Though they went behind to Kevin Mirallas’ superb strike, Spurs played at a ferocious pace and Everton could not cope, goals from Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado giving them a well-deserved win
Well, I don’t think anyone expected that from Spurs. I don’t think anyone ever expects that from Spurs,. It’s true that they - well, Bentaleb and Mason - faded in the second half, but, by then, they’d already shaped the game and inspired the crowd. It’s taken a few months, but Mauricio Pochettino has now found the men to effect his method.
Everton, meanwhile, also played well enough, but with Barry not matchfit and McCarthy missing, couldn’t win enough possession for their attacking players to thrive. They drop to tenth in the table, while Spurs are 7th, just two points off Man United in 4th.
90+3 min Now Spurs break, and Kane is in the inside-right position, 30 yards out. Steaming forwards, he ignores Paulinho to his left and goes outside Besic. Thew two then tumble - either Besic does just enough to put doubt in the mind of the ref, or Kane curls his leg around Besic’s to make it look like a foul. Either way, no penalty is the call, and it looks a good one.
90+2 min Spurs try holding the ball in the corner, and then, when Everton break, Eriksen makes sure to trip Coleman. He’s booked.
90 min There shall be three added minutes.
90 min Everton win a free-kick on right, down the side of the box, and perfect for Baines to chwip in. He duly does, and Lukaku is up, heading into Fazio’s raised hand - that’s a penalty, except that it isn’t, because none of the officials fancy it.
88 min Dier does well to flick away a cross, and Everton have corner down the left. Barkley to take it, and Dier is there again, heading clear from the front post and finding Lamela. He tries to run his man, but lacks the pace and power, and also leaves a few studs in on Baines - that could easily have been a second yellow card.
87 min Still smarting, Lamela crunches into Baines ankles, and is booked.
86 min Spurs break, and Eriksen, accelerating through the centre-circle, espies Lamela, releasing a ball into his path - but he’s not strong enough, so is seen away by Distin.
84 min Paulinho’s done really well in the few minutes he’s been on, and finds possession again, this time on the right touchline, around halfway. Looking up and seeing Lamela, he arcs a low pass into his stride, but it’s marginally overhit, so when Lamela lunges, so too does Jagielka, and the danger is averted.
Ross Barkley vies with Tottenham Hotspur defenders Federico Fazio and Ben Davies.
82 min Barkley tries a square pass that Paulinho reads intercepting and bursting forwards. He seeks Kane, who holds up and eventually reinforcements arrive - Spurs have kept attacks going really well. This one ends with Paulinho crossing from the right by-line, and earns a corner, clipped towards the near post and cleared well by Barry.
80 min For all Spurs have been excellent, they remain one spursy moment away from ruining everything. In the meantime, Paulinho replaces Soldado.
77 min Everton have Spurs pinned back, but are principally passing side-to-side. Then, Lamela sticks Barkley on the ankle, and Everton have a chance to get the ball into the box - the free-kick is dead centre, but 40 yards out. So Baines dinks it towards the right-hand post, but someone has strayed offside, and Spurs bustle forward again.
75 min “An irrelevant story from New Zealand,” says Peter. “I became a Spurs fan of sorts after reading a book on football by Martin Peters when I was a kid. The only thing I remember about it now is that Peters marvelled at the peripheral vision of Jimmy Greaves who, he said, used to read a book as he drove to work. His peripheral vision was so good that he didn’t need to concentrate on the road. As I was a non-driver at the time I didn’t have a chance to see if I could do the same. However, I did manage to read books on my lap at school when I was supposed to be listening to the teacher. I’ll try the driving and reading thing today and let you know how it goes.”
That’s exceptional. I’d be keen to see him try that as an excuse.
73 min Everton are having a spell, and Barkley clips a ball through for Coleman - it runs from outside the box and inside Davies, meeting a run from wide. But again, Lloris is out as quickly as you like, conceding a corner. Then, Fazio heads away - no longer does he appear named after a verb.
69 min Chiriches hurts himself, and Dier - his name a byline for Spurs season, until this last week - replaces him. Good of him to step-in at full-back, given his beckenbauerian persuasion.
