Emmanuel Adebayor continued his recent renaissance under Tim Sherwood, capitalising on some quick thinking by Kyle Walker to grab a crucial win in the race for 4th place, leapfrogging their opponents in the process. Everton started the game brightly making more use of their possession than the home side, and the evergreen Leon Osman could have had 3 goals in the opening 10 minutes. His first chance came after 2 mins when he played a neat one-two with Seamus Coleman before putting a left footed effort wide. Then, on 6 minutes, a ball in from Distin was neatly steered in to the path of Osman, whose sweet right footed volley was expertly palmed round the post by Hugo Lloris. A minute later Naismith created something out of nothing when outnumbered, pulling the ball back to Osman whose effort lacked the power to beat Lloris. Spurs were struggling to get a foothold in the game and Sherwood was visibly frustrated on the touch line, encouraging his side to press higher up the field, but his calls were falling on deaf ears. Spurs only effort of any note was a 30 yard free kick from Christian Eriksen which skimmed the roof of Tim Howard's net. Everton looked solid defensively, squeezing the life out of Tottenham's creative players and looking the more comfortable team in possession. On 35 Minutes, Kevin Mirallas nearly provided a wonder goal following a scintillating run from the halfway line, beating 3 players before blasting over when Naismith may have been better placed. In the second half, Spurs had to up the ante after their 1st half efforts, but they were still huffing and puffing with little end product. With Martinez calmness personified, Sherwood looked like an agitated wasp stuck in a pint glass as he flapped frantically on the sideline. At one point his frustration boiled over with the drinks bottle on the receiving end, almost spraying the opposing manager. Tottenham started to try and penetrate the Everton defence but were unable to get any telling efforts on goal. That all changed in the 65th minute, when a quick Kyle Walker free kick caught the Everton defence napping and Emmanuel Adebayor kept his composure to cooly slot past Tim Howard who was beaten at his near post. Having had nothing to do up until that point, Howard will have been furious at those in front if him for switching off and allowing Spurs such an easy opportunity, which ultimately cost them dearly. It seemed a noticeable ploy of Sherwood's to draw Adebayor onto the physically inferior Coleman as the half went on and the Togolese forward was starting to give the Everton defenders food for thought. Everton introduced Aiden McGeady and Gerard Deulofeu for the final 18 minutes in the hope that their pace and trickery would test a tiring Spurs back four. The Toffees tried to probe for a deserved equaliser in the final stages but to add to their despair, they appeared to be denied a clear penalty in injury time when Coleman toe ended the ball past Etienne Capoue, with the Frenchman clearly catching him just inside the box. It was a harsh lesson for Martinez's troops that you need to be clinical in front of goal when you are on top, especially away from home. Relief was etched on the faces of Sherwood and his coaching staff and he will know his side will need to play much better than this if they are to challenge the likes of Liverpool for the coveted 4th place. Everton will have to dust themselves down and show their character when Crystal Palace are the visitors in midweek, while Spurs will look to make up some ground on Liverpool when they travel to Newcastle.
I am an Evertonian originating from Yorkshire and living in Bedfordshire. I have always had an obsession with football and a passion for writing and I am keen to get started in the world of football journalism. I hope that my writing entertains you all and leaves you thirsty for more!
