Spurs made it three straight wins in all competitions at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday evening, putting in a professional performance in the 2-0 win over Everton.
Tottenham Hotspur continued its rebound from the loss at Arsenal to kick off this big run of games before the World Cup with a strong 2-0 win over Everton. The Toffees had moments, notably two break-away attempts in the first half, but failed to register an official shot on target, whereas Tottenham had seven on the frame. Here are the highlights and lowlights from a very professional win.
Tottenham was methodical and patient in possession
In an approach that can, at times, be infuriating to a fanbase that craves more of an attack, Tottenham showed they could dominate a game with possession. With ~62% of the possession, Tottenham dominated proceedings from beginning to end.
Whereas we have seen Spurs try and force the issue in these circumstances, the team showed resolve in accepting the passes in front of them and simply taking Everton out of the game.
Although we saw the occasional cross-pitch pass from Ivan Perisic, Spurs primarily worked the ball around the edges, looking for opportunities to get behind Everton, which occurred enough to generate two goals and three points.
Spurs were better after Bissouma entered the game
This is no knock on Richarlison, although the Brazilian did not have his best outing for Tottenham before limping off just past the hour; however, Spurs were in much more control after Richarlison came off, and the team went to a three-man central midfield, from the 3-4-3 deployed at the start.
Whether Tottenham was dropping deep into a 5-3-2 formation when holding off a surging Everton or pushing forward in a 3-5-2, Spurs were more balanced and in control with Yves Bissouma added to the Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre Hojbjerg midfield.
As a result of the midfield balance coupled with the sustained possession, Heung-min Son and Harry Kane were free to run Everton’s defense as ragged as they wanted.
Continued…
Kane and Son dominated the game
If you looked only at statistics, such as touches, you might think Kane and Son did not hugely impact the game; the reality could be no further from the truth.
Son was magnificent in his hold-up play, continuously finding space near midfield and then pushing forward against the Everton defense. Likewise, Kane’s work to find dangerous spaces and then make smart decisions with the ball ultimately led to both Tottenham goals.
Kane’s alertness to beat Jordan Pickford to his fumble and earn a penalty and his pre-assist when he played Bentancur up the line were both examples of Kane at his best. Unfortunately for Kane and Son, who combined for five shots on target and 11 shots overall, Pickford came up big on multiple occasions to deny Spur’s dynamic duo.
Lloris and the Lilywhites may have gotten a little lucky
On a different day, dare I say a different pitch, the proceedings on Saturday could have been quite different. Twice, Tottenham was caught with the defense up the pitch, allowing breakaway opportunities to Everton.
If the Toffees still had Richarlison, you’d think one of the two would have scored. Instead, Onana and Gray both failed to get their shots on target. In both instances, it appeared that the ball may have taken an unlucky bounce for the two Evertonian just before shooting; whatever the cause, missing the frame was the result, and Spurs avoided calamity.
Just as having three central midfielders helped control the tempo of the last 30-minutes of the match, it also slowed Everton in a couple of similar circumstances in the second half, where the defenders were caught up the pitch, stopping the counter before anything serious could result.
Showing adaptability and resolve, it was a professional win for Spurs and a big three points, keeping Spurs third in the League table, level on points with Manchester City ( behind by 12 goals), and one point off first-place Arsenal.
From here, Spurs travel to Manchester to face United midweek as part of a run of three straight games in the Premier League.