A very debatable penalty and a deflected goal late on were enough for Tottenham to get all three points in a game that could have been a lot different if Everton had taken their chances in the first half.
The first half was one of very few chances, with Everton having two in which they should have scored both. Everton’s game plan was to sit deep and play on the counter switching to a back 5 with McNeil and Coleman playing as wing-backs, and that was played out perfectly in the first half with Demarai Gray having the first chance to give Everton the lead.
Conor Coady played a long ball over the Spurs defence for Demarai Gray, he controlled it expertly and raced away from Bentancur and with Neal Maupay open in the area he opted for goal instead and blazed over from a tight angle.
The second came from a mistake in the middle of the pitch, Hojbjerg and Romero both left the ball for each other which let Onana intercept the ball on the halfway line, he raced away and with better composure surely would have sent Everton 1-0 up at the break, but like Gray, he sent the ball over the bar, frustrating as the ball bobbled as he went to strike the ball goalwards.
The second half was similar to the first, Everton happy to concede possession, frustrate Spurs and play on the break when they could, but that all changed when Jordan Pickford spilt a tame Doherty shot. Harry Kane pounced on the rebound and fell to the floor after taking contact with Pickford’s head.
Referee Paul Tierney couldn’t wait to point to the spot and did so instantly. During commentary there was no mention of VAR as once a replay was shown, it is hard to understand what Pickford is supposed to do. He can’t just disappear. Harry Kane has gone for the ball but has kneed Pickford in the head and gone down. Not like he needed an invitation.
Chris Sutton who was on commentary on BBC5live had this to say about the incident
“I think Harry Kane is the King of the Divers, isn’t he? He initiated the contact, he was already on his way down with Jordan Pickford.” – 5Live
Rewind to the same fixture last season, when Lloris brought down Richarlison with his arms, referee Cris Kavanagh pointed to the spot and after being told to go to the monitor and check he changed his mind as he deemed Lloris got the slightest of fingertips to the ball.
https://twitter.com/EFCvital/status/1581570183059034112?s=20&t=aKwT-pzE3gtj0PQGyHCnEA
Spurs got the penalty, and Kane smashed the ball just past the fingertips of his countryman Pickford in his 400th league appearance. Frank Lampard reacted by bringing on Calvert-Lewin, Rondon and James Garner for Seamus Coleman, Neal Maupay and Gana Gueye and with those subs, it meant gaps would be left in defence and that is what happened for the second.
Bentancur with acres of space out on the wing picked out an unmarked Hojbjerg in the area and with the help of a deflection off of Iwobi, the ball flicked over Pickford’s diving arm to seal the points.
A game of two halves had never been so apparent. Everton finished the game with no shots on target but had the best chances to win the game. We come away with no points but still positives to take from the game, last season we lost 5-0 at Spurs whereas yesterday, yes we lost 2-0 but a debatable penalty and goal with 5 minutes to play when throwing people forwards was always going to be a risk.
We really need to take our chances when they fall for us, especially away from home in games we expect to concede possession. We have pace on the wings and they can deliver, hopefully, with DCL coming back to fitness we can see a different Everton in the coming weeks.
This season and probably next season is going to be a rebuild, this is the first window Lampard has had (he was appointed on deadline day in January) and when we look at the team that started yesterday compared to last season, we have players that are playing for the badge again. When we conceded last season it was a question of when is the second and third coming, whereas there is a belief that when we concede we will go again.