Tottenham Hotspur have more than turned a corner under Thomas Frank, they’ve worked out how to take one, too.
A game that Everton largely dominated ended with **David Moyes**’s team suffering their first defeat at their new home stadium and the heaviest of their season thus far as Spurs made their deadly set-pieces pay.
Two headed goals from Micky van de Ven gave Frank’s side the upper hand in the first half and **Pape Sarr**’s late third added a layer of gloss to a victory that took the visitors up to third in the Premier League table.
Guglielmo Vicario made a couple of fine reaction saves to keep his fourth clean sheet of the league season as Everton failed to score for the fourth time already this term.
Spurs are definitely a new proposition under Frank. A week that saw them lose to Aston Villa and hang on for a draw at Monaco in the Champions League ended with them further establishing themselves as the best away side in the league. It’s now four wins and one draw from five matches.
If anyone needed further evidence of the growing significance of set-plays in England’s top flight, then this was it. Spurs have now five such goals already this season and Frank continues to show that he is the master at making them count.
Story of the Match
Across open play during the first half, it was easy to declare Everton the better side. The home team were the more positive in possession and in Iliman Ndiaye, they had the most creative force.
However, it was with the dead ball that Spurs managed to turn a rather meagre opening-half display into one that saw them take a two-goal into half time.
Getty: Robbie Jay Barratt
No team had scored a set-piece goal against Everton in the first eight matches of the season but Frank’s side demonstrated that they are now sound operators when slinging an aerial ball into the opponent’s box.
Nineteen minutes were on the clock when **Mohammed Kudus**’s corner from the right sailed over a congested area towards the back post. Rodrigo Bentancur nodded it back across goal where Van de Ven headed in his first of the afternoon.
The Dutch defender’s second came in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time and was a dagger to Everton hearts. Pedro Porro delivered this time and Van de Ven was too strong for Jordan Pickford and the header was guided into the far corner.
Such killer moves were proving the difference as the rain began to tumble down again.
Frank had made four changes from last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa — including former Evertonian Richarlison being replaced in the lineup by Randal Kolo Muani for his first Spurs start — and the visitors were not particularly convincing in open play.
Bentancur fired a drive that whistled past the post and Xavi Simons, who went down at one stage clutching his knee before continuing, had the ball taken away from him by Michael Keane when setting up to strike from yards out.
Everton had gone close in the early stages when Ndiaye left Djed Spence for dead and sent a cross through Beto and into Jack Grealish whose shot was blocked at point-blank range by Porro. Having Grealish back after he missed last week’s defeat to his parent club Manchester City was a boost.
Five minutes after Spurs had pulled ahead, Moyes and his players thought they had equalised through similar means. Vicario had pushed wide James Garner’s effort from distance and the subsequent corner by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw Jake O’Brien step out from the near post and flick home a header.
The question was whether Ndiaye and Grealish had impeded Vicario from an offside position and prevented the Spurs ‘keeper from making his save. Referee Craig Pawson viewed the replay and thought that to be the case.
Getty: Molly Darlington
The score at the break will have pleased Frank, but Spurs’ performance less so. Vicario prevented Everton from getting one back when he stretched out a strong left hand to flick away **Beto**’s overhead kick from a deflected Ndiaye cross.
Vicario’s reactions were tested again by Ndiaye taking aim and his shot clipping off **Kevin Danso**’s heel, forcing the goalkeeper to shift his weight and get down low to tip wide.
By that stage Richarlison had come on to warm applause from the home support and the striker immediately beat James Tarkowski but couldn’t find a way past Pickford, who spread himself to deny his former team-mate.
Moyes sent on Merlin Rohl for O’Brien and the substitute should have at least found the target instead of heading over from Dewsbury-Hall’s clipped cross. Another substitute, Thierno Barry, was a willing runner too as Spurs’s backline were put under the cosh.
But scoring is not coming easy for Everton. They have managed nine goals from their opening nine games and that is half of what Spurs have accumulated.
They capped off this win with a third on the cusp of stoppage time. Porro was allowed to carry the ball forward up the right flank and pick out Richarlison. He headed to Sarr and Pickford was beaten to seal Spurs’s latest away triumph.