Everton (Home) 12.09.2026

As some fans from other countries don’t understand the concept of a goal-less draw being exciting, you couldn’t really say that this match was exciting, but it wasn’t boring.  Spurs started the game looking sharper than we have seen them play so far this season, while Everton set up like most Moyes teams, with defence uppermost in their mind.  Their one shot of the first half came from a soft free-kick 20 yards out that Kinsky had to dive low to his left to push wide in the second minute of added time.  You could see the players getting frustrated with the referee for his differing awards of free-kicks for the same offences.

Their only other attempt came in the 66th minute, when Kinsky played a short pass to Tonali just outside the box, but Dewsbury-Hall read it and got there first, but Toni had closed him down to block the shot with his leg.  The player who used to be Brennan Johnson showed what we aren’t missing, as we have plenty of players who can shoot over the bar from ten yards when it is easier to score.  That came just over ten minutes from the end and he was subbed off straight after the miss.  Jordan Pickford (England’s Number One ?) is known to be either over-confident or useless with the ball at his feet, so it was surprising that Tottenham didn’t press him harder but when they did, he slipped, shanking the ball low and Maddison stretched to intercept it 35 yards out.  The ball ran into the space where Savio was and he passed to Lucas Bergvall and he moved it forward to try to curl the ball inside the keeper’s left hand post, but Pickford redeemed himself by getting across to put it just wide of the upright.

Tottenham’s bright started promised much, but delivered little.  A free-kick for a tackle from behind by Armstrong on Marmoush, who had turned him with ease was played to the far post and van Hecke got there, but could only half-volley his shot over.  Tonali knocked a good ball to beyond the far post that Savio reached on the volley to lift it back into the middle of the box, but there was no white shirt there to get on the end of it, then van Hecke’s through pass to Fernandes on the edge of the box saw him opt not to take an early shot, but to take another touch which put the ball under his feet and allowed defenders to get close to him.  Savio looked like he had the beating of Mykolenko every time in the first 15 minutes, but then the supply line to him dried up.  Sandro was playing better than the previous matches and picked out a superb pass over the defence to pick out Archie Gray’s forward run, but as our right-back took a touch, Garner nicked it away from him for a corner.

Some of the hesitation in shooting was the inability to get a clear sight of goal with nine unusually green Everton shirts back behind the ball in their own box.  However, it is up to us to find a way around the low block and decision making when on the ball has to improve.  There were enough instances of finding some space wide as Everton packed the middle and our final ball wasn’t good enough.  Marmoush tried hard and perhaps rushed his shots when he had the opportunity, Solanke rarely got the service he needs and the passes we played were often short or not into the path of players, choosing the safe ball that was making them have to come back to get the ball instead of taking it in their stride.

Everton did have a chance just after half-time when George lifted a cross to the far post and Barry’s header went off for a corner off the face of Toni Kinsky who was close to him.  Tottenham’s next decent shot came in the 80th minute, with Savio looking to bend one in from the left side of the box, having been moved over to that wing after the substitutions.  However, Armstrong’s head diverted the ball fortunately for the visitors over the bar.

After the game, the media were raving about Branthwaite, but the Everton defence as a whole who stopped Spurs getting efforts on goal, as I don’t remember him being particularly outstanding.  And that applies to the majority of their players.  They are workmanlike with winger George looking like he could be nippy, but failed to produce much and lone attacker Barry unable to challenge for the ball without mauling either of our central defenders.  He should really consider a career in Greco-Roman wrestling.

As we have come to expect, the refereeing of the match was nothing but inconsistent.  Allowing Branthwaite to go right through Marmoush without so much as a free-kick.  A foul by Micky on Barry was given with the ball running to Archie who was smashed into by Armstrong, who is supposed to be the new wonder boy at the Toffees, but, from what I have seen of him, this is his MO, rather than being able to tackle within the laws of the game or to do much creatively.  Perhaps that is what Everton price highly in what makes him a talent.  Gray needed treatment and was holding his back for the remainder of the first half.  It was reckless by the Everton midfielder, which much of their tackling could fall into the same category, but writhing around under the slightest touch by the visitors gave them free-kicks according to the ref’s uneven judgement.  One second half incident when Spurs looked to break, off the ball Tarkowski pulled Marmoush through 360 degrees and even though the referee was looking the other way, the linesman should have spotted the foul.

While Spurs are not great at the moment, I would still want to watch them rather than Everton and the noises coming out of the Hill Dickinson that the fans are unhappy with the way their team are playing are probably testament to the dire fare they dished up today.  The few boos were from the very small minority of the Spurs contingent at the end of the match and the improvement may have been without reward, but if you can’t win, at least we didn’t lose.

• Tosin Adarabioyo makes his Spurs debut.
• This was the first ever 0-0 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
• The failure to score in the first four league games of the season is the first time this has happened in the club’s history.
• Jordan Pickford keeps his 100th Premier League clean sheet.