Tottenham began life after Antonio Conte in the same way they finished the Italian’s tenure: by conceding a 90th-minute equaliser and throwing away three points against a relegation-threatened side.
If Conte was watching at home in Italy, he might have felt vindicated in his blistering attack on his players after his final game in charge, when Spurs shipped two late goals to draw 3-3 with Southampton at St. Mary’s.
In the 16 days since Conte’s rant, he has left the club by mutual agreement and been replaced by his assistant Cristian Stellini, but Spurs delivered more of the same in a familiar late surrender that went some way to justifying the former manager’s claim that the squad does not like playing "under pressure".
Leading 1-0 through Harry Kane’s 68th-minute penalty and with an extra man after Abdoulaye Doucoure was rashly sent off just before the hour for striking the England captain, Spurs should have been capable of comfortably seeing out the game.
Instead, they were regressed after taking the lead, allowing Everton a foothold and lifting a home crowd which was dispirited by a 10-minute spell when referee David Coote had no choice but to dismiss Doucoure and award Spurs a spot-kick for Michael Keane’s foul on Romero.
Substitute Lucas Moura was Spurs’ biggest villain, rashly sent off for an awful studs-up challenge on Keane with three minutes to play, levelling the sides at 10 men apiece. Everton took full advantage, Keane scoring a magnificent equaliser from 25 yards with a swerving strike.
It was no more than Sean Dyche’s side deserved for a spirited performance but the result leaves Stellini and his players facing more questions.
Most pressingly, will the Stellini interregnum be any different at all from Conte’s dour tenure, or just Conte by proxy?
Admittedly, the acting head coach arguably had little choice but to continue with Conte’s 3-4-3 system given the injuries in defence, but so much about the performance was the same.
Spurs were decent enough in the first half but were lacking quality in the final third, with Heung-min Son sloppy and hesitant again. And they dropped off after Kane’s crisp penalty, allowing Everton most of the ball and to regain the impetus.
It was the same as the way they had allowed Saints a point under Conte.
Stellini has only had a week in charge, and most of it without Spurs’ internationals players, so there is time for him to make changes and prove that he is "different" from his former boss, as he had claimed before the game.
But this result was ultimately a case of continuity rather than change for Spurs, who slipped up at another pressure point in their season, as the players blew a chance to go third and prove a point to Conte.
