Toffees deepen Spurs' gloom
Osman scored Everton's second with a ferocious shot
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Tuesday, 14, Aug 2007 10:59
Everton secured their second Premier League win of the season with a 3-1 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
While the result moves David Moyes' men to the top of the early table, Spurs hopes of a top-four finish seem to have already taken a hefty knock with their opening-day defeat at the hands of Sunderland meaning they have yet to register a single point.
Manager Martin Jol had barely settled into his seat for the start of the match when he saw his side's sloppy marking cost them dear again.
Michael Chopra had been afforded the freedom of the six-yard box to score his winner on Saturday and Joleon Lescott was similarly unchallenged as he thumped a second-minute header beyond Paul Robinson for the lead.
Darren Bent made his first start for the hosts and added energy and purpose to the Tottenham frontline.
A crisp turn and shot in the tenth minute from the former Charlton forward called Tim Howard into action before Dimitar Berbatov was denied a tap-in from the American's parry by Tony Hibbert's last-ditch intervention.
The game swung wildly between ends before Anthony Gardener headed Tottenham level from a Steed Malbranque corner on 26 minutes.
But to the dismay of the home support parity lasted just a little over ten minutes as Leon Osman pounced on Ricardo Rocha's feeble clearance to drill home.
Alan Stubbs swept a glorious free-kick round the base of the wall and into the bottom corner of Robinson's goal just before the break to set the home side a formidable task to take anything from the game.
As it was a one-goal lead would have been enough as a Berbatov header against the bar was all that Tottenham could muster in the second half as their fans' frustrations grew.
Jol's late reshuffle of his strikeforce - the introduction of Jermain Defoe at the expense of Bent - failed to ignite a creative spark and he will hope the visit of newly-promoted Derby on Saturday provides a much-needed boost.