Captain Micky van de Ven led from the front with two headers to hand Everton their first defeat at their new stadium as Tottenham moved up to third with a 3-0 victory.
David Moyes’ side went from not conceding a goal in the league from corners to two in the first half as the visitors benefited first from a good set-piece and then from some woeful marks.
Spurs manager Thomas Frank brought PSG forward Randall Kolo-Moani on loan in his first game, but Van de Van posed the biggest threat with his brace, taking him as the team’s top scorer with five goals, having failed to score at all last season.
Those goals – plus another late header from Pop Sarr – earned them 13th from a possible 15 points on the road, a run of form that has seen them climb to within five points of leaders and north London rivals Arsenal.
It was a strange performance from Tottenham as, after taking the lead in the 19th minute, they went into their shells and barely offered to threaten again until their captain struck once again in first-half stoppage time.
But while Spurs made the most of their chances, the home side couldn’t despite plenty of creativity on both flanks from their best player Illiman Ndayeh and the returning Jack Grealish.
Both players found themselves in front of two opponents whenever they got the ball and while Ndayeh’s pace caused him to fall behind a few times, there was little danger in the middle.
The closest they came was when striker Beto mishandled Ndayeh’s pass to Grealish, whose shot was saved almost on the line by Pedro Porrero in the third minute.
A team that has scored 9 goals in the league this season needs these chances to be in the league and if they don’t get them, it becomes much more difficult to win games.
They were strangely thwarted when Mohamed Kodus’ cross was deflected onto the post by Rodrigo Bentancur’s shoulder and Van de Ven headed home from close range.
Everton continued to dominate and when Jake O’Brien’s header was ruled out, Jake O’Brien’s header was disallowed after VAR pointed to Nadaye and Grealish, both in offside situations sandwiching Guglielmo Vicario, and referee Craig Pawson agreed after reviewing the film.
Despite creating a bit of open play, Spurs still looked dangerous from set-pieces and after Bentancur’s header from a corner, Van de Ven made no mistake after finding himself between two Everton centre-backs.
Everton had conceded as many goals in 52 minutes – after seven extra-time games – as they had in their previous five games at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and their goalscoring record suggested the game was well played.
Neday did his best not to make it official, one shot wide and another deflected towards goal before Beto’s overhead kick was pushed wide by the impressive Vicario.
Jordan Pickford saved well from former Everton striker Richarlison and replaced Kolo Moani in a rare Spurs attack, but faced with an attack now led by 23-year-old Tierno Barry – yet to open his account since his £27million move from Villarreal – scoring more goals was not a concern for the visitors.
But Sarr hastened the emptying of the seats by nodding home after Richarlison had tired him in the 89th minute.
