Everton faced off against Tottenham Hotspur at the English capital earlier today looking to start their Premier League campaign with a victory away from home. Both sides created some decent opportunities to score in the first 45 minutes but failed to open the goal-scoring as they went into the half-time break without anything to show for their efforts.
The Toffees began the second half as the dominant team and finally managed to break the deadlock via Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s towering header in the 55th minute. Spurs tried to come up with a response, but all of their build-up work went in vain as Carlo Ancelotti’s men finished the game strong and secured a hard-fought yet memorable 1-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Let’s take a look at how each Everton player fared during the match against Spurs.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 8/10
The English keeper made a few impressive saves to restrict the Tottenham attackers from finding the back of the net during the 90 minutes.
RB: Seamus Coleman – 7/10
He kept a solid shape defensively and even managed to pose a threat in the attacking third. He went close to scoring in the 74th minute with his volley from 25 yards out but was denied by Hugo Lloris.
CB: Michael Keane – 7.5/10
The English defensive ace read the danger quickly and dealt with everything that came his way. He did enough work defensively to keep Harry Kane quiet for the whole game.
CB: Yerry Mina – 7/10
The Colombian centre-half was a dominant presence in the air and has got a well-deserved clean sheet to show for his efforts.
LB: Lucas Digne – 8/10
The French left-back supplied a brilliant cross from a free-kick to set up Calvert-Lewin’s game-winner in the 55th minute. He also worked hard to keep Lucas Moura in check throughout the 90 minutes.
CM: Abdoulaye Doucoure – 7.5/10
It was an impressive debut from the former Watford man. He created a couple of decent opportunities in the final third and also got stuck in with some important tackles to deny Spurs from getting forward.
CM: Allan – 7/10
The ex-Napoli midfielder positioned himself ideally to deal with the threat and produced a commanding performance at the centre of the park.
CM: Andre Gomes – 6/10
The Portuguese midfield ace was not shy to get hold of the ball but didn’t create anything of note going forward. He ran out of gas and was subbed in the second half.
LW: Richarlison – 6/10
The Brazilian attacker got three glorious chances to score but didn’t manage to hit the target with any of his attempts. However, he deserves credit for being a constant menace for the opposition.
ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 8.5/10
The English striker caused a lot of headaches for the Tottenham centre-backs and rose above everyone to score with a well-timed header in the 55th minute. He deserves to be awarded the man of the match.
RW: James Rodriguez – 8/10
The Colombian linked up play well with others around him and went close to scoring with his curled effort early in the second half. He was also responsible for orchestrating five excellent chances for the Toffees which was an incredible feat for a player making his debut.
Substitutes:
CM: Gylfi Sigurdsson – 6/10
The Icelandic international provided some fresh legs in midfield.
ST: Moise Kean – N/A
The youngster came off the bench to run the clock down for Everton.
CM: Tom Davies – N/A
He didn’t get enough time to warrant a rating.
