LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton as Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored to secure a 2-0 win on Saturday to draw level on points with second-placed Manchester City in the Premier League.
Spurs struggled to work themselves into the lead, only earning their breakthrough from a Jordan Pickford error as he brought down Kane for the 60th minute spot-kick after Frank Lampard’s Everton missed good opportunities in the first half.
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Conte’s side made sure of victory four minutes from time as Hojbjerg struck a late blow. Midfield partner Bentancur found Hojbjerg in the box and the Danish midfielder sent a deflected shot past Pickford to wrap up all three points for Spurs.
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Rapid Reaction
1. Tottenham win again but can Conte’s lack of rotation really last?
Any casual observers would be forgiven for thinking Tottenham only had about 16 players. Despite the return of Champions League football this season, Conte is minimally rotating positions, largely at left-sided centre-back, left wing-back and on the right side of his attack in the preferred 3-4-3 system. Those were the three positions in which he changed personnel against Everton on Saturday and after a promising opening 10 minutes, Spurs were flat for long periods.
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They did produce better spells in the second half to grind out a 2-0 win, but it is difficult not to think fatigue could be a factor — especially given Conte’s notoriously gruelling training regime. Nevertheless, Tottenham found a way to win once more, their seventh victory from 10 league games, to move within one point of Arsenal having played a game extra.
This was another case of Spurs dragging themselves over the line rather than impressing with the authority of their performance but Conte’s methodology is vindicated by the stats: it’s their highest points total after 10 games since 1963-64, having won 11 of last 12 league home games dating to last season. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is proving a difficult place for any team to come right now.
