Tottenham Hotspur v Everton: Premier League – as it happened via The Guardian
Tottenham fended off a late Everton revival to make it a club record nine home wins in a row with two goals from Harry Kane and one from Dele Alli, putting a degree of pressure on leaders Chelsea
3.25pm GMT
The first thing to say about that is that Tottenham thoroughly deserved the win. The second is that I really can’t tell you how Everton scored two goals. The third is that Harry Kane is brilliant. Tottenham go seven points behind Chelsea; they were superb at times and, even if Pochettino won’t like the way they conceded the goals, look a thrilling force at the moment. Everton didn’t really turn up for most of that, Koeman’s tactic of packing the midfield rendered null and void early on. They did make a game of it in the last 10, but not really a lot they can take from this.
That’ll do from me. Now,
join Jacob Steinberg for Sunderland v Man City. Bye!
3.22pm GMT
Well that became rather more interesting than seemed likely. Tottenham win – nine in a row at home!
3.21pm GMT
… is it? Immediately Everton win a deep free-kick, it’s delivered into the box and Valencia, inexplicably unmarked, sweeps it home to general confusion!
3.20pm GMT
Janssen wins a foul from Funes Mori just outside the right corner of their box and Spurs are happy to take their sweet time over it. But then they spring into life: Winks flips it forward to the darting Alli, who dinks a delightful, subtle finish past Robles. Game over! Or …
3.17pm GMT
90 min: Kane goes off! And … Janssen comes on! Amid all this excitement we have four added minutes to play.
3.17pm GMT
89 min: Oooh … Valencia chases a long, long ball forward, it bounces in that awkward zone just outside the area and Lloris is a bit slow coming out. Valencia thrusts his head towards the ball and beats Lloris to it … but propels it well wide.
3.15pm GMT
89 min: Funes Mori puts a horrible pass out of play by halfway. That burst of energy Everton had after the goal may have fizzled out.
3.13pm GMT
87 min: Kane tries again, curling wide of the top corner with his left foot. Clearly wants that third. Now it’s the end of Eriksen, as he is replaced by Moussa Sissoko.
3.12pm GMT
86 min: Barkley does well, crosses towards Lukaku and Alderweireld hacks behind for a corner. Tottenham are rocking! Lloris does the necessary though, with a firm punch.
3.11pm GMT
85 min: White Hart Lane is now palpably full of concern. This had all looked so comfortable; it might be anything but for the next 10 minutes or so.
3.10pm GMT
84 min: Lukaku, freshly confident, tries a left-footed effort from just inside the box but it glances off Dier and Lloris dives onto it at the near post.
3.09pm GMT
82 min: Kane could, maybe should, get that hat-trick though after an error by Funes Mori, finding himself clear on the right but seeing Robles save well from his attempted dink.
3.08pm GMT
82 min: Enner Valencia replaces Gueye and now Everton might feel they can go for it.
3.08pm GMT
81 min: There appears to be little danger as Lukaku receives the ball 30 yards out, faced by Vertonghen. But the centre-back, otherwise immaculate, stumbles and Lukaku takes full advantage – running powerfully through and finishing clinically. Game, against all odds, on!
3.07pm GMT
Well!
3.06pm GMT
80 min: Kane tries a spectacular volley for yet another hat-trick, but Williams deflects it wide. Eriksen takes the corner, receives Walker’s return pass and – in tonnes of space – thuds the ball against the legs of Robles. Another flag kick … and this time Funes Mori defends it.
3.04pm GMT
78 min: Here comes Harry Winks, replacing Dembele. It’s getting towards that time when we start asking after Vincent Janssen, isn’t it?
3.03pm GMT
77 min: Oh, better from Coleman here, a purposeful run across Dembele – who bundles him over just outside the box and is rightly booked. Barkley can deliver … but his cutback to Mirallas is behind the substitute and, while he adjusts himself to shoot, the angle is unfavourable and it’s easily blocked.
3.02pm GMT
76 min: One thing I’d say here is that Pochettino has made a rather better pitch for the Barcelona job than Koeman. Hmmmm?
3.01pm GMT
75 min: I remember saying this a week ago, and I’ll say it again – I think everyone involved would gladly see full-time now.
2.58pm GMT
72 min: Coleman, who has not had a good game, is afforded the chance to cross from a good position with bodies lurking in the middle but sends it behind the goal.
