Tottenham 1 - 3 Everton Match Report

[RiverWire]

Tottenham's £40million strike force could not find a way past Everton at White

Hart Lane as David Moyes's men stormed to the top of the Premier League.

Spurs boss Martin Jol had Darren Bent, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane in his starting XI and brought Jermain Defoe off the bench, but it was his problems at the back that were exposed by the clinical visitors.

Joleon Lescott headed in from an early set-piece, taking advantage of slack marking by Anthony Gardner.

Gardner levelled matters, but Leon Osman and Alan Stubbs struck before the break to make it two wins from two at the start of Everton's season.

Spurs finished with just two out-and-out defenders in a back three as they chased the game - something even former boss Ossie Ardiles may not have considered in the previous regime of kamikaze attacking.

With their four strikers, Spurs have been tipped to break into the UEFA Champions League places - something Everton did three seasons ago - but like last year, the North Londoners have suffered a poor start and are playing catch-up already after two defeats.

All eyes were on the strikers at White Hart Lane - with Wayne Rooney's foot injury meaning Steve McClaren could have a close look at Bent, Defoe and Everton's Andrew Johnson as the England coach considers his options for next month's Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Yet for all the English talent in attack for each team, it was a homegrown centre-half who opened the scoring.

Early lead

Everton's bus needed a police escort to guide them to the ground on time, but

Lescott did not receive the same close attention when the visitors were presented with a third-minute free-kick.

Paul Stalteri fouled Mikel Arteta on the right flank for the set-piece, and the Spaniard curved the ball in for Lescott to head home after losing Gardner.

With Keane dropping off to the right flank, Spurs went on the attack in search of the equaliser.

Bent was caught offside when he finished past Tim Howard, then forced the American to save in the 10th minute after Pascal Chimbonda slid him through - with Joseph Yobo throwing himself in front of Berbatov to block the rebound.

Throwing everything forward, however, could not cover up Tottenham's problems at the back. With Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Gareth Bale injured, only Chimbonda was a first-choice defender.

It got worse for Jol in the 18th minute when Younes Kaboul limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. With Ricardo Rocha filling in and Stalteri in an unaccustomed left-back role, Everton sensed their chance to take advantage.

Johnson chased a lost cause and set up Victor Anichebe - the lively youngster who could play for either England or Nigeria - for a drive that was gathered by Paul Robinson at the second attempt.

While Johnson and Anichebe combined with menace, Jol's strikers were failing to click - although Keane's improvisation set up Berbatov to fire over the bar.

Equaliser

When the equaliser came it was centre-back Gardner who thudded in his second league goal for the club, losing Lescott to head home from Jermaine Jenas's 26th-minute corner.

The lead lasted little more than 10 minutes, Arteta chipping a cross from the right to the back post where Rocha managed to scramble the ball away from Anichebe. But it fell for Osman to lash into the roof of the net, catching Robinson out of position.

Arteta almost had goal himself just before the break when he floated a free-kick just over the angle.

Stubbs took over from set-piece duties and extended the lead in first-half stoppage time with a free-kick from 30 yards which found the bottom corner, taking a cruel deflection off Didier Zokora as he wrestled with Lee Carsley in the wall.

It was all-out attack from the hosts in the second half, Keane testing Howard with a drive a minute after the restart.

Berbatov headed against the post in the next attack after meeting Chimbonda's cross from the right.

Constant threat

Everton remained a threat on the counter-attack, and Arteta dragged a shot just wide after bundling his way into the penalty area.

Jol brought Defoe off the bench for Bent for the last half-hour, while Wayne Routledge was also brought on for Stalteri - leaving just three at the back.

Arteta earned another free-kick and almost found Stubbs at the back post as Everton looked to seal the win with another goal.

Johnson forced Robinson into two late saves, and Howard denied Defoe with a parry at the other end.

[Twizzle]

cant defend without defenders

[Beats]

yea but we should still be scoring goals even with a crap defense.

[VancouverSpur]

It felt like a bloody grave yard at the lane tuesday. very dissapointing. We were so poor and the silence from teh crowd reflected this. fair play to Everton, they deserved their win, but only because we were terrible.

What an ambarrassment.