José Mourinho spent much of his night at Goodison Park open-mouthed and struggling to comprehend both Tottenham’s failure to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals or to defend. Everton’s spirit, defiance, industry and ruthless precision provided the answer. Carlo Ancelotti’s side march on following a classic cup tie that had everything except the frenzied crowd it deserved.
Two teams managed by men who pride themselves on defensive stability traded nine goals, a procession of chances and moments of sublime ingenuity in an extraordinary, memorable game. Gylfi Sigurdsson supplied several of the latter including the final, decisive touch in extra time; an exquisite chip into Bernard that enabled the Brazilian substitute to beat Hugo Lloris and seal Everton’s fourth successive victory against Spurs in the FA Cup.
Normal time had somehow finished 4-4. Spurs dominated for long spells and threatened throughout from open play, yet they trailed 3-1 in the first half, 4-3 in the second and needed a late header from the substitute Harry Kane to salvage extra time. In the final 30 minutes it was Everton who found the resolve and penetration required. Sigurdsson was a creative force all night, Abdoulaye Doucouré outstanding in breaking up play and driving Everton forward, while the maturing Tom Davies ran himself into the ground to preserve his team’s slender advantage. The rejuvenated Richarlison scored twice and encapsulated the effort it took to reach the quarter-finals by collapsing to his knees at the final whistle. Many others in royal blue followed suit.
For Mourinho this was a painful defeat. Defensively his team were found wanting all night and the efforts of Son Hueng-min, Lucas Moura and latterly Kane were undermined by a weak rearguard action. “Of course in extra time the finesse and quality dropped, that’s normal, but we were dynamic and creative all night,” said the Spurs manager, who expressed surprise at Gareth Bale ruling himself out of the game with a muscle problem.
“That is what I have been asking of the players so I am happy about that but don’t push me too much please about the defensive mistakes. I don’t feel comfortable speaking about it. We made mistakes and were punished for it.”
His team had taken the initiative from the start and led after only four minutes. It was the first of three goals they would score from a Son corner, Davinson Sánchez heading home easily after a collective failure in the Everton defence, and the visitors could have established a comfortable advantage before the hosts had woken from a laboured start. Robin Olsen, again starting in place of the injured Jordan Pickford, tipped over from Son, denied Steven Bergwijn and Erik Lamela twice before Everton transformed the tie.
The hosts improved midway through the first half but were still a distant second best when they equalised after a mistake by Pierre‑Emile Højbjerg. Attempting to play out from the back following an Everton corner, headed wide by Yerry Mina, the midfielder’s careless pass was intercepted by Doucouré. Alex Iwobi found Sigurdsson, whose first time flick released Dominic Calvert‑Lewin inside the penalty area. The striker took a first-time shot that sailed through Lloris’s grasp at his near post. The France international perhaps should have done better but there was no mistaking the power behind Calvert-Lewin’s 17th goal of the season.
Remarkably Everton were ahead two minutes later. A neat touch by Lucas Digne turned a long ball on to Calvert‑Lewin, and he back-heeled into Richarlison. The Brazilian forward cut across Toby Alderweireld before unleashing a low finish that flew between the defender’s legs and nestled inside Lloris’s right hand corner. Spurs were still coming to terms with falling behind when Everton made it three. Højbjerg accidentally clipped Calvert-Lewin’s heels as he chased Sigurdsson’s pass into the area. The referee David Coote immediately pointed to the spot and Sigurdsson, his eyes fixed on Lloris as he stepped up, rolled the spot-kick nonchalantly to the keeper’s left as he dived right.
The visitors hauled themselves back into a nonsensical but highly entertaining cup tie with the final kick of the first half. Lamela exchanged passes with Son on the edge of the Everton area before clipping over the advancing Olsen. Everton lost Calvert-Lewin to injury early in the second half and the lead soon after when they again failed to deal with a Son corner. Alderweireld won the near‑post header despite being in a crowd of royal blue shirts and, though Olsen tipped away the effort, Sánchez was perfectly placed at the back to convert.
Richarlison restored Everton’s lead with a fine finish from another astute pass by Sigurdsson before Kane, on as a second-half substitute, equalised with seven minutes remaining when Son had a second go at a corner. But it was Bernard, who almost left Everton in the recent transfer window, who had the final word.
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3rGCbi6
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