Everton Denied Win By Late Spurs Leveller

Everton came within five minutes of a sensational away win at White Hart Lane, but ultimately had to settle for a 2-2 draw thanks to a late equaliser from Gylfi Sigurðsson.

The Toffees were behind to a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor after just 34 seconds on the clock, following great work from the impressive Jan Vertonghen on the left. The Belgian player of the month for March whipped in a cross from the left in behind the Everton defence and the Togolese striker converted with a tap in from four yards through the legs of Tim Howard.

Everton responded with our usual tenacity and grabbed the equaliser on 15 minutes. Ross Barkley, with a rare start, did well to earn a corner that Leighton Baines sent in deep for the head of Phil Jagielka, who nodded beyond Hugo Lloris who may feel he should have done better at his near post.

The game switched into a tight, narrow midfield battle with Osman and Parker having a notable mini-battle for domination, before another moment of magic from Kevin Mirallas have Everton the lead.

The tricky winger picked the ball up 35 yards out, twisted and turned away from two men, bamboozling the Spurs defence before firing a precision effort low beyond the dive of Lloris.

Everton then produced a backs to the wall defensive performance, relying on a world class save from Tim Howard and some sterling defence from Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin to keep Spurs at bay.

The dam finally broke on 87 minutes when Gylfi Sigurðsson benefitted from a fortunate rebound off the post to tap in from close range.

Everton could have gone on to win it late, with Victor Anichebe denied a golden late opportunity and Nikica Jelavic firing straight at Lloris from 20 yards, but on the balance of play, the draw was the fair result, with the Toffees now relying on bigger and better results in games to come to secure European football next season.

Spurs (Adebayor, Sigurðsson) 2 Everton (Jagielka, Mirallas) 2.

More to follow…