Everton's players look dejected during their Premier League defeat to Tottenham Hotspur
Everton's players look dejected during their Premier League defeat to Tottenham Hotspur
Everton suffered their first defeat in a competitive match at Hill Dickinson Stadium as a disallowed equaliser knocked the stuffing out of them against Tottenham Hotspur, and they were ultimately well beaten, 3-0.
The visitors went ahead with a headed goal from a corner by captain Micky van de Ven, and with leveller in similar fashion being ruled out because and – both standing in offside positions – were deemed to have impaired opposition keeper Guglielmo Vicario, they then repeated the trick to double their advantage. The rout was completed in the 89th minute as Pape Matar Sarr was left unmarked in the area to also nod in from a cross by fellow substitute and Blues old boy .
The ECHO were in attendance at and here we run the rule over the performance of the Blues' players.
Jordan Pickford 6
Dealt with everything that came his way, including a shot from former team-mate Richarlison, but will be disappointed with the way his defence failed to deal with two Spurs’ corner-kick routines.
Jake O’Brien 5
Cruelly denied a headed equaliser following referee Craig Pawson’s review of the pitchside VAR monitor, but he’d earlier retreated to his goal-line, leaving Micky van de Ven unmarked to nod Spurs ahead.
Vitalii Mykolenko 5
Had his hands full trying to keep tabs on Brennan Johnson and Mohammed Kudus having almost found himself in a goalscoring position just a couple of minutes in.
James Tarkowski 5
Allowed van de Ven to get between him and Keane for the second, having hurt his back when making the challenge on Muani to concede the corner for the opener, he was left on his own to try and deal with Pape Matar Sarr for the third goal late on.
Michael Keane 5
Made a well-timed early interception to deny Xavi Simons in the area, but could have done with his aerial presence in the right area when they conceded the opener from the corner and then he and Tarkowski had van de Ven in between them for the second.
Idrissa Gueye 6
Used the ball well in the engine room but those behind him were slack, ensuring he was often having to fight a rearguard action.
James Garner 6
Tested Guglielmo Vicario from distance with a well-struck low drive, he started strongly but faded, picking up a booking for bringing down Mohammed Kudus and moved to right-back after Rohl’s introduction.
Iliman Ndiaye 7
Lively down the right wing, his early cross could have been converted by either Beto or Grealish and he kept Spurs’ defenders on their toes, putting the cross in for overhead kick opportunity.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 6
Some promising ball-carrying, he was more involved in forward play, but frustratingly too often he couldn’t get his shots off properly.
Jack Grealish 7
Probing from early on, he was a constant threat and saw a shot cleared off the line by Pedro Porro before he and Ndiaye were offside for the disallowed equaliser before his frustrations boiled over in the second half, collecting a yellow card for complaining to the referee.
Beto 5
Kept plugging away, spearheading the attack but nothing dropped for him, including an overhead kick with his back to goal that Vicario saved.
Substitutes
Thierno Barry (on 66 for Beto) 6
Looked more polished than Beto when he came on, but still didn’t go close to scoring.
Merlin Rohl (on 66 for O’Brien) 6
Brought a greater presence in the centre of the park as Everton chased the game.
Charly Alcaraz (on 86 for Gueye) N/A
Had to be satisfied with a late cameo.
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