Tottenham 2 Everton 1: Richarlison & Son fire Spurs into top four as relegation rivals gain ground on frustrated Toffees
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EVERTON seemed a bit desperate during their hearing against their 10-point deduction when they suggested Spurs had signed Richarlison on the cheap.
Getting him for a knock-down £60million due to the Toffees’ financial woes was £20m less than his true valuation, their lawyers claimed.
Given how the Brazilian has fared in North London for the most part, it seemed it was the Merseysiders who had pulled Tottenham’s pants down - rather than the other way around.
But watching Richarlison’s revival over the last month and you can finally see what they were talking about - and why Spurs signed him in the first place.
His double in the 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle saw him finally net with his feet, before he followed it up with a bullet header at Nottingham Forest.
By the time his old club turned up here, the striker’s confidence was sky-high.
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That was obvious from the way he stroked home his side’s opener with just nine minutes on the clock.
At pretty much any other time in his difficult 18-month spell at Spurs, he may have tried to blast it or take a touch, or not even be in the right position.
But here he had no hesitation as coolly found the near corner with a first-time, controlled strike from Brennan Johnson’s cross.
Johnson then inadvertently teed up a second for Spurs on 18 minutes as his saved shot landed in the path of Son Heung-min, who found the corner.
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Everton carried a goal threat and were unlucky to have a Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal ruled out in one of those, ‘that is not what VAR was supposed to be for’ situations.
Sub Andre Gomes did find the net late on his first appearance of the season to ensure a thrilling finish.
But in the end, the day belonged to Richarlison’s current club rather than his old one, sending Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs back into the top four and quite possibly back into the title race.
Though they were dealt another defensive headache as Cristian Romero limped off with a hamstring problem at half-time.
With fellow crocks James Maddison, Manor Solomon and Rodrigo Bentancur watching on from Spurs’ bench, the hosts made the perfect start thanks to Richarlison.
It was a typically tasty serving of Ange Ball as Pape Sarr rolled the ball into Johnson’s path - with Dejan Kulusevski jumped over it in the process.
Ex-Nottingham Forest man Johnson has been guilty of a wasteful end product of late but this time his centre was on the money - allowing Richarlison to sweep home.
Calvert-Lewin should have done better from a Vitalii Mykolenko cross but headed straight at Guglielmo Vicario at point-blank range, while Dwight McNeil dragged a shot wide.
Suddenly Sean Dyche’s men found themselves 2-0 down before they even knew it, with Son Johnny-on-the-spot to turn home Johnson’s rebound.
It took the South Korean’s tally to 11 Premier League goals this season already - and 114 overall - further underlining what a class act he is.
To make matters worse for the visitors, influential midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye went straight down the tunnel minutes later with an injury.
It saw his replacement Gomes make his first appearance for Everton in 18 months, following last season’s loan spell at French side Lille.
While not an obvious Dyche type, Gomes has always looked a silky player whose career would likely have scaled loftier heights were it not for serious injury.
It was a trip from Son back in 2019 that led to the playmaker suffered a fractured dislocation of his ankle - for which the Spurs captain later sent an apology via text message.
Richarlison has had his own injury problems this term for Spurs, undergoing surgery on his pelvis in November, as well as issues mentally due to off-the-field problems.
But he looked fit, focused and in the mood here as he pulled off a clever backheel in the middle of another flowing Spurs attack.
Nothing was going right for Dyche’s men and that was encapsulated when Mykolenko managed to strike two footballs with the same shot.
One ball had been thrown back on the pitch by a fan after play had begun again using another, but referee Stuart Attwell waved play on and no player kicked the second one out.
Like a magnet, Everton’s attack somehow was drawn to the second ball which Mykolenko’s trailing leg seemed to catch as he drove the one being used in play wide of the target.
Eric Dier came on at the break for Romero, who had an ice-pack on his hamstring as he took his place on the bench, and Spurs knew they were in for a tough second half.
Everton though they had pulled one back when Gomes dispossessed Emerson Royal and teed up Calvert-Lewin who found the corner.
Attwell did not deem Gomes’ challenge to be a foul but was then sent to the monitor by VAR and changed his mind.
Had he given a free-kick at the time, few would have argued, but not giving one was hardly a clear and obvious error, once again throwing into question just what VAR’s purpose is.
Everton did finally get one back as Gomes crashed home in the 82nd minute, sending Tottenham fans’ nerves jangling.
James Tarkowski had a header cleared off the line by Ben Davies before Vicario denied former Spur Arnaut Danjuma.
Danjuma then had a shot which hit the bar, bounced down and looked dangerously close to crossing the line. He was flagged offside, but replays suggests he was on.
A goal-line check from VAR after the final whistle confirmed it had not quite crossed the line, meaning Postecoglou’s men squeaked home another three points.
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See how the game unfolded below...