A whirlwind first half set the stage for Everton’s first win of David Moyes’ return to the club, with the Blues prevailing in the end 3-2 over struggling Tottenham Hotspur. The opening stanza was littered with chances for both sides, but it was Dominic Calvert-Lewin who broke his 16-game goal drought with a well-taken first, wriggling in between the Spurs defence to wrong-foot Antonin Kinsky who was excellent to keep the scoreline manageable for the visitors.
The Blues were running free in their back-three formation with Jesper Lindstrøm in particular doing the hard running and featuring prominently both on attack and in defence. However, it was Iliman Ndiaye on the other wing who ran at Spurs to get them backpedalling furiously before he cut back and hammered home the Blues’ second goal. There was even a third in time added on in the first half as James Tarkowski’s header back across goal was flicked on by Calvert-Lewin and the ball ricocheted home off defender Archie Gray.
Everton attempted to take the game away from the visitors but tired legs finally started showing with a quarter of an hour to play. Dejan Kulusevski was the first beneficiary as Jordan Pickford raced off his line to quell James Madison. Suddenly the hitherto-comfortable Blues started looking nervy and Spurs piled men forward. They duly got another goal in time added on when fan-favourite Richarlison slid in behind the daydreaming late substitute Michael Keane to make it 3-2.
Fortunately for the Blues that was all there was time for because mentally they seemed to be reliving the hellscapes of earlier this season when they let AFC Bournemouth come back from two-down to win, and then similarly gave up another two-goal lead at Aston Villa too.
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Speaking after the game, manager David Moyes could afford to be jovial.
“I’m just really pleased we could give everybody something to shout about. They nearly weren’t going home [happy]! I think our first half performance was excellent & the aim was to get a fourth goal… it ended up being a really good victory for us.
“Overall I’m really pleased with the three points. The whole team looked a different outfit today but we gave it away a lot today too.”
On who he thought were the standout performers this afternoon, Moyes called out Calvert-Lewin and Lindstrøm.
“Dom played really well today. It was a real calm piece of play, quick around his feet… The big thing for him is people tell me he hadn’t been getting many chances. He’s got a few now but the biggest thing is he played like a proper No. 9. He did a lot of good things today.
“Jesper did well today too. I actually thought Jesper had an influence in a lot of the goals today. I thought he did a really good job as well.
“I remember him really well [when I played against him while manager of West Ham] against Eintracht Frankfurt and he was a really talented footballer. I thought today he was quite impressive in what he did. We didn’t want him to be an out and out wing-back, we wanted Jake sometimes to be right-back and on the build, a bit wider, so we tried to get Jesper in two or three different roles – but I thought defensively for us he did a pretty good job as well. I think he showed a little bit of grit about his game.”
The 61-year-old also made special mention of Ndiaye, with a promise too about the marauding Toffee.
“I thought he took his goal brilliantly well. I want him to ball carry more than he is at the moment… I actually think he’s got more to come, I really do.”
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Moyes was asked about his decision to start young central defender Jake O’Brien who had been languishing on the bench during Sean Dyche’s tenure.
“We wanted to have a look at Jake [O’Brien]. We’ve not really had a chance to see him. The big thing, the strongest point of the team has always been defensively, but I thought Jake would maybe give us a chance to build a little bit better when we’ve got the ball, which might free us up a little bit if we can work it. I think for long periods it did quite well.
“For Jake it was about getting as much of a 90 minutes as we could out of him because he’s not played so much but I thought he came through quite well and did a lot of things.”
What would he like to do differently to maintain leads late on going forward?
“What I want from [everyone] is to perform how they did in the first half for 90 minutes – not for 45 or 60. We need to get those levels where they realise that is what is expected. I actually think our second goal was a really good bit of play, where Ili gets away and got one-v-one and took him on, and even the ball in that Jesper put in for the third goal – the own goal – was a fantastic ball from the byline for Tarky to head back across goal. Look, there was a lot to be really pleased about.
“I think we limited them to one good chance [in the first half] and Tarky made a good block as well. I’m just disappointed we didn’t manage the game a bit better later on [in the second half] but I think there was a hope that the players were probably saying, ‘Can we get this result over the line?’.
“It’s a huge result for us today and getting three points is so important.”
A particular David Moyes song last sung during his previous time at Goodison was brought out in the second half with the Blues cruising. What did he have to say about the fans chanting “Davie, Davie Moyes”?
“It was fabulous, it really was. I’ve not got the red hair anymore, it’s the grey hair now!
“I hugely appreciated their support today and I hope the support saw a little bit today as well. But I’m not kidding anyone on, we’re still in a big fight and we’re going to have to need support at Goodison like we had today.”
