Spurs make unwanted history after extending scoreless start to six hours as Everton are latest to shut them out
Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0
Everton (0) 0
For the first time in their storied history, Spurs have failed to score in their opening four games of a season.
Boos greeted the final whistle after yet another afternoon of frustrating toil which began promisingly but fizzled out against a familiar backdrop of increasingly disenchanted home fans.
The Lilywhites really don't seem to like their own home.
It was just a few weeks ago against the same opposition as today that Spurs got the precious victory they needed to avert the calamity of relegation from the Premier League - and it was, almost unbelievably, only their third home win all season in the top flight.
But the early signs are that they are going to continue to find wins hard to come by in N17. This was another performance which became increasingly frantic and messy as the minutes ticked by.
With the record now two draws and two defeats from four games, it has not been the most impressive of starts for this expensively assembled squad.
Spurs were lightning quick out of the blocks, with Savio down the right and Omar Marmoush down the left both cutting a dash. Andy Robertson on the overlap looked typically lively.
The pace was bewildering in those early passages but somehow unproductive. Just when it seemed likely that the zestful approach would bear fruit, it would end with an Everton block or well-timed interception.
After a first half of no shots on target, ironic cheers went up when Mateus Fernandes sent in a powder-puff shot for Jordan Pickford to collect in the opening moments of the second half.
The fragility of the mood inside an increasingly anxious TH Stadium only became more so when Tyrique George got to the blyine and lifted a cross for Thierno Barry to get on the end of at the far post. Antonin Kinsky's head deflected the ball away but he knew little about it.
Kinsky's nervous pass out from goal almost presented Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with a goal but the keeper atoned by making a face-saving block.
Roberto de Zerbi went for changes out wide, with Mo Kudus and Mathias Tel brought on and Marmoush pushed through the middle in place of a hooked Dominic Solanke. But still the formula didn't yield what was wanted. James Maddison soon came on for Solanke.
It was Everton who seemed to go up a gear and Spurs were grateful when one of their former players, Brennan Johnson fired over the bar when he had the goal seemingly at his mercy.
There was one hopeful moment when Pickford was forced into a right-footed clearance which sparked a Spurs attack and a Lucas Bergvall attempt which looked destined for the bottom corner. But as with Kinsky, he managed to make amends by getting behind the shot.
Next up, it's Liverpool away in the League Cup before a return to the league against Aston Villa next Saturday. The bad news is that it will be on home soil.
Spurs: (4-2-3-1) Kinsky - Gray (Tosin 85), van Hecke, van de Ven, Robertson - Bentancur (Bergvall 63), Tonali - Savio, Mateus Fernandes (Kudus 63), Marmoush (Maddison 77) - Solanke (Tel 63)
Toffees: (4-2-3-1) Pickford - Maitland-Niles (O'Brien 75), Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko - Armstrong, Garner - Johnson (Hackney 75), Dewsbury-Hall, George (Grealish 65) - Barry
Attendance: 60,477
Comments