluency and Everton seized control to the delight of the home crowd. Antonin Kinsky made a flying save from Jesper Lindstrom, the first of many, but was helpless and Calvert-Lewin found the net.
Idrissa Gueye threaded a pass into his feet and the centre forward twisted Gray one way and then the other before hammering a shot low past Kinsky. It was his first goal for four months and a goal to bring confidence surging through Goodison Park against frail opponents.
Kinsky made another flying fine save to turn a shot by Orel Mangala onto a post and was back on his feet to keep out a header by Calvert-Lewin as the ball was quickly delivered back into the penalty area.
The Spurs keeper then dashed from his line to foil Calvert-Lewin again, this time bursting clear on goal but let down by his second touch, off a knee. Kinsky came out of smother but Everton’s second came on the half hour.
Gueye slid a quick pass to Ndiaye midfield and he accelerated away, meeting no resistance until he was on the edge of the penalty area, where he threw an extravagant stepover to beat Radu Dragusin and crashed a shot high into the net.
The third was an own goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half added after Dragusin required lengthy treatment for a head injury after being caught by a stray arm from Calvert-Lewin.
James Tarkowski, who had just been foiled by another Kinksy save, headed a cross square from deep, Calvert-Lewin glanced it on and Gray, facing his own goal as he tried to recover, kneed it into his own net in the chaos.
It summed up a miserable first half for the visitors. They flickered briefly at one down, when Jordan Pickford made two saves from Son but Everton dominated the first half.
Dragusin did not return for the second half and Spurs reverted to the more familiar 433 formation with Richarlison on to lead the line.
They improved. Richarlison added aggression, Mikey Moore came on to offer threat on the left flank and they all seemed more comfortable in a more familiar system.
But there was no miraculous recovery. This goes down as a huge win for Everton and they try to escape another relegation under Moyes.
And it goes down as a huge defeat for the visitors as they slither inconceivably closer to the relegation places.