67 min Everton sweep forwards with Barkley, who spreads wide for McGeady - where he encounters Davies, who bites into two slides challenges that get the crowd on their feet. I’ve not seen Spurs play like this for a very long time indeed, and if they can maintain this kind of intensity subsequently, they’ll be a hard night for anyone.
66 min A couple of touches from Lamela suggest that he’s enjoyed what he’s seen from the bench. Nothing fancy, but two firm passes on the touchline, played with confidence and purpose.
64 min “Has it really taken Pochettino four months to realise Davies is a better full-back than Rose, Lennon a more consistent player than Townsend ever will be, that neither captain Kaboul or vice-captain Adebayor should start, and that two young midfielders who cost nothing might seem to be more interested than in passing to someone in the same colour shirt than Paulihino and Dembele ?” rhetorically wonders John Tumbridge.
The first of those is really not easy to grasp, given it was he who signed Davies. Otherwise, it’s about balance, and while it’s true that Bentaleb and Mason offer it as players, I can see why the knowhow of more experienced players was preferred in the first instance.
62 min Two changes for Everton - on come Osman and McGeady, off go Mirallas and Eto’o. Tottenham, meanwhile, replace Lennon with Lamela.
59 min Kane is brilliantly persistent, overrunning the ball but scavenging hard to win it back, eventually forcing Barry to foul him. The free-kick is 25 yards out, right of the box, and Eriksen hits it into the wall, but Spurs keep at it - another move, beginning with Davies on the left, has Kane teeing up Mason, who panels a shot just over the bar without breaking stride.
57 min Spurs force a corner on the right, taken short to Mason. He knocks a return to Eriksen, now with a better angle for a cross, and he arcs a low one for Fazio at the near post. Aiming to use its pace to guide a finish inside the far post, he mainly misses, and Kane can’t quite run it in when it arrives in the vicinity anyway.
56 min Eriksen sways in off the left and shoots low and hard, the ball scooshing just wide. Then, Everton break with Mirallas, who’s pulled back by Chiriches, who’s booked by the referee.
54 min I wonder if Pochettino will remove a striker to insert another man into midfield at some point - but, in the meantime, Davies progresses down the left and whips over a high cross that Soldado sees first, leaping early and nodding goalwards. But he can’t impart requisite pressure, and the ball skids wide.
52 min A hopeful ball by Chiriches is misread by England’s Phil Jagielka, and Soldado nips it away from him. But he’s not the pace to go clear, and Coleman nashes over to cover, stepping in front to avert the danger.
50 min More pressure from Everton, led by Coleman, his low cross turned away. But Everton regain possession when Chiriches’ long pass, looking for Kane, is cut out by Besic, and he immediately launches an attack. By the look of it, some strong words have been dispensed in the Everton changing room.
48 min Everton attack down the right, through Coleman, and it’s their first real movement in quite some time. The ball’s seen out for a throw on the opposite side, and Everton maintain pressure, a long cross headed back by Baines for Eto’o - only for Vertonghen to insert himself between them, heading powerfully clear.
47 min “Nice to see Soldado get a good goal finally. Also great seeing Lennon back starting. He brings an energy which has been missing. Unusual email, I know, a Spurs fan happy.....so far.”
Everton haven’t been able to cope with the pace. Lamela is all very well, but in England, it’s hard to integrate that kind of player into a struggling team, because there isn’t enough time on the ball.
46 min And off we go again.
Half-time: Spurs 2-1 Everton
Spurs have outworked, outfought and outplayed Everton so far. Even when they were behind, their passing was crisp, and the ferocity of their running has been more than Everton can handle. In particular, Bentaleb and Mason have excelled, but Lennon and Kane have also forced a faster game than Barry, in particular, would like, and it’s hard to see how Roberto Martinez can alter the flow of things. On the other hand, Spurs are still Spurs.
GOAL! Spurs 2-1 Everton (Soldado 45+1)
Barry dawdles in possession 40 yards out, and Kane sneaks up on him from behind, biting at his heels, winning the ball and diverting it into the path of Lennon. Suddenly, five white shirts fly forward, Lennon nudges right as he reaches the edge of the box, and with an obvious square pass awaiting him, Soldado retains the confidence and composure to ignore it, leaning right and slotting left to beat Howard for his first league goal in nine months. What a half from Spurs!
