Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Goodison Park.
Free highlights and match report as stunning Harry Kane double cancels out two Gylfi Sigurdsson goals as Everton and Tottenham fail to boost Champions League bid; Kane limps off in final minutes with ankle injury; Toffees and Spurs six and five points outside the top four respectively
Saturday 17 April 2021 07:47, UK
Harry Kane emphatically punished two defensive errors before suffering an ankle injury as Tottenham and Everton played out a thrilling 2-2 draw which did little for either sides' European ambitions.
After an uneventful opening 27 minutes at Goodison Park, Michael Keane's costly defensive header set up Kane to ruthlessly volley Spurs into the lead, but Everton hit back inside four minutes when Gylfi Sigurdsson converted a penalty after Sergio Reguilon had fouled James Rodriguez in the area.
Everton were superior in every department from there on and took a deserved lead shortly after the hour when Sigurdsson haunted his former club again with a clinical finish from Seamus Coleman's cutback.
But just as Spurs had relinquished their first-half lead, the Toffees gifted Kane his second six minutes later when a defensive mix-up between Keane and Mason Holgate ricocheted the ball into the path of the England international, and he rifled an unstoppable volley into the top corner.
Everton could have snatched all three points at the death but substitute Josh King was thwarted by Hugo Lloris before Richarlison blazed the rebound over, though a late ankle injury to Kane was of greater concern to Spurs with just nine days to go until the Carabao Cup final.
The draw leaves Everton in eighth, six points outside the fourth and final Champions League spot, while Spurs remain a point and place ahead in seventh.
With victory imperative for Everton and Spurs' respective challenges for European football, a coy and cautious first 25 minutes unfolded at Goodison, with Richarlison drawing Lloris into a decent save with 22 minutes on the clock.
But the deadlock was unlocked by a defensive mistake and clinical finishing from one of the Premier League's most lethal marksman.
Seconds after throwing his body in the way out Tanguy Ndombele's shot from the edge of the box, Everton defender Keane misjudged the Spurs midfielder's cross from the left and took his centre-back partner Holgate out of the crucial glancing touch on the ball.
Keane's touch presented Kane with the ball unmarked six yards from goal, and the Spurs striker took his tally for the season to 20 goals for the fifth time with an incredible first touch and ruthless volley into the bottom.
Spurs' lead would last barely four minutes, though, with Reguilon adjudged to have clipped James heels in the area before the Colombian could bring a cross under control. Up stepped former Spurs man Sigurdsson, sending Lloris the wrong way with a clinical spot-kick as Everton maintained their flawless penalty conversion record this season.
Everton laid siege to the Spurs goal before the break but that second goal eluded them as Loris denied James and Richarlison, before Ben Godfrey fired wide after James' brilliantly free-kick reached him unmarked at the back post.
The Toffees started the second half brightly, but it was Spurs who fashioned the early openings, with Heung-Min Son thwarted by a fine smothering save from the returning Jordan Pickford before Toby Alderweireld glanced a header against the post from a corner.
Everton had a second goal correctly chalked off for offside when Richarlison converted after latching onto Allan's ball over the top, but the Toffees did not have to wait much longer to take a deserved lead.
Minutes after entering the fray, substitute Seamus Coleman injected pace into the Everton attack, playing a one-two with Richarlison in a slick move which ended with Sigurdsson doubling his tally with an exquisite first-time finish into the Spurs net.
But Everton were architects of their own downfall six minutes later as Keane and Holgate collided, and the ball fell for Kane to rifle his 164th Premier League goal into the top corner to overtake Robbie Fowler in the all-time scoring charts.
Before his late injury, Kane nearly completed his hat-trick but his glancing header clipped the outside of post, before Everton squandered their chance of snatching all three points when King was denied by Lloris and Richarlison fired hopelessly over with an open goal at his mercy.
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher:
"I mentioned about these teams perhaps not being Champions League level and l think we saw that tonight. People may say that it's not good enough for Spurs, but l don't believe that with the squad Tottenham have got they should be in the top four. There are better squads in this league. I felt if Tottenham got into the top four this season it would be a slight over-achievement."
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti: "We played a good game. It was probably the best we played at home this season. We were unlucky. We did easy mistakes and when you do mistakes against Harry Kane you are condemned.
"It is a disappointing result but not performance. We have more difficulties to reach Europe, but we have to keep fighting. We still have possibility playing like tonight.
"We pressed well forward and were aggressive. In the first 10-15 minutes we didn't do well with the ball but after that we had a lot of opportunity and chances. We have to keep the performance and repeat it."
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho: "I think it was a game between two teams that have lots of similarities. We are very similar in many aspects. It's teams who are capable of scoring goals and can concede too. It was a good game where both teams tried to win it and probably a fair result."
On Kane: "It is too early to say something. For him to leave the pitch with a few minutes to go is obviously because he felt something. Let me be optimistic and believe that he has time to recover.
"Let me be optimistic and believe it's nothing serious. It's obvious he's a very important player for us. I cannot say much or speculate."
Harry Kane became the first player in Premier League history to score 2+ goals in three consecutive away appearances against a single opponent (September 2017, December 2018 & April 2021) with a devastating display of opportunist finishing at Everton.
Kane moved up to seventh in the all-time Premier League scoring charts with his 20th and 21st goals of the season, only Alan Shearer (7) and Sergio Aguero (6) have scored 20+ goals in more different Premier League seasons than the Spurs striker.
Since Mourinho's appointment at Spurs, Kane has been directly involved in 62 goals in 62 appearances in all competitions for Spurs - no Premier League player has more goal involvements in this period (since 23/11/19).
Everton travel to Arsenal on Friday Night Football at 8pm - live on Sky Sports Premier League - before Tottenham host Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday at 6pm - live on Sky Sports Premier League.
Spurs then face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday at 4.30pm - live on Sky Sports Football.
