Match Report Everton were left to rue a couple of uncharacteristic defensive lapses, a hatful of missed chances at the other end and a disallowed goal as they fell just short of wiping out Tottenham’s 2-0 half-time lead. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had a goal chalked off following a VAR review before André Gomes’s fine finish in the 82nd minute made it 2-1 and set up a grandstand finish but Arnaut Danjuma was denied by Guglielmo Vicario and the crossbar in the closing stages. Despite Everton making a strong start, Spurs had roared into a 2-0 lead before 20 minutes had elapsed, taking advantage of poor defending by the visitors. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had been sent away behind the defence by Dwight McNeil but Hueng-Min Son raced back to close him down and blocked his eventual left-footed attempt. Two minutes later, the hosts neatly played their way down their right flank before Pape Mate Sarr threaded a pass to Brennan Johnson and his low centre was met first time by Richarlison who had ghosted past James Tarkowski to guide a shot inside the near post before Jordan Pickford had time to properly react. A near carbon-copy move down the opposite flank almost yielded a second goal three minutes later when Son played Emerson Royal in but Johnson knocked his centre over the crossbar. Back at the other end, Amadou Onana won the ball strongly in midfield and split the defence to find McNeil but the winger dragged his shot across goal. A minute later, Jarrad Branthwaite fed Vitalii Mykolenko down the left and Calvert-Lewin did well to get ahead of his marker to meet a terrific, whipped cross but Vicario pushed his header away. Two minutes after that, it was 2-0. Everton’s defence went to sleep at a short corner as Johnson was allowed to waltz into the box between McNeil and Jack Harrison. The Welshman’s powerful strike was beaten away by Pickford but it fell straight to Son who steered it into the empty side of the goal. Everton lost Idrissa Gueye to injury in the 24th minute, the Senegalese replaced by Gomes and Onana was booked for bundling Emerson over as Sean Dyche’s men showed signs of imploding but with Spurs constantly playing themselves into trouble, they would be given plenty of opportunities to get back into things before half-time. Time and again, though, the execution in the final third was found wanting. Gomes had a chance to put Calvert-Lewin into the clear from another turnover of possession but passed it straight to a white jersey, James Garner despatched a half-volley from 25 yards that was comfortably caught by the keeper and a Calvert-Lewin cut-back from the byline was skied into the stands. Mykolenko then found himself open at the far side of the box but a second ball thrown from the stands put him off his shot and it flashed well wide, Garner had another effort that lacked the power to beat Vicario at his near post and Harrison also failed to put enough behind his best opening of the half. The Toffees thought they were back in the contest six minutes into the second period when Gomes won the ball off Emerson, played a superbly-weighted pass behind the defence for Calvert-Lewin who stroked a lovely finish across the keeper and into the far corner. To Dyche’s disgust, however, VAR Michael Oliver sent referee Stuart Attwell to the pitch-side monitor where he adjudged the Portuguese to have fouled the Brazilian full-back. Sarr forced a parrying save from Pickford shortly afterwards, Tarkowski made a superb covering tackle to deny the Senegal midfielder and Pickford made an equally impressive one-handed stop to divert Dejan Kulusevski’s shot behind after the Swede had out-muscled Nathan Patterson but otherwise it was all Everton from then on. Garner clipped the post with a skidding shot across goal, Mykolenko had a shot blocked when a clearance from a corner fell to him near the penalty spot and Gomes hammered an effort into the side-netting that appeared to take a decisive deflection off a defender’s boot. Beto replaced Onana with 11 minutes to go and three minutes after that, it was 2-1. Danjuma, a 66th-minute introduction for Harrison, had had a charged down for a corner by Eric Dier and when the resulting set-piece cleared everyone and fell to Gomes in the back of the area, he fired a lovely, crisp shot back across Vicario and into the far corner. Just two minutes later, a wonderful McNeil pass put Danjuma in down the Everton left but with Beto open in the centre he went for goal himself and forced an excellent save from the keeper. From that corner, Tarkowski’s goal-bound header was stopped by Davies but deep into stoppage time, two more