Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Richarlison 9, Son 18) Everton 1 (Gomes 82)
TOTTENHAM won this Christmas cracker of a game to move back into the top four, but Everton pushed them all the way before finally seeing their four-game winning streak come to an end.
It was a superb game, with Spurs going two goals ahead inside 18 minutes, but then Everton's tenacious fighting spirit got them back into the game, and long before the final whistle Tottenham were hanging on for a point.
Richarlison got Spurs off to a flying start when he scored against his former side in the 9th minute. Pape Mata Sarr and Brennan Johnson combined down the right, and when the latter fired in a low cross, Richarlison beat his marker with a smart, first-time shot low inside the near post. It was his fourth goal in three games.
Everton went close to equalising when Vitalii Mykolenko curled in a cross from the left for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to head powerfully at goal, but Guglielmo Vicario punched the ball away.
Two minutes later Tottenham doubled their lead when Heung Min Son shot home from 15 yards after Jordan Pickford could only parry a shot from Johnson after a smartly-worked short corner.
Everton still cVicario made smart saves to keep out shots from Nathan Patterson and James Garner. Anadou Onana, who was flirting with a second yellow card for much of the game, then hit a volley high over Vicario's crossbar.
Ange Postecoglou made a change at half-time, replacing Cristian Romero with Eric Dier, possibly in an attempt to combat Everton's aerial threat.
Calvert-Lewin thought he had scored when Andre Gomes sent him clear to shoot home, but after reviewing the incident on a pitchside monitor, referee Stuart Atwell spotted a foul on Emerson
Read on irishexaminer.com