2.57pm GMT
71 min: Another shot! Barkley gives and goes with Mirallas but is falling as he shoots and scoops the ball into Lloris’ hands from 18 yards.
2.56pm GMT
70 min: A shot! By Everton! It doesn’t go near the goal, as Mirallas’ effort deflects off – I think – Dier and dribbles harmlessly to the left of the box where Lloris collects. But it’s a goal attempt. In the 70th minute.
2.55pm GMT
69 min: Vertonghen has another go upfield, marauding unchallenged until Funes Mori blocks on the edge of the box.
2.53pm GMT
67 min: Will Everton rouse themselves here or will this one play itself out limply, much as Tottenham’s crushing of Stoke did last week? At the moment I know which of those my money is on.
2.51pm GMT
65 min: Barkley sends Coleman scampering to the line and he manages to send a ball across – but only into the clutches of Lloris.
2.50pm GMT
64 min: Off goes Tom Davies, on comes Mirallas. Off goes Barry – that one didn’t really work, did it? – on comes James McCarthy.
2.49pm GMT
63 min: Have Everton had a single shot here? I don’t think they have. Mirallas is, indeed, being readied to come on and try and change that.
2.47pm GMT
61 min: If you were Ronald Koeman you might perhaps want to make an attacking change around now.
2.46pm GMT
59 min: So slack from Everton, so clinical from Tottenham and testament to their intensity. Now the hosts win another corner but can’t make it count. Really hard to see this game turning round now.
2.44pm GMT
Everton are the architects of their own downfall as Robles rolls the ball to Schneiderlin, who really doesn’t want it midway inside his own half and tries to shuttle it on to Williams. Nothing doing: Alli is in there to smother like a flash, stealing the ball and playing in Kane to his left. You never for one moment expect the striker to miss; he finishes low, confidently into the far corner.
2.41pm GMT
54 min: A fine run now by the excellent Vertonghen, who gallops over the halfway line, takes on Williams, gets inside the area and flashes a shot towards the near post that Robles pushes wide. Spurs have a corner, then another from which Wanyama heads over.
2.39pm GMT
53 min: Ben Davies wins a corner from Coleman. The cavalry are brought forward. Davies receives the short corner from Eriksen and whips the ball onto Alli’s head 12 yards out. It’s not a bad header for direction, but there’s not enough power and Robles smothers to his right.
2.37pm GMT
51 min: Wanyama is down having treatment. Tottenham wouldn’t want to lose him. He’s back up; looked like a calf issue, but he continues.
2.36pm GMT
50 min: Lukaku finds Gueye overlapping down the right with a slick backheel and the cross is good, but cleared. Everton need more invention like that.
2.34pm GMT
48 min: “On the hour Everton should bring on Mirallas not Lookman,” opines Jegs McGregor, and that’s a fair point.
2.33pm GMT
46 min: Early appeals for handball as a Ben Davies cross flicks off Coleman, but …. nah.
2.32pm GMT
No changes. Let’s go!
2.31pm GMT
Seen some Arsenal fans calling for a seven-point deduction after the highly complex handshake Kane and Alli contrived to celebrate the goal (you’ll find it on the internet if you try). Have to say, they have a point.
2.29pm GMT
My colleague Dan Lucas has sent me this, and it’s really very good:
In honour of the great man's birthday, here's Mark E Smith reading the football scores.
https://t.co/DERjvr23Qq
2.24pm GMT
I’d have thought both teams have reason for some optimism there. Everton may want to try and see it out til the hour and then bring Lookman on. What would you do?
2.16pm GMT
A superb goal from nothing by Kane, an absolutely coruscating subsequent 10 minutes from Tottenham that Everton somehow survived, then a shoring-up by the visitors. All of which leaves us here. I’m going for a coffee – back in a bit.
2.14pm GMT
44 min: It’s all gone a but quiet but Ben Davies tries to liven things up before the interval. His volley back across goal from beyond the far post is laced away by Williams.
2.12pm GMT
43 min: A few groans as Wanyama misses a pass in midfield. Chugging along to half-time now and nobody will be too unhappy.
2.11pm GMT
41 min: Coleman then bursts into the area at the other end and, while Dier probably didn’t mean to slice his intervention into Lloris’ arms, it’ll do.
