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This was the kind of game Everton hadn’t won in a long time. The statistics that followed them to London had highlighted their failure to triumph for one of the six Premier League clubs since December 2013 – a 40-game streak, with the vast majority being lost.
Carlo Ancelotti has overseen a summer spending spree that has brought in Allan, Abdoulaye Doucouré and James Rodríguez and his broader challenge is to harden the club’s mindset. This was an excellent start, even if it was against a flat and uninspired Tottenham who had one of those days offering a blank canvas to José Mourinho critics.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the decisive goal early in the second half, with a powerful header off a good Lucas Digne free kick, but Everton’s margin of victory could and should have been higher. Richarlison could have played all day and not scored (his most glaring mistake came early), but for Ancelotti, it was not an occasion to dwell on the negatives.
All three newcomers, recruited at a cost of £ 62.5 million, attracted attention. Allan, who sat across from the four in the back, showed a taste for physical fighting and provided pace and organization; Doucouré was a bit taller, looking to provoke movement, while Rodríguez worked from the right, allowing him to cut in with his left foot.
The Spurs forced Jordan Pickford to make two saves in the first half, but creatively found themselves wanting. His pace was low and the patterns were frustratingly predictable. The service to Harry Kane was lacking. Everton were the more skilled team at the start, they moved the ball with more determination and should have led in the 16th minute when Richarlison passed clean and went over Hugo Lloris. The forward’s touch at full speed carried him a little wider than he would have liked, but he still had enough goal to aim for. Stumbling slightly, he veered violently from the target.
The opening had been triggered by a loose and risky cross pass from Ben Davies, which was intended for Toby Alderweireld, but set up a running race between the Spurs center-back and Richarlison. Although Alderweireld lost control, he had the presence of mind not to dirty Richarlison. If he had, it would have been an expulsion.
Mourinho asked Dele Alli to push high from his 10th spot and Tottenham’s plan was to cut into the channels. They worked, although there were flickers in the first half. Son Heung-min directed a ball from the left towards the far post in the 24th minute, prompting Kane to reach for a decisive touch. The forward was inches from doing so and the ball bounced just past the far corner.
Could the Spurs win the ball high to drive a quick transition? They did it once before the break when Lucas Moura beat Allan and fed Son, who ignored Kane’s run to play at Alli. The Tottenham midfielder took a shot to the roof of the net only for Pickford to show his excellent reflexes to dump the crossbar.
The Everton goalkeeper would once again distinguish himself in the 42nd minute to frustrate Matt Doherty. Tottenham’s debuting right-back got the run over Allan and into Kane, retrieving the ball via a beautifully weighted balloon. Doherty took the shot for the first time only for Pickford to intelligently block.
Rodriguez’s quality was evident in the passes he chose, often down the left flank, while there was a threat from him in the last third. He took a low shot just past the post in the 37th minute and dropped a cross on Doherty for Richarlison to clear early in the second half. Moments earlier, he had grazed a shot from an André Gomes cut.
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Gomes also had a shot charged by Alderweireld and the breakthrough goal was announced. Mourinho would have been aggravated if it came from a free kick. Calvert-Lewin stepped between Alderweireld and Eric Dier to score his first goal since March 1.
Mourinho groped for the solution. He took Dele out at half-time, introducing Moussa Sissoko to the right and, midway through the second half, he shuffled again, swapping Harry Winks for Steven Bergwijn and going 4-4-2 with Son leading alongside Kane. His final change saw him bring in Tanguy Ndombele into midfield and switch Sissoko to right back.
Nothing worked for him. The Spurs were bankrupt in the second half,
sleepwalking to a loss that will arouse pessimism among their fans and the damage would have been worse if Richarlison had not strayed from the far post twice.
