if so, then it’s Richarlison’s award.
In the end Spurs cruised by Everton, to keep up with the top of the league, in what is now apparently their best ever start to a Premier League season, thanks to an injury to their expensive Brazilian.
I was torn last season, on the one hand wanting Fat Frank to take Everton down would have been rather funny but they do seem to be an easy three points for Spurs these days.
This game though was going through the same old motions. Spurs having the ball, doing nothing with it. One shot on target. While Everton had the best two chances, but didn’t have anyone to take them so they were ballooned over the bar from close range.
There were two moments of class from Kane, in the first half a bit of close control in the box and then a stunning volley in the second. But there just wasn’t that ed product and it didn’t look like coming.
Things hanged a few minutes into the second half when Richarlison hobbled off with a calf injury. He was replaced by Bissouma and the formation switched from the usual 3-4-3 to the more productive 3-5-2. Hojbjerg and Bentancur were further up the pitch, Spurs had control and Everton barely got a touch after that.
It didn’t take long to pay dividends with the opening goal. Perisic’s cross missed everyone but found Doherty on the other side, his weakish shot wasn’t collected by Pickford, Kane was the only player on his toes and he knocked the ball away from the sprawling England number one, to be taken down Southgate’s hyperactive favourite.
After his horror penalty midweek, Kane wasn’t putting this one over the bar. Pickford got a touch, more of hand on it and he would probably have been out of the World Cup with a broken wrist.
The clincher took another half an hour, in which Everton offered nothing, and probably showed the benefits of the system Conte uses, sees working but keeps abandoning. With Bissouma in there, Bentancur and Hojbjerg have more freedom. Bissouma got his head on a long ball, it bounced to Kane who as telling Bentancur to get going up the right wing, as the Uruguayan did so Kane played it perfectly into his stride, a first time cross to the middle of the box edge and there was Hojbjerg, all on his lonesome. Cheasting the ball down, then steadying himself he placed it in the top corner, for his third league goal of the season.
A comparison, Hojbjerg’s third league goal this season, after just ten games. Harry Winks, a player in the same position has 2 league goals in his entire Premier League career, 128 games.
There wasn’t even the sticky moments at the end, no consolation goal that got everyone a little uptight, that’s why it was probably good they didn’t go down. But Conte after seeing 3-5-2 work well, yet again is now talking about going back to 3-4-3 for the midweek Man U game. Why? It’s like repeatedly playing Emerson, he’d wedded to the pair and isn’t going to admit his mistake.
Richarlison coming off changed Spurs for the better…