2.10pm GMT
40 min: So then, of course, a second goal isn’t far off as Ben Davies beats Coleman in a challenge – again – and crosses before Eriksen loops a header wide.
2.09pm GMT
39 min: Tottenham enjoying what, in rugby, they’d call a lot of ball at the moment. But Everton have regrouped rather and there’s no immediate prospect of a second goal.
2.07pm GMT
37 min: Everton win a corner on the left after some tenacious soloism from Barkley. A chance to level things up? Barkley’s set piece evades two men at the near post but is then smuggled away.
2.05pm GMT
35 min: And that’s not too far off from the visitors, Barry chipping a nice ball over the defence and Lukaku, dabbing out a leg, only just unable to bring it down in front of goal.
2.03pm GMT
34 min: Everton have steadied things, and even had a bit of the ball, in recent minutes. They’re recovering, as are we all, from a whirlwind spell by the home side.
2.01pm GMT
31 min: Ben Davies, pressing all the way up in the Everton area, challenges Coleman as he clears. What a tempo from Tottenham here! But Everton do find some respite and a Barkley cross has to be cleared by the diving Lloris’ fingertips.
1.59pm GMT
30 min: Now Gueye is booked – definitely – for a foul in midfield. Everton are rocking badly.
1.58pm GMT
28 min: Wanyama hits the post! This is an absolutely blistering 10 minutes from Spurs. Electrifying. A half-cleared cross meets the midfielder 20 yards out and, perhaps via a deflection, he thuds the ball against the left upright with Robles standing! Kane is offside from the rebound.
1.57pm GMT
27 min: From the free-kick, Eriksen sends the ball flashing just past the back stick with Kane stretching.
1.56pm GMT
26 min: Funes Mori slashes at Kane in a relatively harmless area and is – I think – booked for his daftness.
1.55pm GMT
25 min: Another chance for a second, Kane laying back to Walker and the right-back feeding the breaking Eriksen, who tries an early shot from 20 yards but pea-rolls it wide of the far post.
1.54pm GMT
24 min: Spurs are swarming forward now and Kane can’t quite beat Robles to a deflected Walker cross at the near post. Already looks like a hang-in-there-til-the-break job for Everton.
1.53pm GMT
23 min: Perhaps Robles could have done a bit better with the goal. I’m not sure he was particularly expecting the shot. But it was hit so well, and Kane is expecting pretty much everything he tries to come off just now.
1.52pm GMT
21 min: It’s almost two for Kane! Taking a return pass from Eriksen, he cuts inside Williams and is faced only with Robles from eight yards out. The ‘keeper saves this time, and Eriksen misses from the rebound. Kane has come to life.
1.51pm GMT
Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Kane had barely touched the ball before, picking the ball up midway inside the Everton half and to the left, he decided to make something happen himself. Bringing the ball inside, evading Gueye and then letting rip from at least 25 yards, he sent the ball searing to Robles’s right and into the corner! Sensational!
1.48pm GMT
Do we know if Tony Bellew made good on his promise to turn up and support Everton today? We should be able to hear him
@NickAmes82
I’m sure the cameras will find him if he’s there. Few early punches landed in the meantime.
1.46pm GMT
17 min: Schneiderlin clips Alli’s heels out on the left and it’s a dangerous-looking free-kick. Eriksen can deliver … but it’s headed away by Barkley at the near post.
1.45pm GMT
16 min: A Vertonghen cross is aimed to nobody and ends up back with Robles. Tottenham have found it hard to create early on and Everton have enjoyed a glimpse or two on the counter.
1.44pm GMT
14 min: Funes Mori threads a pass between Tottenham’s centre-halves and Tom Davies, running through from deep, seems to have caught them napping until Dier gets in there. Almost a clear sight of goal for the visitors.
1.42pm GMT
12 min: Spurs are enjoying a bit more uninterrupted possession now and Alli is next to have a go from range – but drills his shot against the thus-far quiet Kane.
1.40pm GMT
10 min: It’s Davies again now, sashaying confidently infield before letting fly on his not-so-trusty right foot. Barry blocks but it was a good bit of initiative and Spurs will need that kind of line-breaking action today.
1.38pm GMT
9 min: Ben Davies wins warm applause by winning a towering header from a diagonal Alderweireld ball forwards, but it runs through to Robles.
