Tottenham Hotspur secured their first victory of the Premier League season with a dominant 4-0 triumph over Everton on Saturday.
Yves Bissouma, keen to make amends after his recent suspension for inhaling laughing gas, returned to the starting lineup and quickly justified manager Ange Postecoglou’s decision.
Postecoglou had previously compared Bissouma to a mischievous child who had finally started to toe the line. The Mali international responded in the best way possible, scoring a stunning 20-yard goal to break the deadlock.
This was Bissouma’s first goal in a Tottenham shirt, coming in his 57th appearance for the club. He celebrated with humility, running to the touchline to embrace his manager in a gesture of gratitude.
Everton’s woes deepened when Jordan Pickford, who had made a series of impressive saves early on, made a costly blunder that allowed Heung-min Son to extend Tottenham’s lead.
The England goalkeeper’s error marked a significant turning point in the match, undoing all his prior good work. Tottenham continued to capitalize on Everton’s defensive frailties, with Cristian Romero adding a third goal, and Son completing the rout with a second strike late in the game.
The match had begun at a frantic pace, with Pickford initially standing tall for Everton.
He produced a superb point-blank save to deny Romero after the visitors failed to clear a corner.
Moments later, Pickford was at full stretch to tip away a deflected shot from Son, and he was quick off his line to block James Maddison, who had latched onto Romero’s ball over the top.
However, Tottenham’s relentless pressure paid off in the 15th minute. Dejan Kulusevski skillfully maneuvered past two defenders in the penalty area before laying the ball off to Bissouma, who unleashed a powerful first-time drive.
The ball thundered off the underside of the crossbar and into the net, leaving Pickford with no chance.
The England goalkeeper could only blame himself for Tottenham’s second goal. After receiving a pass from James Tarkowski, Pickford attempted to switch feet but miscontrolled the ball, allowing Son to steal in and tap into an unguarded net.
Everton, who had already endured a demoralizing 3-0 defeat at home to Brighton in their season opener, found themselves in disarray just half an hour into their second game.
Substitute Jesper Lundstrom provided a brief glimmer of hope with a well-struck angled shot, but Spurs’ goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was equal to the task, beating the effort away.
The Toffees’ misery was compounded as Romero headed in from a Maddison corner, and Son added a fourth goal to seal the comprehensive win.
Everton, still without an away victory in 2024, now face the daunting task of recovering from back-to-back defeats to start their campaign.
