George Overhill

Mon 3 April 2023 21:56, UK

Michael Keane was the hero for Everton as he made up for conceding an unlucky penalty to smash home a late leveller in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham.

A full-throttle first 45 minutes saw the scoreline remain goalless at the break as the Toffees players threw themselves into challenges but lack a crucial element of quality in the final third.

Abdoulaye Doucouré’s sending off just before the hour for striking Harry Kane in the face looked to have thrown everything away as a relatively even contest became a fight against the odds, and things duly fell apart within minutes as Keane caught Christian Romero to concede a penalty which the England captain dispatched.

But after Lucas Moura evened up the numbers with a bad late challenge on Keane, the defender took full advantage to blast the home side level with a stunner from 25-yards as the game went into added time.

Here, Goodison News rates the Everton players out of 10 for their performances against Spurs.

Jordan Pickford – 7

Decent game before he lost his clean sheet from the spot. Made a couple of vital first-half saves but also had to be helped out by his defenders at times. Played his part in a backs-against-the-wall showing in defence.

Seamus Coleman (off for Mykolenko ’76) – 7

Did what he does this season with boundless energy getting up and down the pitch and a solid showing at both ends. Made a key contribution as the last line of defence more than once.

James Tarkowski – 9

Great game. Was a giant presence all over the pitch in exactly the sort of performance the night called for. Typically full-blooded approach as he threw himself into challenges at both ends which looked like it might have ended his participation with a knee issue late in the first half. Appeared numerous times midway through the Spurs half to show the visitors weren’t safe from his impact anywhere.

Michael Keane – 9 Man of the Match

Fantastic showing in a 90 minutes filled with drama. Compared to the beaten man of this time last year he had played a crucial role in a battling first hour, but his foul gave away the penalty to put Everton behind. Didn’t see Romero coming from behind and was caught out. A vital early goal-line block followed by a volley that whistled narrowly over encapsulated his renewed importance to this Everton side. Picked himself up from Moura’s stamp late on to fire in that wonderful equaliser from distance.

Ben Godfrey – 6

Certainly puts himself about. Had his hands full with Dejan Kulusevski to deal with down the left from the off, but had a dangerous effort of his own deflected wide in the Spurs box. Continues to look uncomfortable as a full-back, but can’t be accused of lacking fight. His ‘industrial’ approach to dealing with the Swede was a risk and might have been more of an issue with a stricter referee than David Coote, and required assistance from McNeil often.

Idrissa Gana Gueye (off for Garner ’84) – 6

Overshadowed by his two midfield teammates before Doucouré threw his place in the game away. Wasted a major opportunity after the break when he skied a shot with options either side after great work from Onana. Not awful, not great, just okay.

Amadou Onana (off for Davies ’84) – 8

So important to this side and if he can add more attacking threat will be one of the strongest all-round midfielders in the Premier League. Snapped into an early challenge to set Everton away on their first dangerous attack and kick off an energetic performance in midfield. Excellent at spotting opportunities to steal possession which he did on a number of occasions, but teammates were often unable to take advantage of breaks he creates. Surprise to see him replaced.

Abdoulaye Doucouré – 4

Maddening. Good game but threw it all away to put his side under huge pressure just before the hour with the Toffees’ first red card of the season. Kane made a meal of it but Doucouré made it easy for him by losing his cool with the game in the balance. Had been strong until then, providing real drive on a number of occasions to put Spurs on the back foot but lacked end-product. Made a mess of a free header on half an hour that perhaps should have been his latest in a good spell of scoring form.

Alex Iwobi – 7

Boundless energy down the right as Everton fans have come to expect and hassled Tottenham players well when out of possession, but didn’t quite have the attacking impact he would have liked.

Dwight McNeil – 7

Continued his resurgence under Dyche. More involved defensively than in attack early and produced an excellent back-post intervention to deny Pedro Porro. Incredibly underrated as an auxiliary full-back when tracking back and is always available to put a cross into the box at the other end, but it is not news that there is often nobody to take advantage.

Demarai Gray (off for Simms ’76) – 6

Not bad. Inches away with a early curled effort in the opening minutes and was a lively presence up top but too often didn’t have the final ball or lost possession. Perhaps not 100% his fault given he is playing out of position.

Substitutes

Vitalii Mykolenko (on for Coleman ’76) –

Added an outlet down the left but didn’t have enough quality with his crosses.

Ellis Simms (off for Simms ’76) – N/A

Unable to have the same impact as his late introduction at Stamford Bridge.

Tom Davies (on for Onana ’84) – N/A

James Garner (on for Gueye ’84) – N/A