Barclays Premier League Match Report: Everton Vs Tottenham Hotspurs

Tottenham and Everton both missed the chance to move into second place as they played out a goalless draw at Goodison Park.
The two clashed as the former claimed a through-ball from Gareth Barry, and despite Lloris appearing concussed and ready to be substituted, the Frenchman refused to leave the pitch and played on.

Both sides traded spells of possession across the 100 minutes, but neither came truly close to scoring.

Spurs were the better side in the first half, but all they had to show for it was a penalty shout when Jan Vertonghen and Seamus Coleman got themselves tangled up as the left back looked to race into the area, but Kevin Friend waved the Tottenham protests away to the bafflement of pretty much everyone. The rest of the time was spent with the visitors taking potshots from range, singularly failing to trouble Tim Howard.

Everton were much improved after the break (they needed to be, considering how poor their midfield was in the first half), and kept Spurs at arm’s length for most of the second half. That said, they didn’t create much of the way of chances either. Romelu Lukaku and substitute Gerard Deulofeu came closest, and they had a penalty should of their own when Vertonghen clipped Coleman only for the Toffees right back to get back up and snatch inconsequentially at a shot.

A nasty collision between Lukaku and Hugo Lloris did end up marring the game. The striker and goalkeeper both chased after a punt forward, and Lloris got there fractionally ahead of the big Belgian—only to receive a knee to the face in the process. Lukaku was booked as Lloris fell down in a daze, but surprisingly (and perhaps foolishly) the goalkeeper was allowed to stay on.

Nine minutes of injury time followed in which Spurs began to look more lively, but neither team managed to break the deadlock.