The defiance came far too late. Whether it was the two goals that gave a glimmer of respectability to Tottenham’s latest defeat or Ange Postecoglou’s belief in his ability to arrest a decline, the sight and sound of their fightback was futile. Spurs were the gift that Everton and David Moyes needed.
The final scoreline flattered the losing side. Everton – a team that had scored 15 league goals all season before Spurs arrived – were three up at half-time and lamenting the fact it wasn’t six. Spurs were abject in every regard. They improved after the break, though only after Dominic Calvert-Lewin could have made it four and not enough to prey on Everton’s fragile confidence until Richarlison poked home in the 92nd minute. This was no spirited recovery from a team without a win in six Premier League games. This was unacceptable, even accounting for the lengthy injury list that Postecoglou highlighted afterwards.
“I have never played the victim,” the Spurs manager said, following a 12th league defeat of the campaign. “Whatever the circumstances are, and it is fair to say it is a challenging situation for sure, I still have to steer us through and if I start worrying about myself and the cards I have been dealt it is a dereliction of my duty and my responsibility. I have to be good enough to get us out of it. Significant talent will come back. There is great motivation to get through this and get something significant out of our season.”
It was a significant result for Moyes. The Scot had two days to work with players before the home defeat by Aston Villa on Wednesday, when the shape, personnel and lack of quality in attack were all too familiar to the Goodison Park regulars. What a difference the rest of the week made.
For the second game of his second coming as the Everton manager, Moyes handed a Premier League debut to Jake O’Brien on the right of three‑man central defence and switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation. The results were revelatory. From the performance of Jesper Lindstrøm as a right wing‑back to Calvert-Lewin’s presence up front, Everton’s composure on the ball to their willingness to put bodies on the line, they were unrecognisable in the first half. They were careless in the second, but superior nevertheless.
The Everton cause was also aided by Spurs’ wretched first‑half display. With Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson injured, Postecoglou claimed he had 11 match‑fit players for the trip to Goodison, a ground where Spurs’ last league defeat had come in December 2012 when Moyes was previously Everton manager. The most glaring absentees from the visiting ranks were defensive organisation and character. Chants of “We want Levy out” emanated from the away section long before Everton sauntered into a 3-0 interval lead but a basic lack of fight and effort is not on the boardroom. The boos that accompanied Postecoglou’s team down the tunnel at half-time was the sound of Spurs’ fans confirming as much.
Spurs helped Calvert-Lewin to end his personal torment early. The centre-forward had gone 16 games without a goal and felt the wrath of Goodison after missing a glorious late chance to equalise against Villa. There were no signs of a lack of confidence, however, when Calvert‑Lewin received Idrissa Gueye’s pass, turned Archie Gray one way then the other, and slotted a cool finish inside Antonin Kinsky’s near post. The origin of Calvert-Lewin’s first league goal for 1,288 minutes was a careless cross-field pass by Pape Sarr to Lindstrøm.
The hosts’ second was also well worked and confidently dispatched. Iliman Ndiaye exchanged passes with Gueye, a dominant figure in midfield, and set off from halfway against a retreating Spurs defence. Once inside the area he stepped easily across Radu Dragusin and lashed a shot into the roof of Kinsky’s net.
Everton created several chances for a third before it eventually arrived. Calvert-Lewin was played through on goal by Jarrad Branthwaite but a heavy touch off his third gifted possession to Kinsky. The striker teed up Orel Mangala for a first‑time effort that the Spurs’ keeper tipped on to a post. James Tarkowski met a Lindstrøm free-kick with a diving header but directed his attempt straight at the goalkeeper. Spurs initially dealt with the subsequent corner from Lindstrøm. The on-loan Napoli winger was given a second bite and delivered a deep cross to the far post where Tarkowski headed back across goal. Calvert-Lewin flicked on and Gray sliced the ball into his own net. Moyes’s name finally rang around Goodison once again.
The threat from Tottenham until that point had been minimal. Son Heung‑min should have scored when Pedro Porro dissected the Everton defence with a fine ball into Dejan Kulusevski and the forward found his captain in space. Son placed his shot too close to Jordan Pickford, who gathered comfortably.
Postecoglou introduced the former Everton striker Richarlison for Dragusin at half-time. The defender needed treatment for an eye injury when caught by Calvert-Lewin’s arm but the switch was necessary regardless. It sparked an improvement from Spurs, so too the later introduction of Mikey Moore, but it would be a stretch to suggest they pushed Everton to the limit. Kulusevski reduced the arrears with a superb finish after Pickford came off his line to challenge the otherwise anonymous James Maddison. The ball broke to Moore and, though his shot was blocked, Kulusevski lofted the rebound over several Everton defenders and in.
Richarlison caused late palpitations among the home crowd when poking home a Moore cross in the final seconds but this was no late charge from Spurs. Postecoglou looks in serious trouble.
