Tottenham cling on to beat battling Everton thanks to Son and Vicario
It was an afternoon when Tottenham scored their goals early and found that they were enough. They came from the former Everton striker Richarlison, for whom it is now four in three games, and the inevitable Son Heung-min. So, three Premier League wins out of three for Ange Postecoglou’s team; their recent wobble feeling further and further away.
It barely scratched the surface in terms of the real story, which was one of increasing Everton domination bringing a finale loaded with drama. Everton’s four-game winning streak is over but, in the heat of the moment, it was difficult to work out how. Put it down to the fine margins being against them. And an impressive performance from the Spurs goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario.
Everton had fumed when a Dominic Calvert-Lewin finish was disallowed by the VAR for a foul in the buildup by the substitute André Gomes, who played his first football of the season. But when Gomes scored the goal that they deserved in the 82nd minute, banging home after a corner had been half-cleared to him on the right of the area, it was the trigger for the Spurs crowd to live on the end of their nerves.
Arnaut Danjuma, who was on loan at Spurs for the second half of last season, was the central figure. On as a substitute, he worked Vicario with one shot and lifted another over the bar. Everton also saw a James Tarkowski header cleared off the line by Ben Davies before, at the bitter end, Danjuma thought he had found the equaliser.
Stealing in up the left, he hammered a volley up and against the crossbar and down into Vicario’s leg. The offside flag went up but he looked to be onside. So, did the ball cross the line? By the tiniest of margins, the technology said no. Spurs were overwhelmed by relief.
Everton had brought the equal third-best defensive record in the division to London – four consecutive clean sheets, too – and their idea was to continue making hay in the capital after the wins against Brentford, West Ham and Crystal Palace this season. Yet they would be breached in the early running, Richarlison continuing his hot streak to bite hard on the hand that once fed.
Everton had served notice of what was to come when they rushed forward on seven minutes through Dwight McNeil, who found Dominic Calvert-Lewin; Cristian Romero tore back to make an important defensive challenge. Spurs would make their punches count on the next surge.
The incision up the inside right was created by a Pape Sarr pass and a dummy from Oliver Skipp. Brennan Johnson was in and his low cross was made to measure for Richarlison, who had run away from Tarkowski.
Postecoglou’s tactic of getting his full-backs high up and across, of flooding other runners up the channels, especially Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski, gave Everton a problem at the outset. Spurs almost made it 2-0 when Emerson Royal, who filled in at left-back, sprinted on to a Son pass up the left to cross for Johnson, who lifted over. When Spurs next got in up the other side, they did give themselves a cushion.
Calvert-Lewin had failed to summon the needed power on a header when well-placed which allowed Vicario to save; a decent chance passed up. Now Spurs turned the screw after a smart short corner. It was Kulusevski who played the pass up the channel to Johnson, who watched Jordan Pickford beat away his shot. Son returned the rebound with interest from 12 yards.
Everton gathered themselves and it is little exaggeration to say that from about the 40th minute, the game was all them. With McNeil to the fore and Calvert-Lewin getting into dangerous positions, they enjoyed a patch of deep purple at the end of the first half. Spurs were indebted to Vicario for big saves to deny James Garner and Jack Harrison.
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Calvert-Lewin had cut one back for Harrison only to miss him narrowly and there was also the bizarre moment when, with an extra ball on the field to the left of the Spurs box, Vitalii Mykolenko ran on to a cross from Nathan Patterson into precisely the same area. Which ball to hit? He chose the active one but dragged it wide. Weirdly, he also fell into the inactive one. “Two balls and you still can’t score,” chortled the Spurs support.
Postecoglou was without eight players through injury and suspension, and Romero would not emerge after half-time, having tweaked a hamstring. On came Eric Dier for only his third appearance of the season. Makeshift barely described the Spurs defence for the second half.
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It is fair to say that Everton have been on the wrong end of decisions from the authorities in recent weeks. They suffered again here in the 50th minute, Calvert-Lewin seeing a smart finish pulled back by the VAR after he was slipped in by Gomes, who had replaced the injured Idrissa Gueye.
Vicario played Emerson into trouble and Gomes robbed him – illegally, it would be decided. There was contact and yet it felt as though Emerson was looking for it. Are these the kind of borderline interventions that we want from VAR?
Everton continued to push. Garner took down a lovely chip from Harrison and banged a shot off the outside of the far post and, after Kulusevski had worked Pickford at the other end, nobody could argue that the visitors were not value for their goal. Try as they did, they could not add to it.