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Tottenham Hotspur moved into the Premier League top four after beating Everton in a thrilling encounter.
Richarlison opened the scoring against his former club with his fourth goal in three matches, before Son Heung-min doubled Spurs’ advantage soon after.
Everton deservedly scored a goal from André Gomes, in their first Premier League game since May 2022.
But Spurs move above Manchester City – absent from league action due to the Club World Cup – into fourth.
Everton’s defeat ended a streak of 4 consecutive wins and leaves 4 places above the relegation zone.
Brazil’s Richarlison gave the hosts the lead after just nine minutes, firing Brennan Johnson’s low cross just wide of the post.
Son doubled down on the Spurs soon after, with Johnson back offering a key supporting role. The Welsh foreigner picked up the ball in a corner and fired a hard shot that Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved.
It fell to Son, who slid the ball home with Pickford caught in a crowd of players and unable to intervene.
Everton showed plenty of attacking intent in an entertaining game, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring five minutes after half-time, only for the video assistant referee to disallow the goal after a foul by Gomes on Emerson Royal in pre-season.
Gomes, who spent last season on loan at Lille before injuring his calf, did some maintenance with a fine volley in the 82nd minute to set up the shot, but Spurs held on.
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Tottenham were fortunate enough to give their fans an early Christmas present by completing in the top four, and they showed their typical attacking style of Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs have scored in 30 consecutive Premier League games and are the only team in the department to have scored a goal in every single league game this season.
The effect of Postecoglou’s gung-ho tactics can be seen in Spurs’ whirlwind start and the fact that Everton had plenty of chances.
This is also in Richarlison’s goal statistics. He scored just two goals in his first 39 games for Spurs, but he already has six goals this season.
The 26-year-old’s form has been a welcome boost for Postecoglou in restoring Spurs’ top four challenge after it was shaken by poor results in November and early December – although there was worry for the manager as the striker had to be taken off in the second half with an apparent back injury.
Meanwhile, Son’s goal was his 11th league goal in 2023-24, more than his tally from last season.
While Everton came away with no points, they contributed plenty with the hosts frequently grateful to goalkeeper Gigi Vicario’s saves.
Vicario could do little to stop Calvert-Lewin’s strike sweeping past him on 50 minutes – but was saved by VAR – nor James Garner’s strike shortly after which hit the outside of the far post.
But after being beaten by Gomes’ goal, Vicario proved to be the saviour once back with two belated saves from Arnaut Danjuma, and also stopped a 97th-minute volley with his thigh after the former Spurs winger hit the crossbar.
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