Source: Telegraph
Everton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2: match report
From reverie, to reality and finally renaissance. Everton treated Goodison Park to a snapshot of what their season might have been, what it has become and, in a stirring comeback, what it could still yet be. [LNB]After 45 minutes in which they made a mockery of the gulf in league position, in resources and in funding which has turned Everton from challengers to the Big Four cartel to unlikely relegation candidates, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson crushed their hopes, apparently sending Harry Redknapp's Tottenham above Arsenal, to the dizzying heights of third place, and David Moyes's back to whence they came. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League actionPremier League tableFulham 1 Sunderland 0Telegraph player raterPremier League fixturesSport on televisionBut Moyes's sides are made of sterner stuff. Louis Saha halved the deficit, Tim Cahill wiped it out, and Tim Howard saved a late Defoe penalty to maintain parity. Everton and Tottenham are not so different after all. [LNB]For much of the first half, the difference between the sides in funds or league position was hardly apparent. In fact, despite being forced to start without seven first-team players and losing an eighth, Joseph Yobo, inside the opening 15 minutes, Everton more than matched a side lavished with praise for their endeavours this season. [LNB]Their makeshift backline teetered occasionally, of course, most notably when Howard was called upon to smother one Defoe effort before an exceptional last-ditch tackle from stand-in centre back Tony Hibbert denied the England man the rebound, but the hosts gradually grew in authority. [LNB]Dawson had to clear one low cross from Seamus Coleman, assured on his home debut, from under his own crossbar, Jack Rodwell's chipped pass picked out Jo, the Brazilian swivelling and shooting across the face of goal. The striker narrowly failed to convert another Steven Pienaar cross, Heurelho Gomes dived full-stretch to save a well-struck Leighton Baines free kick. [LNB]Goodison Park slowly shrugged off the air of resignation which has set in this season. When Benoît Assou-Ekotto was fortunate not to be dismissed for appearing to rake Tim Cahill's face with his boot as the pair tumbled over prompting fury from Marouane Fellaini the stands erupted. The broiling, bristling cauldron this ramshackle old ground can be returned. [LNB]Only briefly. Within two minutes of the restart, Defoe had pounced. Everton had been warned, too. The cockerel had crowed twice already, first Coleman denying Defoe with a thunderous tackle, then Howard beating Peter Crouch to a Kranjcar cross. When Defoe darted to the near post to meet Lennon's cross, he would not be denied a third time. [LNB]The goal deflated Everton, their confidence fragile, their bodies weary from fighting battles they have, all too often, lost. Crouch could have scored, his shot from a scuffed Hibbert clearance trickling past the post, before Dawson did, diving full-length to meet a Kranjcar corner. [LNB]Down and out? Not a bit of it. Louis Saha, thrown on for Rodwell, pulled one back from a Coleman cut back. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov wove past three, but his weak finish dribbled wide. Saha tried an overhead kick from a Pienaar cross. The tide had turned. Everton levelled. Coleman's cross found Leighton Baines, who fired across the face of goal to Cahill. After 12 games without a goal, it was a gift. [LNB]There was still time for one final twist. Wilson Palacios raced on to Crouch's knock-down, bumped in to Hibbert and Andre Marriner pointed to the spot. The referee, fussy throughout, would have struggle to escape Goodison had Howard not guessed correctly, bundling away Defoe's weak effort. [LNB]