45 min There shall be one added minute.
44 min Roberto Martinez will need to do something about this at half-time - drop Barkley deeper, perhaps, because his other options - taking one of Mirallas, Lukaku or Eto’o off - won’t appeal at all. Maybe he’ll just order them to play better.
42 min Lovely feet from Bentaleb just outside the Everton box, taking possession from Kane and wriggling past a tackle before nudging a through-pass aimed at Kane into Dinstin’s shins. Then, when Everton break, Lennon and Mason dash after Mirallas, bully the ball from him, and set up another attack - brilliant stuff - while Mirallas is booked for a foul on Lennon.
41 min I can’t remember the last time I saw Tottenham play with such confidence. Not sure Dembele and Paulinho will be required in the immediate future.
39 min “The Ross Barkley love in is all well and good,” says Duncan Smith, “but like Gascoigne he really fades in and out of games. I hope he gets his head down and learns from his elders in Osman, Barry and Pienaar. Kane on the other hand is single handedly taking this game to Everton. I’m sure Arsenal fans would also like to see him playing alongside Welbeck.”
Barkely is still very young - it’s fair that he doesn’t dictate games yet, and likewise, though Kane had a brilliant ten minutes, he won’t exert than influence for the next hour either.
37 min Besic, with plenty of space and time, heads back to Howard, either failing to spot Soldado, or failing to see him as a threat. He’s alive to the slight, and in position to control the ball as it drops - but his first touch is poor, allowing Lloris to clear.
36 min Everton have barely mustered an attack since the equaliser.
34 min Mason finds Lennon on the right, and he nips inside across the face of the box, teeing up Eriksen for a shot. It arrives instantly, zipping low and hard, but is deflected behind for a corner - which comes to nothing.
32 min There’s a lot to be said for shoving a load of young players into a struggling football team. Obviously it helps if they can play, but in any event, they immediately have the patience of the crowd, and supply intensity, desire, purpose and pace, hard to play against whoever you are.
30 min More from young Harold! Taking possession on halfway, just to the right of the centre-circle, he guzzles up grass and ducks inside, the pitch suddenly opening up for him. Arriving at the edge of the box with Barry and Besic doing who knows what, this time, he doesn’t get the run he needed from Soldado, and ends up sidefooting a tame one straight at Howard.
29 min More from young Harold, motoring through midfield, this time at inside-right, and finding Bentaleb on his left. It then finds its way back to him, and, facing the touchline, he flicks body and foot around into a chip form outside the box, that’s onloy just over the bar.
27 min Harry Kane is extremely likeable; I’d love to see him play up front with Danny Welbeck. Anyway, he forages for the ball at inside-left, bundling through various tackles without ever quite having control, until, eventually, he’s crowded out.
24 min “I’m looking forward to what Michael Oliver might have in store for us today,” says JR in Illinois. “Already the author of some of the worst decisions of the year (such as giving Moses a penalty when he dived against Swansea and three penalties not given to City in the Manchester derby) he has been one-upped by Mike Jones earlier today. If he wants to keep a place on my fantasy referee team he’s going to have to step it up today.”
I’m probably alone in this, but I think Michael Oliver will, eventually, be one of the better ones. Not much of an accolade, it’s true.
GOAL! Spurs 1-1 Everton (Eriksen, 22)
But for the fact that it arrived, this was not coming, therefore, here it is. Spurs play nicely through midfield, Bentaleb finding Kane, and as Soldado takes two men away - he’s great as long as the ball avoids him - Kane ducks inside a challenge, and from 20 yards, near enough dead centre, thwacks a shot at goal. Howard dives, and, as is his wont, shovels it out into play - to where Eriksen is loitering, left of goal and eight yards out. As defenders converge on the near post, he whips into the ground and towards the far post, which is where the ball eventually lollops.
18 min Superb keeping from Lloris, who, in time, will surely rival Neville Southall as the best Welsh goalkeeper of all-time. Chiriches, out on the right touchliner, is mercilessly harried by Barkley, and eventually underhits a backpass. Lukaku latches onto it immediately, but Lloris sprints off his line and humps it into touch.