1.37pm GMT
7 min: First show from Lukaku, found delightfully by Barkley. He runs at Vertonghen, gets inside the area but is tackled with beautiful cleanliness by his international chum. Then Walker, down the other end, skins Baines and goes down … big appeals but Michael Oliver correctly gives a corner! The flag kick is cleared.
1.35pm GMT
6 min: Eriksen has hit better. It cannons off the wall and, while he retrieves the ricochet out on the left, his subsequent cross is poor too.
1.34pm GMT
5 min: There doesn’t, on early evidence, seem much space out there. Barry is dropping right in front of his defence. Would have been a good game for Danny Rose, I think. Now Alli wins a free-kick from Barry in Eriksen territory, though …
1.32pm GMT
2 min: What Everton won’t want, having set up like this, is to concede early. Spurs have some early territory although there’s then an early combative edge from Gueye, who marauds forward to win a throw-in before crossing not too far beyond Tom Davies.
1.30pm GMT
It’s very sunny at White Lane. Spurs kick off, and will shoot from right to left.
1.27pm GMT
The teams are out on the pitch and shaking hands. All very chummy so far. But wait until that midfield battle kicks in …
1.22pm GMT
Gene Mackie unpacks the midfield issue and sees Spurs making hay:
“With only four wide players on the field, there’s a very real chance the centre will become very congested – which I think is part of Koeman’s plan. However, if you’re going to trust a trio of players to find space, you could do worse than Dembele, Dele and Eriksen.”
1.21pm GMT
If Spurs win, by the way, it would be nine home league victories on the bounce – a club record! It’s a few minutes away.
1.17pm GMT
Mauricio Pochettino: “It was a good performance [last week]. We have to keep going, but today’s a different game against Everton. They’re a very good team and in the last month they’ve improved a lot and are playing very well.”
Ronald Koeman: “I think the fight will be decided in the midfield. You need cleverness and fitness in midfield and that’s why we play with one more midfield player.”
1.15pm GMT
Brendan Large is more your glass-half-full type. Or perhaps an Everton fan:
“’They know Mr Lukaku from international duty and how to keep him quiet’. Or possibly Lukaku has a good idea what their biggest weaknesses are and how to exploit them?”
1.06pm GMT
@NickAmes82 What's that Everton midfield? Barry, Schneiderlin and Gana sitting with Davies and Barkley behind Lukaku? This'll affect my bet.
It is “workmanlike”.
1.05pm GMT
So, Kane v Lukaku for today’s big battle? Jeremy Dresner throws a spanner in the works:
“The fact Spurs have the first choice Belgian pair of Verts and Toby should see few if any goals conceded. They know Mr Lukaku from international duty and how to keep him quiet. It is very very rare that Spurs concede at home with those two in the pitch. That should be the difference today.”
1.00pm GMT
While we get set for the big game, think on a proposal mulled upon by Simon Burnton here.
Should we relegate half of the Premier League?
Related:
Relegate half the Premier League? It’s excessive … but not without merit | Simon Burnton
12.53pm GMT
So, that’s Tottenham unchanged from the Stoke game – while Everton bring in Gareth Barry for Ademola Lookman from their win over Sunderland, leaving them looking quite … shall we say … solid. Thoughts?
12.37pm GMT
Digest these and we’ll chat shortly …
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies, Eriksen, Alli, Kane.
Subs: Son, Janssen, Vorm, Trippier, Sissoko, Wimmer, Winks.
12.24pm GMT
Opportunity knocks this afternoon! It does! And here’s how:
Tottenham can move within seven points of Chelsea, who face a traditionally tricky game at West Ham tomorrow night, if they take the points this lunchtime. And, perhaps more piquantly for them, they can go six points clear of a thoroughly dejected Arsenal, albeit the Gunners would have a game in hand. Mauricio Pochettino’s side were superb in defeating an already on-the-beach Stoke this time last week; more of the same might well be enough this afternoon and could make things just a little bit more interesting at the top.
3 – Everton have only won 3 of 24 away PL games at White Hart Lane (D7 L14), with all 3 wins coming consecutively between 2006 & 2008. Toil.
10.47am GMT
Nick will be here shortly. In the meantime, why not have a read of our writers’ analysis of the teams’ in-form strikers?
Related:
Romelu Lukaku v Harry Kane: how the Everton and Spurs strikers measure up
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