Match report: Everton 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League: RIcharlison bagged an impressive brace against his former club, only for Jarrod Brantwaithe to grab a late, late equaliser for Everton with his first goal of the season. Andy Hunter reports from Goodison Park …
Sean Dyche speaks ...
“I’m very pleased,” he tells TNT. “I thought we were very good at least for most of the game, although there were a couple of soft moments for their goals. I think the general feeling of the group asbout some of the quality on show today is that the demand of the group, the will, the desire … all the underbelly of a good, competitive side were on show. I thought it was the minimum of the right outcome; we definitely deserved a point and you could argue we could have nicked it.”
Targeting Vicario: “I think he forgot,” says Dyche, upon being asked why Jack Harrison didn’t man-mark the Tottenham goalkeeper when Everton got goalkeepers during the second half, as he had during the first.
Ange Postecoglou speaks ...
“I’m pretty disappointed, at conceding so late” says the Tottenham boss in an interview with TNT. “We probably had chances to kill them off in the second half which we obviously didn’t take and they were always going to get a lot of crosses into the box. We were going to have to deal with a lot of things there and in the end they got one late.”
Is he disappointed at conceding two goals from set-pieces: “No that’s the only threat they had,” he says. “When they’re going to throw balls in from all over the place, we’re going to have to deal with them. It seemed like the referee was just goping to let everything go and let VAR clear up the scraps and for us nothing happened in that sense.”
On Everton’s targeting of Vicario at corners: “For the most part I thought he handled it well and any sort of infraction in there right now is just a free-for-all and hoping VAR picks up something.”
A quick recap: Richarlison opened the scoring for Everton early doors, volleying home a Destiny Udogie pull-back from the corner of the six-yard box to put his former club behind. Everton equalised at a corner, with what looked like a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header from close range eventually being awarded to his teammate Jack Harrison.
Richarlison fired Tottenham back in front, sidefooting a fine effort from distance into the top corner after being teed up by James Maddison. Everton managed to stay in the game courtesy of some excellent saves from Jordan Pickford, including one stop from Timo Werner, who really should have done better.
Everton snatched a late equaliser from a free-kick, with Jarrad Brantwaithe heading home from point-blank range after Romero had headed an Everton free-kick towards his own goal. One suspects Everton and their supporters will be happy enough with the point, while Ange Postecoglou will almost certainly view it as two dropped.
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Full-time: Everton 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over at Goodison Park, where a terrific game of football has ended all square. Jarrod Brtantwaithe’s first goal of the season, scored deep in added time from all of one yard out, has rescued a point for Everton and lifted them out of the relegation zone.
90+8 min: Mykolenko scurries down the left and has an attempted cross blocked by Skipp. Seconds later, Dobbin is booked for a foul on Dragusin.
90+6 min: Everton’s equaliser survives a VAR check, the officials looking for an offside as the ball was curled into the Tottenham penalty area.
GOAL! Everton 2-2 Tottenham (Brantwaithe 90+5)
Everton equalise! An Evertyon free-kick is curled into the Spurs penalty area. Romero heads it towards his own goal and Jarrod Brantwaithe helps it along and into the net from close range.
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90+3 min: Beto goes down just outside the Spurs penalty area under a challenge from Dragusin and appeals for a penalty. He doesn’t get one.
90 min: Gueye appeals for a penalty, going down in a coming-together with Dragusin as a cross from the right came into the Spurs penalty area. No spot-kick is forthcoming and it looks like the correct decision.
90 min: Tottenham substitution: Radu Dragusin on for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. We’ll have seven minutes of added time.
89 min: Lewis Dobbin sends a dipping pass into the Spurs penalty area, which Chermiti hits straight at Vicario with a first-time effort. He had time to take a touch but would almost certainly have been done for offside if he’d scored.
85 min: Everton double-substitution: Beto and Lewis Dobbin on for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dwight McNeil. Tottenham double-susbtitution: Bryan Gil and Oliver Skipp on for Timo Werner and James Maddison, who has been outstanding today.
83 min: Everton win a corner on the back of good work from Coleman. Dwight McNeil’s inswinger is plucked from the air by Vicario, who was left unmarked by Everton at that set-piece.
82 min: Van der Ven outsprints Chermiti to prevent the substitute from running on to a ball inside from Seamus Coleman. He is so quick!
81 min: Everton substitution: Youssef Chermiti on for Ashley Young.
80 min: Werner canters upfield with Coleman in close attendance on his inside. The German tries to get a cross in to the Everton penalty area but completely overhits his delivery.
78 min: Maddison wins a free-kick near the halfway line after having his ankles clipped by Pape Sarr. Tottenham play the ball out towards the right touchline but are forced into retreat and the ball ends up back at the feet of Vicario.
