Tottenham 2-2 Everton: Spurs stumble in quest for Europe

Lewis Holtby’s father went home with mixed feeling as his favoured team Everton held his son’s to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane. A Tottenham Hotspur side missing Gareth Bale took the lead after just 33 seconds through Emmanuel Adebayor, but were made to trail for most of the second half after Phil Jagielka equalised and Kevin Mirallas gave the visitors the lead, before Gylfi Sigurdsson’s 87th minute equaliser spared the hosts’ blushes.

Although Spurs did secure a share of the spoils, they have missed out on a chance to secure their future in the Champions League, leading Arsenal by just two points having played a game more.

Everton boss David Moyes named an unchanged line-up from the one that had defeated Stoke at home on the 30th of March. Conversely, Andre Villas-Boas issued a raft of changes to his team. The replacements of William Gallas, Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale were enforced. In came Sigurdsson, Dempsey and Dawson.

Other changes were more regular. Kyle Walker replaced his namesake Naughton at right-back and Jan Vertonghen shifted to left back in place of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, so that Steven Caulker could fit in the heart of defence.

In a game of few first half chances, it was Spurs who took the lead with the first attack of the game. Jan Vertonghen fed Emmanuel Adebayor and the Togolese attacker showed he was completely settled in when he opened the scoring with a precise right-footed finish.

But Spurs’ lead would last less than a quarter of an hour. Between Adebayor’s opener and the fifteenth minute, the hosts failed to trouble Tim Howard, giving away cheap free kicks.

In the sixteenth minute, Everton won a corner which was played to Leighton Baines. He whipped in a delightful cross that was thumped home by stand-in skipper Phil Jagielka.

The status quo had been restored.

Adebayor’s opener was one of the few occasions on which Spurs had successfully breached the Everton defensive screen. Dempsey, Holtby and Dembele all had efforts from distance, but they were well wide and failed to trouble Howard. Sigurdsson did, but the American was equal to his effort.

Walker did successfully breach the visitors’ back four, but his attempt was off target.

Spurs won a succession of corners just after the half hour mark, but they all came to naught.

Andre Villas-Boas knew how important a win was against Everton. Arsenal had beaten West Bromwich Albion yesterday to climb into the top four, at least temporarily, and Paolo di Canio would have his first Sunderland game away to Chelsea later today evening. The endeavour was there from Spurs, but the final product was lacking.

It didn’t change as both sides swapped fouls as the game ticked towards the forty-five minute mark.

In the 32nd minute, Spurs had half a shout for a penalty. Darren Gibson had blocked out Dempsey’s cross with his hands in the air, but a quick discussion between referee Andre Marriner and the linesman led to the conclusion that the Irishman had stopped the cross with his chest.

Eleven minutes before half time, the match was halted as treatment was issued to Victor Anichebe. The Nigerian spent a total of four minutes under the ministrations of the physio.

A good-looking attacking move involving Mirallas, Anichebe, Barkley and Baines was put together in the 42nd minute, but was dealt with before it could cause Spurs any real danger.

One of the last attacking moves on the first half came to nothing as Dembele’s cross, which was meant for Adebayor, was intercepted by Jagielka. The resultant corner came to nothing.

Soon afterwards, the referee blew for half time, drawing to a close a forty-five minute period which had seen plenty of meaty challenges and few goalscoring opportunities.

Anything you can do, we can do better – that seemed to be the reaction from Everton as they stormed into the lead eight minutes after the restart through Kevin Mirallas.

In a run that was reminiscent of his winner against Stoke, the Belgian sashayed this way and that as he removed a couple of defenders from his path to goal before planting home a delightful finish past Hugo Lloris, through the legs of Caulker.

Tottenham could have equalised almost immediately, but Howard managed to tip Dembele’s deflected effort on to the woodwork.

Jelavic threatened at one end. Howard saved from countryman Dempsey at the other. Heitinga was shut down at the last minute by Dawson, Dempsey saw another attempt bobble agonisingly wide.

As Spurs continued to up the ante through the second half, the number of shots that came Howard’s way began to increase. Walker and Adebayor both tested Howard, but the former Manchester United man remained firm.

And with good reason. Spurs’ attempts at goal came primarily from distance, making the game very predictable.

When Everton countered with Anichebe, Spurs responded with a raid forward through Sigurdsson. The Nigerian’s shot was diverted for a corner while the Scandinavian’s through ball was too heavy to make any impact.

With 15 minutes remaining on the clock, Villas-Boas made his first change of the game, replacing Dembele with Huddlestone, a move that surprised many a fan inside their stadium. They made their displeasure known with a chorus of boos.

The Everton defence had been soaking up pressure all afternoon and they were able to deal with Holtby’s free kick before it could cause any trouble. Adebayor tested Howard with a drive that the keeper gathered up, but the offside flag was already up.

With five minutes remaining, Mirallas was taken off to a standing ovation from the away fans, to be replaced by Stephen Naismith.

Spurs needed to win this game to keep their Champions League aspirations alive, and clawed their way back with three minutes remaining.

The hard-working Adebayor’s shot struck against the post and fell straight to Sigurdsson, who tapped home into an empty net, to the palpable relief of White Hart Lane.

Egged on by chants of ‘Come On You Spurs’, a good passing move between Walker and substitute Tom Carroll tried to combine to feed Adebayor, but possession changed feet before anything could come of it.

Anichebe then raced clear of the Spurs backline and found himself one on one with Lloris, who pulled off an excellent save with his legs to deny Everton what would have surely been a match-winner.

Jelavic then tried to add his name onto the scoresheet, but his 92nd minute effort was straight at the French keeper.

That was about as good as it got. Although Spurs did pick up a point at home, Andre Villas-Boas will ruminate on how this will affect his side’s Champions League aspirations as the season enters the business end. David Moyes’s team came tantalisingly close to picking up three points on the road, but will be proud of his team’s performance today evening.

Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Everton

Adebayor 1′, Sigurdsson 87′; Jagielka 15′, Mirallas 53′

Referee: Andre Marriner

Lineups

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris (GK); Walker, Caulker, Dawson (c), Vertonghen; Sigurdsson, Dembele (Huddlestone 75′), Parker (Carroll 89′), Holtby, Adebayor, Dempsey

Subs not used: Friedel, Naughton, Livermore, Assou-Ekotto, Ceballos

Manager: Andre Villas-Boas

Everton: Howard (GK), Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Mirallas, Heitinga, Gibson, Osman, Barkley; Anichebe

Subs not used: Mucha, Oviedo, Stones, Hitzlsperger, Duffy

Manager: David Moyes

Stats:

Tottenham Hotspur: Shots (on goal): 20 (7) , Fouls: 17, Corners: 7, Offsides: 2, Yellow Cards: 1, Red Cards: 0, Saves: 2

Everton: Shots (on goal): 9 (4), Fouls: 8, Corners: 6, Offsides: 2, Yellow Cards: 1, Red Cards: 0, Saves: 5

Possession: Tottenham Hotspur: 62% – 38% Everton

Next Fixture:

11/04/2013: FC Basel vs Tottenham Hotspur, UEFA Europa League

16/04/2013: Everton vs Queens Park Rangers, Barclays Premier League