chances would fall to Danjuma. The Dutchman went it alone again from a similar position as his first two chances but fired over and then, at the death, he was picked out by a flighted delivery from McNeil but his far-post volley came off the underside of the crossbar, bounced off the keeper’s thigh and was cleared. The goal-line decision system would show that the ball had stayed out by a mere two inches. The result means that Everton’s four-game winning streak, both in the Premier League and in matches in London, came to a shuddering halt. Victories for Burnley and Luton mean that two of the Blues’ relegation rivals made up ground below this weekend but Nottingham Forest’s home defeat to Bournemouth keeps them in the dogfight near the bottom. Lyndon Lloyd top Matchday Updates Everton travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to lift themselves back up after disappointment in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening with what would be a fifth successive win in the Premier League. Vitalli Mykolenko is back in the starting line-up at the expense of Michael Keane but Abdoulaye Doucouré and Ashley Young are is still out injured, with Sean Dyche electing to persist with the lacklustre Calvert-Lewin upfront despite Beto scoring the equalizer on Tuesday. Gomes has been playing for the U21s but is on the bench. For the home side, Richarlison starts and he kicked things off, Kulusevski striking the fist shot but hitting it into the ground. Garner did brilliantly to rob Davies but Calvert-Lewin ran the wrong side of his marker and could not profit. Everton kept up the press, Branthwaite switching play to the left and McNeil winning the first corner. Mykolenko hit his shot into the ground too. Spurs farted around with the ball as they struggled to play out, Everton doing well to get the turnover but balls forward to Calvert-Lewin sailed over his head. McNeil did brilliantly after Son was floored, fairly said the ref, and set up Calvert-Lewin for a great run forward, a glorious chance to shoot with his left foot, should have surely seen at least a decent shot on goal but he completely messed it up and was dispossessed for a corner. It was a very lively game played at tempo and it was Spurs who put together a simple move with a couple of slick passes for Richarlison to score with ease at the near post. That completely deflated the tremendous energy and spirit Everton had shown in the first 9 minutes and they were rocking when Royal's clever cross should have been converted by Johnson but he screwed it over the bar, for a major let-off. Everton slugged forward but McNeil's strike from Onana's pass was poor, slicing well wide of the Spurs goal. Next was Mykolenko to overlap well and delivered a great cross for Calvert-Lewin with the entire goal to aim at but his header was just too close to Vicaro. Calvert-Lewin then had a brilliant chance to volley a tremendous goal with Vicario well out of his area but the Everton centre-forward's effort was woefully off target. At the other end, and a Johnson shot from a corner was parried out poorly by Pickford and Son said "Thank you very much!" 2-0. Everton tried attacking again but Calvert-Lewin could not find a teammate with his poorly directed knock-down. Gueye was at a stretch to tackle Richarlison and sent him tumbling, injuring himself, with the ref deciding it merited a rather harsh card before he was forced to gobble off, André Gomes replacing him for his first senior appearance of the season. Spurs set to cutting through the middle of Everton with slick one-touch passing and Onana's foul also saw a yellow card, the free-kick delivered beyond Richarlison. Everton pushed up but couldn't threaten before a turnover saw another swarming horde of white slicing through the salmon shirts and getting a corner but at least that was cleared. Everton didn't seem to be man-marking as Richarlison was able to run through in acres of space but played the ball kindly to Tarkowski who could clear. Garner did a superb steal job again but Gomes could not find Calvert-Lewin and the ball was immediately back with Son as Spurs attacked yet again. Everton pushed forward again but McNeil expected the static Calvert-Lewin to run into space… and he didn't. Patterson made another great interception but Harrison's cross evaded everyone and Garner's shot from the cleared ball was not powerful enough to beat Vicario. Everton had four players pressing right of the Spurs area but the Whites still evaded them to create another break, Richarlison and Tarkowski competing for a 50-50 ball, given Everton's way. Everton still seemed to have time and space to get forward and put