Everton’s lead didn’t last very long, much like the match between these two teams earlier this season at White Hart Lane. While Everton’s lead over Tottenham Hotspur lasted around three minutes on that day, it’s lasted a full eight minutes today at Goodison Park. One thing has remained the same though: Like that match, Rafael van der Vaart is the man who has punished the Toffees.
Everton Vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Rafael van der Vaart Equalizes, Tim Howard Flaps
It may be a cliche at this point, but as long as Peter Crouch keeps knocking down balls to Rafa, it’s a cliche that isn’t tired. Once again, Crouch got the assist on a VDV goal by winning an aerial challenge and nodding it towards van der Vaart, who headed the ball into the back of the net. Tim Howard was already falling backwards when van der Vaart met the ball with his head, and had he stood tall, he would have had a pretty easy save. Poor positioning means that Spurs have an equalizer.
The scoreline is an unfortunate one for the Toffees, who had a couple of penalty shouts in the build up to the goal. They also looked like a team that was hungry to not just defeat Spurs, but beat them into a pulp. They’ve done well since the equalizer, but they aren’t playing with quite the same degree of confidence and fire as they did between the kickoff and the van der Vaart goal.
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