By Thomas Durning
Late Keane goal earns Everton a point.
A brilliant long-range strike by defender Michael Keane earned Everton a point against Tottenham in what was an action-packed Premier League Monday evening match at Goodison Park which included two goals and two red cards.
Everton made no changes to the side that drew with Chelsea last time out with manager Sean Dyche sticking with the same team for the fourth match in a row which has resulted in the Toffees going three matches unbeaten.
Tottenham made three changes to the side that drew with Southampton last time out in what was Cristian Stellini’s first match in charge since the departure of Antonio Conte. Fraser Forster, Ben Davies, and Richarlison came out of the team and they were replaced by Hugo Lloris, Ivan Perisic, and Dejan Kulusevski respectively. There was a return for club captain Hugo Lloris who missed the last few weeks due to injury.
It was a bright start by Everton and they had there first chance in the 2nd minute after a good ball winning tackle by Onana led his side on the counter attack which eventually led to Dwight McNeil but his curling shot just went wide of the post.
Despite Tottenham’s slow start, they started to gain composure in the match and they had there first chance in the 9th minute when the ball was cleared off the line. After midfielder Oliver Skipp was tackled by Tarkowski just outside the box, the ball hit Everton defender Coleman who couldn’t control it and the ball nicely landed to Harry Kane who turned and shot but defender Keane was able to clear the ball off the line and clear it away.
Tottenham again had a chance in the 16th minute after a switch of play by Dier, the ball landed to Perisic on the left who swung a great cross into the box for Harry Kane however Kane couldn’t connect properly and the ball just went wide.
Despite Tottenham looking like they were improving in the match, they started to get sloppy when in possession of the ball which led to Everton being more comfortable.
In the 38th minute, Everton had another chance when Tottenham defender Lenglet gave away the ball just after he won it back which led Iwobi passing it to Everton midfielder Onana who after noticing he had space just outside the box, he decided to have a go but he didn’t connect properly and Lloris was able to make a comfortable save.
In the 43rd minute, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to make a great save when Kulusevski managed to play a lovely through ball to Son who was in on goal but his low shot was saved by Pickford and it eventually led to the linesman putting his flag up.
This was to be the last real action of the first half and Everton would go into half time disappointed that they had not created enough with Tottenham thinking the same as towards the end of the 1st half, they hardly created any chances.
The second half got underway and just like the 1st half, Everton started better.
In the 47th minute, the home side created the first chance of the half after pressing high up the pitch, Everton midfielder Onana won the ball off Dier which led to Gueye getting onto the end of the loose ball and despite having options on both sides, he had a shot which went way over the bar.
Despite Everton having a great start to the half, trouble struck when in the 58th minute, Everton midfielder Doucoure got sent off. It was a moment of madness from the midfielder as he got involved in a mini tussle with Harry Kane which led to Doucoure raising his hands and hitting Kane in the face with the referee having no other choice but to send him off.
With Everton down to ten men, this gave Tottenham the advantage and in the 66th minute, the away side won themselves a penalty. After a long ball into the box by Tottenham, Perisic managed to win it in the air and his knock down led to Romero rushing onto it and with Keane about to clear the ball away, he did not see Romero rushing behind him, and Romero is tripped which led to the referee pointing to the spot.
This led to Harry Kane taking the penalty and after taking his time, he ran up to the ball and struck it low into the bottom left corner with Everton keeper Pickford going the wrong way.
Many thought Tottenham would now have complete control of the game however this did not happen as Everton tried to push themselves up the pitch with Tottenham deciding to sit in there shape and soak up the pressure.
In the 75th minute, Everton had a great chance to equalise after Tottenham failed to clear the ball which led to Gueye being set up on the edge of the box and his shot had to be tipped over the bar by Lloris.
The resulting corner is met by Keane whose header is straight at Lloris and the keeper managed to keep a hold of it.
Both sides started to make subs in the last quarter of the match and Lucas Moura who had just came on for Tottenham five minutes earlier was sent off in the 88th minute.
After heading the ball to defender Keane, Lucas tried to win the ball back however he got nowhere near the ball and stepped on Keane’s ankle with his studs which again led to the referee having no choice but to send him off. The match was now 10 vs 10.
This was great news for Everton as two minutes after Tottenham went down to 10 men, the home side equalised. Tottenham were slow to close the ball down which led to Michael Keane who gave away the penalty stepping in from defence and unleashing a shot which left Lloris stranded, and the ball skimmed the inside of the post to make it 1-1.
It was an unexpected goal from an unlikely goal scorer in Michael Keane and after the goal, both sides tried to nick a winner however they both ran out of time and this was to be the last action of the match.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman (Mykolenko 77’) Keane, Tarkowski, Godfrey, Gueye (Garner 84’) Onana (Davies 83’) Doucoure, Iwobi, McNeil, Gray (Simms 77’)
Subs not used: Mina, Holgate, Begovic, Coady, Maupay
Tottenham: Lloris, Romero, Dier, Lenglet (Sanchez 77’) Porro, Hojberg, Skipp, Perisic, Kulusevski, Son (Moura 82’) Kane
Subs not used: Danjuma, Forster, Mundle, Sarr, Devine, Tanganga, Austin
Referee: David Coote
Reporter: Thomas Durning
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