together a string of threatening attacks, Calvert-Lewin allowing a bouncing ball to come heavily off his chest and reachable for the advancing Vicario. A great ball forward found McNeil and he ran forward looking for the moment to strike but he could only drive it at Vicario. Gomes then played in Calvert-Lewin who played his cross agonizingly behind Harrison, then Patterson crossed behind Gomes for Mykolenko to try and shoot but there was a second ball just sitting there, right in his path! The ball then fell for Garner to have a shot, but it was just not strong enough to trouble Vicario. Patterson's crossed but just too high for Calvert-Lewin. Patterson got wide again but Gomes's shot hit Mykolenko and screwed behind. At the other end, after Sarr(?) was caught accidentally by Onana. Harrison got behind the Spurs defence but he tried to place it with not enough power to beat Vicario. Everton went forward again but the ball in found Calvert-Lewin the wrong side of his marker again. Everton won a corner, Kulusevski hanging on desperately to Onana's shirt but the Everton player made nothing of it — and neither did the referee. What a crazy half of high-tempo football, both sides very open but only Spurs benefitting with Everton's numerous excellent chances created sufficient to be well ahead but all sadly spurned. Everton resorted to the long-ball hoof from the restart and Onana forced a turnover but could not create a chance from it. Porro was allowed to run wide and Everton had to defend resolutely. A long punt forward was caught and played out by Vicario but Gomes rescued it with a tackle on Royal and played in Calvert-Lewin who this time buried it with his right foot. But the VAR pointed out that neither the referee nor the linesman saw Gomes tread on Royal's foot as he won the ball and the goal was denied. Everton got another giveaway, this time from Dier, but they could not make anything of it. At the other end, Sarr smashed one at Pickford. Gomes got Calvert-Lewin moving down the left but again, no chance created. Patterson tried to pick out Calvert-Lewin with a good but he couldn't win the ball and Spurs attacked again. Patterson and Garner tried to attack down the right but they were stymied. Harrison found Garner who turned and fired, his shot slicing off the face of the far post as Richarlison was replaced by Hojbjerg. Everton pushed up but could not sustain the attack and Spurs broke once again, Sarr's shot blocked away. Going the other way and McNeil's efforts won a corner, Mykolenko's driven shot hitting Branthwaite. Everton were finding a lot of space but the creation of chances was not as effective as in the first half. Patterson did well to win another Everton corner, but the referee thought Branthwaite was too close the the keeper. Everton were still pressing as Vicario tried to play out and was almost embarrassed before Spurs were surging forward again but time was now running out surely for Everton to rescue anything from this game with 20 minutes left. Kulusevski brushed aside Patterson to fire a shot wide of Pickford but he pawed it behind at full stretch, a fine save, Gomes shown the yellow card for protesting. Goomes picked up a good ball from Mykolennko and drove forward but his shot was deflected into the side netting; however, no corner! Incredibly, Beto came on for Onana, with Calvert-Lewin still on the field. But Spurs surged forward again but were stalled, Danjuma could not find his way through, Spurs countered and Son over hit his pass. Braanthwaite stole the ball in midfield and Everton attacked again, winning a corner. It came around to Gomes and he lashed it home first time, a great finish. Patterson was shown a yellow card from coming in late and from behind. McNeil found Danjuma with a tremendous pass, Viirio pulling off fantastic save. From the corner, Spurs were at sixes and sevens, Tarkowwski's header blocked and Beto denied by a desperate Vicario punch off his head. Spurs tried to get forward nut were flagged offside, Kulusevski booked for kicking the ball away. Everton attacked again and won a corner that went over everyone, Son knocking McNeil over. But the Everton pressure was really good as the clock relentlessly ticked away. Everton still had to defend, before Gomes again found Danjuma but it dribbled out for a goal-kick with 6 minutes added on as Everton kept pushing Spurs back. Garner was fouled by Royal and Pickford put in a deep free-kick but Branthwaite could not find Calvert-Lewin. Son got forward but his cross was picked off and the ball immediately forward to Danjuma who drove forward to score the equalizer.... oh no he didn't — he fairly lashed it just over Vicario's goal. Everton forward again and Danjumia running around the back surely would score but he hit the bar and out off Vicario's knee. Incredible finish buy Everton... except the finishing. But what a game! Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario; Porro, Romero (46' Dier), Davies, Royal; Sarr (73' Lo Celso), Skipp; Johnson, Kulusevski [Y:86'], Son; Richarlison (63' Hojbjerg). Subs: Forster, Dorrington, Phillips, Bryan, Donley, Veliz. Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gana [Y:23'] (24' Gomes [Y:76']), Onana [Y:26'], Garner, Harrison (66' Danjuma), McNeil, Calvert-Lewin (79' Beto). Subs: Virginia, Lonergan, Keane, (79' Beto) Godfrey, Chermiti, Hunt. Michael Kenrick top Match Preview Everton travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to lift themselves back up after disappointment in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening with what would be a fourth successive win in the Capital. The Blues were beaten on penalties by Fulham and denied an all-Merseyside semi-final against Liverpool when Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gueye failed to convert on the shootout on Tuesday but the focus now shifts back to the Premier League and the ongoing quest to avoid relegation following the points deduction imposed by the Premier League last month. Over the last 10 League matches, Everton have been in Champions League-qualifying form but they face what is arguably their most difficult assignment since the Anfield derby in October when they face a Tottenham side that has been rebounding from a loss of form and an injury crisis of their own. Ange Postecoglu's team was already disrupted by the loss of key players like James Maddison, Ivan Perisic and Rodrigo Bentancur when they had two men sent off against Chelsea at the start of last month and went down to a 4-1 home defeat. That was the North Londoners' first defeat of the campaign and they followed it with two more against Wolves and Aston Villa but so far this month, they have held Manchester City to a 3-3 draw, thrashed Newcastle and won at Nottingham Forest. Their defeat on home turf to West Ham two weeks ago, however, offers hope to Everton that Spurs can be beaten even as some of their injured players start to return, Richarlison has started to score goals and they look more the outfit that started the season in such red hot form. Postecoglu will also be without Destiny Udogie and key midfield man, Yves Bissouma through suspension, while Maddison, Perisic, Bentancur, Ryan Sessegnon and Micky can de Ven are ruled out through injury. Giovani Lo Celso and Brennan Johnson are doubtful. For the Toffees, Vitalii Mykolenko looks set to be passed fit. He missed the win at Burnley a week ago and the Carabao Cup tie with an apparent groin issue but Sean Dyche confirmed in his press conference today that the Ukrainian is "back in the thinking" for this weekend. Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young won't be fit, however, and Abdoulaye Doucouré also remains out, with the Frenchman unlikely to feature against Manchester City on the other side of Christmas either. A fully fit and firing Blues team would fancy themselves to pull off what would be a first Everton win at Tottenham in front of a crowd since 2009. However, the absence of Doucouré removes a key component of the attack and tends to leave Dominic Calvert-Lewin isolated and less effective leading the line. Jack Harrison and James Garner have been deployed in the role behind the striker in recent weeks while Arnaut Danjuma offers a possible alternative based on his cameo against Fulham in the Cup but Dyche may err on the side of midfield solidity and partner Idrissa Gueye with Amadou Onana and push Garner into the "10" position once more. And if Tuesday's game has any bearing on the manager's thinking, he could hand Calvert-Lewin a breather and play Beto from the start. The Portuguese is looking increasingly at home in England as his fitness and experience of the Premier League builds and he would, no doubt, relish the opportunity. At the back, Mykolenko's presence would allow Dyche to retain a conventional back four, with James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite restored to the centre. Kick-off: 3 pm, Saturday 23 December 2023Referee: Stuart AtwellVAR: Michael OliverLast Time: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 0 Everton Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Onana, Harrison, McNeil, Garner, Beto Lyndon Lloyd top * Unfortunately, we cannot control other sites' content policies and therefore cannot guarantee that links to external reports will remain active.