23  Seamus COLEMAN
26  John STONES
  6  Phil JAGIELKA (c)
32  Brendan GALLOWAY  (15  Sylvain DISTIN 84)

18  Gareth BARRY
16  James McCARTHY

11  Kevin MIRALLIS  (14  Steven NAISMITH 73)
20  Ross BARKLEY  (15  Mohamed BESIC 46)
21  Leon OSMAN

 10  Romelu LUKAKU

Unused subs: 
  1  Joel ROBLES
  7  Aiden McGEADY
  9  Arouna KONE
19  Christian ATSU

 

15  Eric DIER
21  Federico FAZIO
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
42  Nabil BENTALEB

38  Ryan MASON      
19  Mousa DEMBELE  (25  Benjamin STAMBOULI  53    )

11  Erik LAMELA
23  Christian ERIKSEN
22  Nacer CHADLI  (  9  Roberto SOLDADO  93)

18  Harry KANE    (17  Andros TOWNSEND  85)

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
12  DeAndre YEDLIN
44  Harry WINKS
47  Josh ONOMAH
 

Sunny conditions at Goodison Park reflected those on the opening day of the season at Upton Park, with the outcome the same - a 1-0 win - but without having to wait until the last minute for a goal, as Harry Kane signed off by equalling the club's record goal haul in a Premier League season.

A strange looking line-up selected by Pochettino, saw three defenders with six midfielders and Harry Kane outfield, but Bentaleb was the one who filled in at left-back.  Everton played one making his home debut, but the others were regulars, so both sides were strong, with the game kicking off in bright sunshine.

Tottenham looked comfortable on the ball, with possession around the Everton box leading to a shot from Lamela from 25 yards out that flew too high and a neat passing move that saw Eriksen put  Mason into the box, but he was blocked off on the penalty spot by Jagielka.  Fairly according to the referee.  While Spurs looked to probe for chances with their passing on the floor around the Everton penalty box, the home team went to play longer with crosses into Lukaku.

With sixteen minutes gone, Galloway tried to play the ball too cleverly 35 yards out from his own goal and had the ball robbed from him by Eriksen, setting Lamela away on the right of centre.  His low shot from just inside the box saw Howard throw a hand out to save on the edge of his six yard box and then get up again to grab it before it went over the line at his right hand post.  As Everton looked to get in the game, Barkley released Mirallis on the left side of the box and as he tried to slide the ball across Lloris, the Spurs captain dived on it to make a good save.  Chadli and Kane had shots, either blocked or wide, while Dier tried to play a ball down the right hand channel for Kane inside the six yard box, but it was just too long for him.

Mirallis was on the spot when a ball in the air from a Galloway header was taken down just inside the Spurs box and then it was smashed goal-wards  with his left foot that flew over the angle of crossbar and post.  However, when Spurs went forward again, their movement caused Everton problems and when it was played right to Dier, the young full-back's first time cross was waist high into the six yard box.  It was met by a diving header from Harry Kane, who had got between the two central defenders to power it past the keeper and give Tottenham the lead in the 24th minute.  While Spurs had been playing well, it needed a good finish to their football and Kane supplied it.

It was six minutes later that Barkley played a pass inside his own half straight to Harry Kane and John Stones blocked his shot, as player swarmed around the forward, who had a lot of work to do to make much of it.  Galloway broke through a tackle  a couple of minutes before the break and slipped Mirallis inside the left of the box.  Lloris came out and pushed the winger wide, but the keeper had to turn back and was grateful to see the ball sail over the bar as the Belgian wide-man tried to curl it into the net, although there were two men back on the line.  At the other end, Eriksen played in Lamela, but Stones was strong enough to ease him off the ball 12 yards out.  Lloris was called on to push away a right wing cross from Coleman to avert any danger and then the half-time whistle brought some boos from the home support..

Barkley had been profligate with his passing in dangerous areas for his own side and was replaced at the break by Serb midfielder Mo Besic, who fired an early warning shot across Lloris' goal and then Lukaku headed a looping ball on to Osman, who tried to head it in from the edge of the box.  Galloway broke forward into the box, got a lucky bounce and Hugo had to dive at his feet to stop him going any further.  The good start  by the home team saw Poch bring on Stambouli seven minutes into the second half in place of Dembele in a move to firm up the midfield and the Belgian also seemed to have a calf injury. 

When Everton did put some passes together, they found room wide, but their crossing failed to pick out a blue head, mostly going too high for them.  Just after the hour, Tottenham passed the ball around without much pressure on them and Kane had a shot blocked and then Eriksen got the ball in the second phase and fired in a shot shot was deflected over the bar.  Fazio won it, but was going away from goal to make the header and put it wide. 

The game got a bit messy, with Everton not able to get much going forward and a late challenge by Jagielka on Mason started a spell with some niggly tackles and a few yellow cards.  Substitute Naismith had been at the heart of a lot of it, but when a cross finally did find a blue shirt, he acrobatically volleyed at goal, but it was too high and the linesman was flagging for offside.

The Toffees brought on Distin for his final appearance in the blue shirt and Spurs brought on Soldado, but that was probably just to waste a bit of time.  When the three added minutes had been played, the whistle blew on a season that had seen Spurs finish fifth.  Thanks to Manchester City beating Southampton and Liverpool going down 6-1 at Stoke, it makes it look like it wasn't such a bad season after all !!

While the home team looked to exploit Bentlaeb's unfamiliarity with the left back position, he had an outstanding match, as did Dier and Vertonghen, who didn't have much to contend with, while Fazio did well too.  The midfield enjoyed the space and time to pass the ball, but perhaps Poch needs to look at how they can hurt teams more next season.  The skill and ability is there, it just needs to be harnessed.  Kane did well up front, with player son the opposition side detailed to marking him tightly, but he held the ball up well and got into a great position to head home Dier's excellent cross.  It didn't take too much to beat Everton, but once more Spurs didn't make the most of the opposition, but still came out with the three points.

There was slight regret that Brad Friedel had to drop out after picking up a shin injury, as he deserved a great send off and also that there was not scope to get Onomah and Winks onto the pitch, but the win was important; both in terms of the money for finishing fifth, but more importantly, the fact that Spurs go straight into the group stages and do not have to go through the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

For those Spurs fans who were not happy with Pochettino, he has improved on last season's sixth place (and didn't have only half a season to hold onto it) and got Tottenham through to a Cup Final.  Next season he might be starting with a squad that is substantially one that he has put together and I am looking forward to it. 

Only three months to go !!

Don Brown