Everton (Away) 03.02.2024

Everton set up in a strange 4-4-1-1 formation, devised to stifle Tottenham’s attacking ambitions with the need for points desperate at Goodison Park and we could expect a “robust” approach from the Toffees.

As it turned out, we started very strongly, while Everton didn’t.  After just three minutes, working the ball down the left, Destiny Udogie did well to time his run to take Werner’s pass and his cross found Richarlison unmarked as he pulled back just outside the six yard box to strike a volley with his left foot past Pickford to give Spurs a very early lead. It was the goal of a player who is enjoying the confidence that a run of goals brings, making in eight in eight league games for the Brazilian.

While Calvert-Lewin put a header over the bar almost straight from the kick off, it was Spurs who were looking more determined and were winning the ball high up the pitch. When Garner passed straight to Johnson, the ball was passed inside to James Maddison and his shot was deflected wide for a corner that came out to Hojbjerg, but he sliced his shot high over the bar. In the 10th minute, the home fans raised yellow cards, which I thought were most likely to be for a foul by Ashley Young, but apparently were to protest about the Premier League’s 10 point
deduction because their club were unable to manage their finances properly.

Everton fans thought they had scored when Mykolenko crossed from the left to provide McNeil with a chance to volley at goal, but it his Jack Harrison in front of goal that gave Vicario the opportunity to claim it. However, both Mykolenko and Harrison had been offside, so it wouldn’t have counted if it had gone in.

Another incident baulking of Vicario by Harrison from a corner gave Tarkowski the far post header back across goal for Calvert-Lewin to head in from a couple of yards out, although it probably hit Harrison on the way in, with Richarlison having been pushed into the back of the net. It is becoming a tedious issue with players backing into the Spurs keeper to obstruct him and prevent him reaching the ball. I’m hoping that Micky can stand on opposing keeper to do the same if teams can get away with it.

The tempo of the game picked up as Everton tried to force the pace and Spurs were getting caught up in it, with mis-placed passes handing the flow of the game to them. There hadn’t been much of the ball in the Everton half during this phase of the game, which Spurs needed to do to put some pressure on the Everton defence and when they did, Richarlison got his second of the match. Moving the ball down the left, with Werner, he pulled the ball back to Maddison just outside the box and he moved the ball half a yard to his right and Richi curled a first-time shot past Mykolenko, who got out of the way of it and wide enough to be out of Pickford’s reach to make it 2-1.  Again, it was a confident and instinctive finish from a player on the top of his form.

Romero was sloppy when he passed the ball straight to Gueye, but it was lucky that it was him, as he dallied on the ball and Hojbjerg got back to divert it for a corner. From it, they played the ball deep, with Harrison getting in Vicario’s way again and when the header came in from Godfrey, Guglielmo saved it and then he kicked it away while he was on the floor to stop Harrison tapping it into the net.  It was great credit to Vicario that his reactions were so sharp as to be able to make the double save. Branthwaite was fouling Maddison before the ball came in and then swung a foot at the ball, but only caught James on the knee to give away a free-kick. The game was quite stop-start at his stage and Tottenham’s concession of corners was providing the home team with the few opportunities they created.

The second half started with Everton fans finding lots to boo about, although I’m not sure what it was about.

Bentancur gave the ball away needlessly on a couple of occasions as he tried to move the ball on to team-mates, but a move which involved Spurs winning a number of tackles ended with Porro’s shot forcing Pickford to dive to his left to push it wide for a corner. It didn’t clear the man at the near post, but Spurs won another corner that brought a brief VAR as Garner pulled down Micky van de Ven. Micky was so quick to recover when Harrison ran onto a long ball and looked like he might get a shot away as he reached the box but van de Ven slid the ball away for a corner. This time it went deep and Guglielmo came out to take it high above his head beyond the far post.

Maddison put Werner away with a pass inside the full back to bring a save from Pickford, but he had been offside as his run took him past the last man before the pass was made. Then Johnson got away on the right, playing a ball across the box intended for Timo, but Godfrey got back to give away a corner. The Everton keeper had to dive full length to his left to beat out a powerful drive by Maddison after Godfrey’s defensive header went straight to him just outside the box. When Godfrey tried to get on the end of a long ball down their right, Micky tracked him and won a goal-kick off the Everton man, who told the linesman what he thought of the decision in foul-mouthed terms, getting him a yellow card for his protests.

With 63 minutes gone, Johnson made way for Kulusevski and Pape Sarr returned to Tottenham action, coming on for Bentancur. Spurs made a great move, winning the ball in the middle of the pitch and Kulusevski slipping a pass outside Branthwaite for Richarlison to shoot early with his right foot, making Pickford save once more.  Dyche was getting in the ear of the fourth official when Tarkowski elbowed Richarlison in the back of the head. It wasn’t a foul but a blow to the head means the referee will usually stop the game. Perhaps too many knocks to the head have caused the Everton manager’s angry demeanour.

The detestable Young made way for Youssef Chermiti to come off the bench, with Dyche looking to get something out of the game with 10 minutes left. Then Beto and Dobbin came on five minutes later with the useless Calvert-Lewin going off and McNeil, who had been disappointing, joining him. Ange countered with Maddison and Werner going off to give Oliver Skipp and Bryan Gil a few minutes at the end of the game.

With a couple of minutes left, Dobbin crossed into the box and Chermiti tried to play the ball at goal with the outside of his right foot, but it went straight at Vicario, lacking conviction to finish what was a great chance.  Hojbjerg was taken off to bring Radu Dragusin into play as the clock approached 90 minutes, with seven minutes to be added on. A cross into the box from Harrison saw Gueye go down as he ran in with Dragusin, causing Dyche to erupt with rage when nothing was given. He blew up again when Beto ran into Dragusin and saw yellow for seeing red.

A really unnecessary free-kick given away by Kulusevski was played in and Branthwaite bundled the ball in at the far post for a last gasp goal. VAR had a good look at it, with the scorer looking offside, but it appeared they were looking at the initial ball in.

This match was reminiscent of the game last season when Everton got a point they didn’t deserve, but conceding two goals from set-pieces was poor from Spurs and was the only way the home side were going to score. Everton were bad during most of the game and it was difficult to determine whether the boos were for their own players or ours at the end. It is hard to see how they might survive this season unless there are three worse teams than them, as they lack quality all over the pitch.

They may be fortunate in that respect, but they won’t meet teams who are not performing that well and get away with it like they did today.  Their only threat was from set-pieces and we weren’t smart enough to defend them sufficiently well to keep them out.  It was naïve of Deki to try and win a ball he had no chance of getting in the dying minutes and this is probably one of the things that Postecoglou was referring to in his after-match comments about lessons to be learned.  Get goal-side and make it hard for the opposition.  The tackle was probably borne of frustration at not being able to retain the ball, but keeping a clear mind in moments of danger would have helped deal with the situation.

The spells of passing we did produce saw the team ease through the Everton lines, which were wide apart and they lacked any defensive discipline.  The fact that we didn’t take advantage of the space available meant that the result was always on a knife-edge, despite being the better side when not playing great.

The point keeps us up there, but Villa’s win later in the day put them back in fourth and the match we have against them in a few weeks time could be crucial to both team’s ambitions.

Ted Maul

• Spurs scored in their 17th consecutive away game.
• This goal was Spurs the 35th consecutive PL match they have scored in – extending the club record for scoring in consecutive league matches.
• Dominic Calvert-Lewin made his 200th Premier League appearance.