76 min: Into the final 15 minutes we go with Everton in dire need of an equaliser. Tottenham have looked the more likely scorers in this half but their hosts remain in with a shout of rescuing something from this match. The next goal, should one arrive, will be crucial.
74 min: Play has yet to resume but Everton make a substitution. Seamus Coleman comes on for Ben Godfrey at right-back.
72 min: Everton throw-in, deep in Spurs territory. Hojbjerg leathers the ball clear and play is stopped so Richarlison can receive treatment after getting an accidental elbow to the head from Tarkowski. On the touchline, Sean Dyche is furious.
69 min: Maddison plays the ball wide to Kulusevski, who slips it inside to Richarlison, who had found a pocket of space on the edge of six-yard box. He looks a certainty to complete his hat-trick but his rising drive is kept out by an excellent Pickford save. The Everton goalkeeper is keeping his side in the game.
68 min: A speculative Godfrey effort from a few yards outside the Spurs penalty area is savedcomfortably by Vicario.
65 min: Young tries to curl the ball on to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s head from the byline but his delivery is headed clear by Tarkowski. Spurs break upfield and as Ben Godrey tries to clear the ball from down by the corner flag, Richarlison shapes to challenge him but pulls out of the tackle. Despite not having been touched by the Brazilian, Godfrey throws himself to the ground, holding his ankle. Richarlison is understandably annoyed with these histrionics.
63 min: Tottenham double-substitution: Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Sarr on for Brennan Johnson and Rodrigo Bentancur.
60 min: Ben Godfrey is booked for protesting about something or other and moments later, Richarlison has a curled effort blocked by James Tarkowski. The game is being played at a frantic pace and while Spurs are dominating, Everton are far from out of it.
59 min: James Maddison latches on to a headed Godfrey clearance on the edge of the Everton penalty area, gets the ball out from under his feet and shoots. Jordan Pickford is forced to save again.
57 min: Brennan Johnson curls a ball from the right into the path of Timo Werner but the German hesitates slightly and is unable to get in front of Godfrey, who intercepts the pass. If he’d continued his run, Werner almost certainly would have got a shot off on goal or at least won a penalty.
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54 min: Playing off the shoulder of Ben Godfrey, Timo Werner is played in behind by a James Maddison ball from deep. He’s clean through on goal in a one-on-one with Jordan Pickford but his low shot is straight at the onrushing goalkeeper, who gets down to save comfortably. Poor Timo should have scored but you always felt he wouldn’t.
53 min: Van de Ven shows amazing recovery speed to get back and dispossess Dwight McNeil in the Spurs penalty areas after the Everton winger had been played in behind by a ball from deep.
51 min: Maddison pulls a low cross into the Everton penalty area and the ball is put out for a corner. Nothing comes of it, although VAR have told the referee they’ll be checking for a possible penalty after somebody – Gueye, perhaps – appeared to wrestle Van de Ven to the ground as the ball came in. No spot-kick is awarded.
50 min: Pedro Porro shoots from distance and his effort is on target. Jordan Pickford dives to his left to save one-handed.
49 min: Spurs throw-in, halfway inside their own half as a scrappy opening to the second half continues. Everton win the ball, get it forward to Harrison and he spots Vicario a few yards off his loan. His ambitious attempt to lift the ball over the Spurs goalkeeper is way off target.
48 min: Cristian Romero tries to play the ball out from the back but is closed down by Calvert-Lewin and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
Second half: Everton 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
46 min: Play resumes and it seems Jack Harrison has been officially awarded Everton’s goal, in a state of affairs that seems unlikely to sit well with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose header might have brushed against Harrison on it's way in from all of a yard out. That’s harsh but the Everton striker’s goal drought goes on.
An email: “Re: the Everton goal,” writes Stephen Holliday. “Harrison is clearly backing into Vicario. He’s not just standing still. So Vicario should be stronger? By putting his hands on Harrison to get him out of the way and then wait for the inevitable dive while Harrison could be stronger?”
Now that Vicario is painfully aware that some, if not all match officials are not going to penalise the Jack Harrisons and Ruben Diases of this world for backing into him at corners, he simply has to find a way of stopping them.
Whether that’s standing firm in the face of their movement (as he did when saving from Ben Godfrey), getting out of their way and letting them reverse into the back of the net, or positioning a defender between himself and whoever is tasked with marking him is entirely up to him.
He’s a very good goalkeeper but his apparent weakness in the face of being man-marked at corners has been identified as a weakness andd Tottenham need to do something about it.
Half-time: Everton 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep! The whistle goes for half-time and Tottenham Hotspur lead courtesy of two splendid goals from Richarlison, who is certainly enjoying his return to his old stomping ground.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin ended a 16-game goal drought to score Everton’s goal and it was no surprise that it came about as a result of Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario being bullied at a corner. It is a strategy Everton have employed since the beginning of the game and almost bore dividends again towards the end of the first half. It’s been a very entertaining game that could still go either way.
