Everton returned to their new home after a 2-0 away defeat to Manchester City, eager to continue their unbeaten start at the docks. David Moyes named his preferred attacking trio of Illiman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Jack Grealish, who was restored to the side.
An unfortunate common theme this season for the Blues has been missing early chances, and this game was no different. After three minutes of play, Ndiaye drove down the right and picked out Beto. This began a sequence of three big chances that could have let the crowd erupt, but a mixture of fluffed lines and heroic defending ensured the scoreboard stayed how it was. First came Beto, who couldn’t connect with the cross after a tussle with Kevin Danso. Then, as the ball popped out to Grealish, his goal-bound effort was blocked by Pedro Porro. Finally, Dewsbury-Hall sliced his shot high and wide.
Despite a bright start from Moyes’s men, it was the visitors who took the lead after 19 minutes. As was to be the theme of the afternoon, Everton failed to deal with a corner and allowed Micky Van der Ven to wheel away in celebration after heading the ball home from a yard away. Everton responded well, and created half chances, notably a long-range strike from James Garner, palmed away by the goalkeeper who was in inspired form. From the following corner, Jake O’Brien found the net after a near post header; however, after a tedious review, Ndiaye and Grealish were deemed to be offside after interfering with the keeper.
A late second goal of the half killed the mood at the break, as yet another corner resulted in the Spurs players running towards Van der Ven in jubilation. Although there were no real complaints by Pickford himself, the replays did show a push on England’s number one but the VAR didn’t favour the Toffees once more.
The second half was mainly attack vs defence, with the visitors happy to concede possession. Ndiaye was a bright spark – as he has been over recent weeks – and once again forced the issue by running down the right-hand side and found Beto with a cross. The forward, with his back to goal, attempted a spectacular overhead kick and was only denied a special moment by a reactionary save down to his left by Vicario. In truth, it was Tottenham who had the better of the chances from then on. Richarlison failed to convert after Tarkowski mistakenly flicked it on for the Brazilian, but Pape Mate Sarr couldn’t miss his opportunity six yards out to ensure Everton’s home record came to an abrupt end. The Blues were unfortunate to lose by three, however defensive frailties and striker woes continue to haunt Moyes.
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