Everton will feel disappointed as they failed to capitalise on a good performance against Spurs as the game finished 2-2 at Goodison.

Everton started the game with a hint of ambition, attacking down the left hand side with Richarlison and Digne providing an early threat to Serge Aurier.

The Blues seemed to be passing the ball around well but with the absence of Dominic Calvert Lewin, there was no real target to aim for after getting into the dangerous areas.

The intensity was there in the early stages, being first into the tackle but the play continually broke down with a lack of quality in the final pass.

The match fell into a sort of lull past the ten minute mark with both teams overly cautious to drop points in a crucial game in the European race.

The first big chance fell to the Toffees as Richarlison was found in acres of space before trying to curl into the bottom right corner only for Hugo Lloris to match the effort with an impressive save.

The deadlock was broken when Spurs delivered a hopeful ball into the box which was mistakenly headed by Keane into the pathfell of Harry Kane who applied an expert finish into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead.

Everton equalised not too long later after a penalty was awarded after Regulion bundles into the back of James. Gylfi Sigurdsson stepped up and slotted to bring Ancelottis men equal.

The home side stepped up the gear after the goal with James becoming more influential, having two good shots on target and setting up Richarlison for another chance.

Fans will be happy with the first half performance with the team bolstering 10 shots which is a much better amount than recent matches.

The second half started much more open with both teams adopting an attacking mentality having chances after chances which made for an exhilarating game.

Richarlison thought he had taken the lead after making a good run and slotting beyond the onrushing Tottenham goalkeeper only for the Brazilian winger to be judged offside.

The Blues were awarded for their pressure after the substitute Seamus Coleman played a brilliant one two down the right wing before delivering into Sigurdsson who used the pace of the cross to guide the ball into the far left corner to give the Toffees a well deserved lead.

The lead was short lived as yet another defensive mistake came when Keane and Holgate had a lapse of communication letting the ball fall to Harry Kane again in the box who made no mistake in notching his second of the game.

Despite the good performance from the Blues, fans will feel disappointed that all three points weren’t collected due to defensive mistakes.

In terms of the attacking play, the Blues were much improved even without the presence of their starting number nine as Gylfi Sigurdsson took the mantle of the main offensive threat producing two important goals in the process.

James had spurts of quality and showed fans what an asset he will be when fully fit and finally the attack fullbacks in Digne and Coleman provided a constant outlet which was helpful in building attacks.

On the other hand the defence was atrocious. The Toffees should have been coming away from that game with the advantage in the hunt for top six but instead have been pegged back due to sloppy errors. Michael Keane is a player who has improved alot on last seasons and in general he has been solid this season. However a lack of communication and awareness cost the England centre back today as he gifted Harry Kane two easy goals.

This team simply lacks quality and that is no fault of Carlo Ancelotti who needs a couple more windows to truly construct the team he wishes to win with. Alex Iwobi and Josh King are just some players that need to be replaced if Everton’s ambitions are to be achieved. The Goodison faithful need to remember that this is a long term project and results won’t show straight away.

Player Ratings:
Jordan Pickford – 7
Lucas Digne – 7
Michael Keane – 5
Ben Godfrey – 7
Mason Holgate – 6
Alex Iwobi – 4
Allan – 6
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 8.5
Tom Davies- 6
Richarlison – 6
James Rodriguez – 7

Subs:

Seamus Coleman – 7
Joshua King – 5