Some further thoughts on Spurs 1-0 Everton

The match on Sunday was possibly one of the most vital games we have played all season. It was the opportunity to gain some ground on Liverpool and move 3 points behind them. All we needed was a win, and a win is what we got! Admittedly, the first 10 minutes were extremely nerve racking and painted a picture in my mind that we may not come away from the Lane with any points at all. Mirallas was continuously pressing on our box and provided multiple world class through balls to Leon Osman, who came close to scoring twice out of his four shots. Osman’s second shot on target forced Hugo Lloris to do what he does best, execute a one-handed wonder save.

Down the left flank two players were constantly wrestling each other off the ball and broke out into their own battle for possession. These men were Danny Rose of Spurs and Seamus Coleman of Everton. Neither of these players gave up until one of them came out with the ball. Despite the rollicking I gave to Rose in my previous article for multiple mistakes recently, I couldn’t fault Rose’s defensive performance keeping out both Coleman and Mirallas. Another player that impressed me massively was starlet Nabil Bentaleb. All throughout the game he closed down the play, provided unstoppable passes and performed crunching, but safe tackles to win us possession.

However despite the fact we continuously won the ball, after 40 minutes the possession stats were; Tottenham 30% – 70% Everton. The half ended pretty gingerly.

The second half began so much more explosively for Spurs. Instantly we were balancing a rate of fantastic attacking and defending that troubled Everton massively, and it showed. Jagielka, who had been the main rock in the first half was beginning to be outshone by Bentaleb and an honourable mention goes to well-deserved key player Mousa Dembele who was strong in the centre of the park and maintained a non-stop work rate.

The game began to slow down a tad after 55 minutes. Out of the blue, Dembele was fouled and the freekick was taken quickly. A creative over-the-top ball that lobbed all of the Everton defence and found an alert Adebayor who pulled off a fantastic touch that came from over his shoulder, controlled the ball brilliantly and smoothly slotted the ball past Howard accurately, calmly and professionally.

From that point the match completely died down, a few substitutions were made in the way of; Townsend on for Eriksen, and McGeady and Deulofeu subbed on in a feeble hope for more pace and flair. However this was not the substitution that went on to become monumental. At 85 minutes into the match Lennon made way for Lane legend Jermain Defoe who played his last ever minutes in the Premier league a Spurs shirt (we think). Although he only managed to grab one shot on the counter, it was the reception he received that really secured the emotion and heart-warming vibe. The team of officials calculated 3 additional minutes that were spent mainly in our half as Everton attacked non-stop to try and find a way to equalise. They were unsuccessful. The game ended in extremely good fashion and left White Hart Lane full of smiles and gave Defoe the proper departure he deserved.

Overall a fantastic result against the team with the least losses in the league and pulled off a famous win that closes the gap and takes us ever loser to 4th place. Upwards and onwards for the Spurs!

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