Now that’s more like it.
Tottenham Hotspur bounced back from last week’s dropped points against Leicester City by absolutely clattering Everton in Spurs’ first home match of the season. A double from captain Son Heung-min took the headlines, but it was really a dominant team performance that saw Spurs put four on the scoresheet against Sean Dyche’s struggling Toffees.
That lackluster Foxes performance as well as an injury to new signing Dominic Solanke meant changes for Spurs, with Son shifting into the striker role and Dejan Kulusevski and Wilson Odobert coming into the XI for Solanke and Pape Matar Sarr. The new-look starting lineup began brightly as well, with a flurry of chances in a frantic opening: Cristian Romero found himself through on goal following a set piece, with the Argentine unable to take his chance; a deflected effort from Son was saved by Jordan Pickford; and there were further opportunities for James Maddison and Brennan Johnson.
Dejan Kulusevski had looked sharp early on, and he helped set up the opening goal, weaving his way through the Everton box before laying off to Yves Bissouma at the top of the box. Bissouma hit it first time, and his shot clattered off the crossbar and into the back of the net to put the Lilywhites into an early lead.
It was soon two for Spurs, this time with the Tottenham press playing creator. Spurs had been putting Pickford under pressure regularly in the early moments of the match, and that pressure told as Son busted a lung to close down the Everton keeper. Pickford’s touch was poor, and the Spurs captain robbed the ball from Pickford’s feet to tap it into an empty net.
Of course, with everything proceeding swimmingly for Spurs in the first half it was high time for something to go wrong, and it almost did as Micky van de Ven looked to have picked up a significant injury while challenging Dwight McNeil. The Dutchman collapsed to the ground holding his knee, hyperextending the joint and in apparent pain, and though a substitute looked imminent, Micky managed to see out the half.
So too did Spurs’ two-goal lead, though not with some challenge from Everton as a flurry of late set pieces put the Tottenham goal under pressure. The defense held strong, though, and the half-time whistle blew with the score still 2-0.
Both sides struggled to impose any level of control on the match through the early period of the second half, and Dyche attempted to take advantage of this temporary malaise with two substitutes, as Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom came on for Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison. Postecoglou responded not long after with substitutions of his own, with Richarlison continuing to build his fitness as he came on for Odobert and Kulusevski making way for Sarr to solidify the midfield.
A great chance to threaten the goal once more presented itself in the form of an attacking free kick for Spurs after Son was fouled just outside the box; Maddison, however, could not hit the target, with his strike flashing past the right-hand upright. His delivery was pinpoint soon thereafter though, with a corner finding the head of Cristian Romero, as the Argentine thumped his header against the crossbar and in for Spurs’ third.
More substitutes followed for Spurs, with young players Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, and Djed Spence all seeing the pitch for the Lilywhites, the latter after Destiny Udogie seemingly picked up a knock. The fresh legs told against a tired Toffees side, their fatigue perhaps most evident in the build-up to Spurs’ fourth goal. Van de Ven, having shook off his earlier injury scare, picked up possession at the top of his own box before driving forward almost the length of the pitch. The Dutch defender laid the ball off to Son, who then cooly finished through the legs of Pickford to take Spurs to a 4-0 win.
Reactions
- After last week’s disappointment, this is what you want to see against the league’s weaker sides. That’s a clobbering.
- It’s very early days, but Wilson Odobert looks FUN, and at this stage of his career that’s exactly what you want to see, right?
- Micky, man. You just can’t teach speed, and that run was honestly reminiscent in some ways of THAT Son goal against Burnley. Loved seeing that from the Dutchman.
- Now for the negatives, and I’m maybe being overly critical here: I’ve said multiple times on the site I don’t like Kulusevski in midfield, and I feel like his very bright start today will be ammunition to those that disagree; however, Deki was playing almost as a classic right attacking midfielder (almost like one you would have expected to see under Poch), spending an inordinate amount of time wide right and with all of his positive moves cutting in from that wide position. This often caused problems though for Spurs playing through midfield, with Maddison having to cover huge amounts of ground and Son often having to drop into the spaces where Deki SHOULD have been to help Spurs progress the ball. Was it tactical? I don’t think so, and I think it would’ve caused Tottenham problems against a better side.
- It was a bit of a strange first half for Cuti, who seemed… distracted? But he soon grew into the match and was everywhere defensively in the second.
- I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have James Maddison getting to the ball first THREE times (including winning two headers) on a single defensive set piece on my bingo card today. He’s been much sharper in the two opening matches after a worrying preseason as well.
- I hope Destiny is okay; the depth on that left-hand side isn’t great. Well, maybe it’s better than we thought since Micky can obviously play anywhere on the left.
- Next up: Newcastle. COYS!