45+5 min: Another Everton corner means more drama. Vicario punches clear under pressure from Harrison. Jarrod Brantwaithe swings at the breaking ball but James Maddison gets between him and the ball to block the shot and win his side a free-kick. That hurt.
47+4 min: That corner was won by Everton when Idrissa Gueye selfishly elected to shoot when he would have been far better served squaring to an unmarked Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the middle.
46+1 min: Everton go close to restoring parity at another corner, this time leaving Vicario to his own devices as the ball comes in. The Spurs goalkeeper is called into action to scramble the ball clear with his feet from a Ben Godfrey header as Jack Harrison reversed into him. Excellent goalkeeping.
43 min: The build-up to that goal was sensational, with Tottenham attacking up the left side of the field and what looked like about six different players – Udogie, Werner, Porro and Maddison among them – all involved as they sliced through the Everton defence. Shifting his weight from one foot to other while surrounded by oppositon players, James Maddison teed up Richarlison with a splendid short pass.
GOAL! Everton 1-2 Tottenham (Richarlison 41)
Spurs retake the lead! It’s a wonderful team goal rounded off by a spectacular individual finish from Richarlison. The Brazilian picks up a short pass from Maddison before sidefooting ta right-footed effort into the top corner from distance. It’s a wonderful finish but once again he decides not to celebrate in front of Goodison Park’s Gwladys Street End.
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39 min: Everton win a free-kick directly in front of the Spurs goal about 35 yards out, for a Van de Ven shove in the back of McNeil. It’s too far out for anyone to shoot and ultimately nothing comes of the set-piece.
36 min: Spurs break upfield on a counter-attack but Jarrod Brantwaithe cuts out a through-ball aimed in the direction of Richarlison. It’s end-to-end at the moment, with the game being played at a helter-skelter pace.
34 min: “The goalkeeper has got to be stronger!” is the general consensus among the TNT Sports pundits and I’m certainly inclined to agree with them. Alternatively, Tottenham need to put a defender between their goalkeeper and any oppositon players before the ball is delivered at corners. It’s not like they haven’t had prior warning about what might happen in this and other recent games.
32 min: The goal survives a VAR check despite Vicario’s now customary fury. He claims that Jack Harrison was backing into him as the ball was delivered from the corner and perhaps the Everton forward was, but referee Michael Oliver and his VAR Stuart Attwell see nothing wrong with the goal.
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Tottenham (Calvert-Lewin 30)
29 min: It’s another corner for Everton and Jack Harrison gets tight on Vicario. Tarkowski heads the ball across the face of goal from the far post and Calvert-Lewin ducks to head home from a yard out.
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28 min: They’re getting the ball wide, Everton but then repeatedly overhitting crosses into Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Ashley Young has been the guilty party on a couple of occasions and overhits another cross from the right touchline here.
27 min: Everton have yet to muster a scoring opportunity of note but have had the better of the past 15 minutes after their terrible start.
24 min: Spurs block another ball driven into the penalty area by Mykolenko and Tarkowski clears. Everton win another corner that curlswide at the far post despite the best attempts of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to get his head to it. On this occasion, it’s Jack Harrison who is tasked with man-marking Vicario as the ball comes in.
22 min: Dominic Calvert-Lewin is played in behind down the inside left and drifts inwards towards goal. Showing an impressive turn of foot, Micky van de Ven gets back to block the shot before the ball leaves the Everton striker’s foot.
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18 min: Vitaly Mykolenko drills the ball across the middle of the Spurs penalty area, Dwight McNeil shoots iand his goal-bound effort is blocked by Jack Harrison, his own teammate. Harrison’s blushes are spared by an offside in the build-up – Mykolenko as he ran on to a ball over the top from Idrissa Gueye.
15 min: Everton corner. Not for the first time in recent memory, Vicario is crowded out by assorted oppositon players as the ball comes in, but manages to get two hands to it and clear.
James Tarkowski seems to be the Everton player tasked with marking the Spurs goalkeeper at corners in this game, following the success of Manchester City’s Ruben Dias in the role a week ago yesterday.
13 min: Pierre-Emilie Hojbjerg is penalised for a foul on Dwight McNeil after Brennan Johnson had avoided sanction for a robust challenge on James Garner. It’s spicy out there.
10 min: It being the 10th minute, Everton fans hold up their placards of protest and loudly boo the Premier League. While you have a measure of sympathy for them, it’s worth noting that their club is a founding member and current stakeholder of the organisation they’re protesting against, and they did plead guilty to the charge of financial shenanigans laid against them.
9 min: A low, diagonal James Maddison shot from the edge of the Everton penalty area takes a nick off Tarkowski and fizzes wide of the far post. It’s a corner for Spurs but nothing comes of it.