WHAT A GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Everton 1 (Mirallas, 14)
This is as astoundingly, spellbindingly, monumentally, invigoratingly, thrillingly, expletively wonderful piece of goal. Everton win a free-kick on the left corner of the box, Mirallas and Baines behind it. Mirallas curls it in, and it’s headed back to him, bouncing in front. He then leaps into a touch that nudges it away from Soldado, who, if we’re being critical, was a little keen to present it his buttocks - but he can’t be held responsible for what happens next. Mirallas turns onto his left foot, nips back outside onto his right, then adjusts his body in order to murder a curler into the far corner, in off the bar. Wow.
12 min Spurs are passing really when - the pairing of Mason and Bentaleb gives them real energy, and also a fearlessness that is not exactly a club characteristic. After a period of sustained possession, the ball goes right to Chiriches, whose cross is booted up in the air, more or less, which allows Howard to claim easily. But they’re growing in confidence.
10 min “I was at that match in ‘85, Southall’s save exemplified the self-belief that coursed through them. I’ll never see a better side”, weeps Gary Naylor.
I don’t know - if Martinez can hang onto this lot for two more years, they might get to that level, even if they don’t win a title.
8 min It’s very hard not to see Paul Gascoigne in Ross Barkley - the balls-out, buccaneering style, the physical power and surprising pace. And he surges through midfield, retreating, turning, performing into a figure-eight, and leaving two Spurs stragglers on the way out. Then looking to slip a ball between centre-back and left-back for Eto’o. It’s blocked, though, and eventually bumbles its way to Lukaku, who scuffs a shot. Barkley, though.
6 min Lukaku drifts left, and flicks a pass down the line with the outside of his right foot, seeking Mirallas. But Chiriches is wise to the ruse, and sees it out for a throw - after which Everton pass some more, before Baines and Lukaku exchange passes, Baines steps inside Chriches, who slides into a lunge, and Mirallas is teed up to larrup high and wide from the edge of the box.
5 min “If Spurs win by a margin of more than seven goals they’ll be above the Arse! Ok, I’m going back behind the sofa....” So says David Whittle, who may or may not own a sofa.
3 min Spurs are chasing with far greater alacrity than last week at Hull, pressurising the Everton defenders in possession - rather like Southampton did. Perhaps Pochettino feels that with Kane, Bentaleb and Mason, he now has players fit enough to do the necessary running.
1 min Everton foray along the right, Seamus Coleman burrowing forward past Eriksen and looking to exchange passes with Ross Barkley. But Spurs do just enough to hold things up, and eventually get the ball away.
So, Mauricio Pochettino selects the team that finished last Sunday’s win at Hull - only with Bentaleb rewarded for a strong midweek effort, replacing Paulinho, and Soldado back for Lamela.
Everton, meanwhile, mix and match - they were superb at Wolfsburg on Thursday night, so Besic keeps his place, while Barry returns earlier than expected, replacing the injured McCarthy. Samuel Eto’o, who only played the last 20 minutes in Germany, resumes in his new role behind Lukaku; what a player he still is.
Is the never-released final verse to a song by Billy Joel, and also a list of things that shriek 1980s. Similarly, the term “big five”, formerly used as collective noun for England’s best football clubs - or more properly, those who got to pick up that which Liverpool left behind. And included amongst them were both Spurs and Everton, winners of European trophies during the period, who then performed the laudable trick of being usurped by no one.
Now, though, with their notional places taken by Chelsea and Manchester City, the slog to regain their status is a forlorn one. The moment a player becomes too good for them he leaves, and because exceptional seasons require exceptional circumstances, they remain the exception.
But both are doing their best. Though Spurs haven’t shown much in the way of quality recently, they have discovered a spirit hidden hitherto, while Everton now play better football that any time in the past 30 years. And, while it’s unlikely that either will finish the season in the top-four, each can use the league to groove a team for Uefa Cup - and there’s nothing more 80s than that.
Kick-off: 4pm
Thanks to the Guardian for this weeks report
