Everton sink Tottenham with first-half blitz to give David Moyes first win
Share:
The final scoreline indicates a fightback from Tottenham, a spirited revival that left Everton desperately clinging on for their first win under David Moyes and showed spirit still thrives under Ange Postecoglou. The final scoreline is misleading. Spurs paid the price for an atrocious first half performance at Goodison Park as their winless sequence extended to six Premier League games.
![[David Moyes and Ange Postecoglou]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cb2d041341c0c5ecb3a5c75399bcc0608f9ed1b2/0_56_2086_1252/master/2086.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison struck in the final 15 minutes to give some credibility to the score but this, in truth, was a comfortable afternoon’s work for an Everton team in serious need of a jolt. Spurs and Moyes’ tactics gave them one. The Scot had two days to work with the 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 regulars. What a difference the rest of the week made. For the second game of his second coming as 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 Lindstrom as a right wing-back to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s presence up front, Everton’s composure on the ball to their willingness to put bodies on the line, the hosts were unrecognisable.
The Everton cause was helped, no doubt, by a truly pitiful first-half display by Tottenham. With Dominic Solanke injured Postecoglou claimed he had only 11 match fit players for the trip to Goodison, a ground where Spurs had not lost in the Premier League since December 2012, when Moyes was previously Everton manager. The most glaring absentees from the visiting ranks were defensive organisation and character. Spurs’ attitude was pathetic. ‘We want Levy out’ chants 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.
