TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — So little of Tottenham Hotspur’s season has been pleasant that it caught you completely off guard when something went their way. Joao Palhinha’s header hit a post, came back to his feet, hit Jordan Pickford’s stud and then just rolled over the line. Roberto De Zerbi sprinted down the line like one of the former managers who failed here.
Spurs have at least escaped the worst news. For those who pay exorbitant prices to watch football here, that is reason for enormous cheer because what’s the point if you can’t take joy in the momentary exceptions to a nine-month drudgery?
And for one afternoon at least, Spurs looked like a Premier League team with conviction. They hassled a half-paced Everton without the ball and hurt them with it. Mathys Tel made Jake O’Brien look clumsy and unresponsive. Micky van de Ven swept up behind and Pedro Porro and Djed Spence took turns to flee down the right wing.
There were lots of performative screams after tackles by players who have spent far too much of the season not making enough of them. There were some nerves when news filtered through that West Ham had scored. But mainly it was… competent? Lo and behold, it worked. Note to self: try this again.
