Tottenham had to grind out a win over Everton in a brilliant end-to-end affair.
Everton started well and had a good chance to catch Spurs on the break in the seventh minute when Dwight McNeil played in Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but Cristian Romero came back well to snuff out the opportunity.
Two minutes later the scoring was opened at the other end and it was Richarlison who found the net against his old club, slotting home Brennan Johnson’s low cross to claim his sixth goal of the season.
Soon it was 2-0 and Son Heung-min was the scorer. A well-worked corner routine ended with Johnson getting a shot at goal that Everton keeper Jordan Pickford could only parry away and the Spurs captain slotted home the rebound.
Everton thought they had halved the deficit early in the second half when Calvert-Lewin finished well into the bottom corner, only for VAR to rule out a goal for André Gomes’ foul on Emerson Royal in the set-piece.
The Toffees went in search of goals but it was Spurs who came close to scoring when Dejan Kulusevski forced Pickford into a classy save in the 75th minute.
However, Everton pulled one back with eight minutes remaining and it was substitute Gomes who grabbed it to tie for his first appearance since May 2022.
Moments later, Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had to make a superb save to keep out Arnaut Danjuma’s deflected effort to make it 2-1.
This result moved Spurs up to fourth place, while Everton are sixteenth.
Tottenham player ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 8/10 – Kept Tottenham afloat with some fine saves. Composed as ever with the ball at his fee.
RB: Pedro Porro – 6/10 – Guilty of overplaying at times but made up for it with neat contributions in the final third.
CB: Cristian Romero – 7/10 – Spurs’ calmest head at the back in the first half. Withdrawn at the break after sustaining a knock in the opening stages.
CB: Ben Davies – 5/10 – Commanding at Nottingham Forest last week but not as solid this time around. Beat Calvert-Lewin to some headers at least.
LB: Emerson Royal – 6/10 – Sometimes a little overconfident but did his duties off the ball.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – 6/10 – Brought his usual energy and played a crucial role in the opener. Moved higher up the pitch in the second half before being substituted.
CM: Oliver Skipp – 5/10 – Uncomfortable in possession. Made some good recoveries off the ball but was ultimately a net negative in this role.
RM: Brennan Johnson – 7/10 – The only glaring weaknesses are his lack of a usable left foot and finishing ability. Used his speed well to set up the opener.
AM: Dejan Kulusevski – 6/10 – Decent in spurts but didn’t have the same all-conquering impact of recent outings.
LM: Son Heung-min – 7/10 – Scuffed his finish and got the ball stuck under his feet a fair bit, though ultimately his goal was crucial.
CF: Richarlison – 7/10 – Sharp, silky and back to his best in front of goal. Struggled to free himself from Tarkowski as the game went on and was eventually brought off just after the hour mark.
SUB: Eric Dier (46′ for Romero) – 6/10 – Still a little uncomfortable playing in such a high line but was fine for the most part.
SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (63′ for Richarlison) – 7/10
SUB: Giovani Lo Celso (73′ for Sarr) – 6/10
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Ashley Phillips, Alfie Dorrington, Bryan Gil, Alejo Veliz
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