8 min: Having scored his goal, Richarlison shaped to wheel away in celebration before stopping himself and signalling apologetically to Everton’s fans, who warmly applaud him forhis good manners. It’s comically performative nonsense from all concerned.
6 min: Pierre-Emerick Hojbjerg plays a nice little give-and-go with Brennan Johnson down the left wing, then Timo Werner does the same with Destiny Udogie. From the byline, the Spurs left-back pulls the ball back to the unmarked Richarlison, who volleys high into the net from the corner of the six-yard box.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Richarlison 4)
Spurs lead! It’s a fine first-time strike from Richarlison, who elects not to celebrate against his former team.
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3 min: Tottenham get some time on the ball and ping it around the middle third as they feel their way into the game. The visiting fans serenade Micky van de Ven, as Destiny Udogie tries to square the ball for James Maddison on the edge of the Everton penalty area.
2 min: A crossfield pass from James Tarkowski is headed clear by Pedro Porro and the ball finds its way bvack to Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs penalty area.
Everton v Tottenham Hotspur is go ...
1 min: Michael Oliver signals the start of proceedings and Everton get the ball rolling. They play in their customary home kit, while the players of Spurs are a vision in beige shirts, shorts and socks.
Not long now: The Z-Cars sirens and theme tune soundtrack the arrival of both sets of players out on the pitch, prompting Everton fans to hold up their yellow protest signs. Thousands have been distributed and the Goodison Park stands are a sea of English mustard. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Everton protests: Still unhappy at their club being docked 10 points for failing to comply with Premier League finance and sustainability rules (a charge they admitted), Everton fans are planning another protest today.
They will hold up yellow cards boasting the PRemier League logo and the slogan “You don’t know what you’re doing” during the Premier League anthem and on the 10-minute mark of today’s game.
The club await news of their appeal against the 10-point penalty and are due to find out if it has been overturned, reduced or rejected later this month.
Richarlison returns to his former club surfing a tidal wave of confidence and on a run of seven goals in seven games. His opposite number, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, by contrast, can’t buy a goal and hasn’t scored in his past 16 appearances for Everton. Brought in from Udinese to help out up front, the Portuguese striker Beto has managed just two league goals in 17 appearances since his arrival in August.
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Today’s match officials
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Dan Cook and Wade Smith
Fourth official: Andy Madley
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Assistant VAR: Harry Lennard
Those teams: As expected, Idrissa Gana Gueye comes straight back into Everton’s midfield following his return from Afcon and will replace Arnaud Danjuma, who is injured. That’s the only change in Sean Dyche’s line-up from the team that drew with Fulham on Tuesday.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglous makes two changes to the team that started against Brentford in midweek. Brennan Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg come into the side, with Oliver Skipp and Dejan Kulusevki making way. Pape Sarr is among the substitutes following his return from Afcon.
Everton v Tottenham Hotspur line-ups
Everton: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Young, Gueye, Garner, McNeil, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Patterson, Keane, Virginia, Beto, Coleman, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin, Metcalfe.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Johnson, Maddison, Werner, Richarlison.
Subs: Skipp, Dragusin, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Forster, Kulusevski, Sarr, Davies, Scarlett.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Early team news
Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure is back in training after returning from a thigh injury but this game has almost certainly come too soon for him. Seamus Coleman has been rated as little more than “a maybe” as he continues his recovery from a similar ailment.
Andre Gomes has been ruled out, while Arnaut Danjuma and Amadou Onana will undergo late fitness tests. Idrissa Gana Gueye is available for selection after returning from Senegal’s unsuccessful mission to retain their Africa Cup of Nations crown.
Gueye’s compatriot Pape Sarr is also back from international duty with Senegal and could start in midfield for Tottenham, but Heung-min Son (Asian Cup) and Yves Bissouma (Afcon) are both still unavailable. Manor Solomon, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso are all sidelined with injury.
Premier League: Everton v Tottenham Hotspur
To Goodison Park, where relegation threatened Everton are hoping to end a run of five Premier League games without a win, having taken just two points from the past 15 available to them. Third from bottom of the table (they’d be 12th but for that 10-point deduction), Sean Dyche’s men lost 2-1 against Spurs in the corresponding fixture at White Hart Lane just before Christmas, but can take heart from the fact it was a game they dominated and were perhaps a little unlucky to lose.
Tottenham come into this game on the back of a midweek 3-2 win over Brentford, their goals coming in a quick-fire eight-minute burst just after half-time, following a poor opening 45 minutes. A win on Merseyside will keep Spurs in fourth place but send them level on points with Arsenal having played one game more. Kick-off at Goodison Park is at 12.30pm (GMT) but we’ll have team news and pre-match build-up in the meantime.
