Conservative Everton lose out to Spurs

Everton 1 Spurs 2

Tottenham gave Everton a lesson in attacking football to win only their second away match in the league this season.

The hosts upset their fans with a cautious approach after getting back on level terms with a stunning Mikel Arteta free-kick.

Earlier, Dimitar Berbatov had put the Londoners ahead with his 15th goal of the season.

With just two minutes left, Jermaine Jenas struck a cracking winner while Everton looked like they were trying to protect a point.

Everton boss David Moyes took a lot of stick from the fans for his failure to go for victory.

On a night when their neighbours Liverpool produced an amazing victory in Barcelona, the home side’s European ambitions took a hammer blow, while Spurs have two major cups and maybe even a league placing and a chance to return to the UEFA Cup.

Everton were without striker Andrew Johnson, who failed a fitness test on his injured ankle, but Leon Osman returned following suspension.

Tim Cahill served a one-match ban while James Beattie and Victor Anichebe were teamed up front.

Tottenham had Jenas back from suspension, and played neat, controlled football early on.

With Everton using two big front men, there was going to be plenty of ball in the air, but the equally-big Anthony Gardner handled the pressure well for Spurs.

The opening spell was memorable only for yellow cards for Anichebe and Phil Neville, the latter for clattering Dimitar Berbatov, the result of some wayward arm-flailing by the Bulgarian that had clearly upset the Everton skipper.

Tim Howard had to be very quick from his line to take the ball from Robbie Keane’s toes as he chased a Berbatov nod down, while at the other end Paul Robinson was equally alert to touch an Osman shot wide from the edge of the box.

Joleon Lescott found himself on the wrong side of Spurs winger Aaron Lennon on 34 minutes.

Leon Osman was caught in possession by Didier Zokora in the act of playing a pass wide to the big defender.

The ball instead found its way into the path of Lennon, some 10 yards behind Lescott, who had no chance of catching the England man from that position.

Lennon surged away before laying the ball into the path of Berbatov, who scored with a crisp half-volley.

Everton hit back when Arteta curled a stunning 25-yard free kick in off the foot of a post for the equaliser on 42 minutes amid Spurs anger.

Tottenham defender Michael Dawson was booked for a foul on Anichebe but the linesman had clearly signalled for a Spurs free kick for the Everton youngster’s initial foul.

Referee Uriah Rennie, however, insisted on awarding the set piece to Everton for a later tug by Dawson, with Arteta taking full advantage with his spectacular effort.

Everton took off Anichebe at the break, sending on Gary Naysmith to play on the left of midfield in front of Lescott, an attempt to halt Lennon’s high-speed runs.

Beattie was left on his own up front, but Everton had greater parity in midfield.

The game was far more open and Berbatov took advantage of an Alan Stubbs slip to test Howard with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Everton responded with another Arteta free kick, this time out on the right, which saw Osman flick a header across goal just wide of the far post.

Manuel Fernandes had an increasing influence in midfield for Everton, with the hosts trying to get Naysmith and Osman forward from midfield to aid Beattie.

Spurs persisted with two strikers and sent on Steed Malbranque for the increasingly ineffective Lennon.

Berbatov should have done better with a volley from 15 yards while Robbie Keane got through on the left only to lift his shot over the Everton bar.

With only youngster James Vaughan as a striker on the bench, Everton opted to send on Tony Hibbert with five minutes left to play at right-back and Neville moving into midfield.

The change annoyed the Everton fans, who wanted an extra attacking player to try to win the match.

It was Spurs who drove forward and, with two minutes left, Jenas collected possession from Malbranque 20 yards out, looked up and guided a fine shot into the bottom corner.

Only now did Everton resort to Vaughan in place of Naysmith. The home fans were far from pleased at the lateness of such a change.