Spurs spanked as Jol gamble backfires

Martin Jol spent £40million in the summer assembling a team capable of challenging the established order but Tottenham came off second best against an Everton team full of energy, endeavour and enterprise.

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Jumping for joy: Everton's Alan Stubbs is mobbed after scoring the third against dejected Tottenham

There is something to be said for continuity and David Moyes was rewarded for his loyalty to this team with another slick performance.

The Everton chief, bound by financial constraints which will probably restrict him to a maximum of one signing before the transfer window closes as he bids to hang on to the coat-tails of his illustrious rivals over the road, fielded the same team that finished sixth last season.

Tottenham, take note.

Joleon Lescott, Leon Osman and Alan Stubbs were Everton's heroes and they can look down from their lofty perch at the top of the Premiership table with plenty of pride and shedloads of satisfaction.

This was a job well done and Jol knows it. Everton systematically tore Tottenham apart with a perfectly executed game-plan and although their spell at the summit is likely to be short — Chelsea travel to Reading this evening — they deserve a pat on the back for taking the home team to the cleaners.

Moyes, who will hold talks with £6m Benfica midfielder Manuel Fernandes this weekend, said: "The effort, work-rate and commitment was incredible.

"Tottenham are a difficult team to play against and they caused us some problems with Robbie Keane down the right in the first half. It was workmanlike at times but I thought they were three great goals."

Defensively, Tottenham were inept. Without Ledley King to marshal the back line, Younes Kaboul, Anthony Gardner, Ricardo Rocha and Pascal Chimbonda refused to take responsibility.

It is hardly Kaboul's fault that Jol has labelled him the best young central defender in Europe but based on the 17 minutes he spent on the pitch before he succumbed to injury he is not even the best defender at Tottenham.

Heads I win: Joleon Lescott headed Everton in front after two minutes

He went walkabout when he allowed Lescott, who impressed England head coach Steve McClaren watching in the stands, to arrive inside the area unmarked and head Everton in front from Mikel Arteta's free kick.

Jol's decision to field three of his four strikers left Spurs supporters scratching their heads and the sight of Keane hugging the touchline smacks of square pegs and round holes.

Tottenham were crying out for his creativity in the centre and Jol's attempt to accommodate Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov left the team unbalanced.

But at least Bent put in a decent shift. Berbatov hit the post with a second-half header but there has to be a question mark over his commitment after another listless display.

Tottenham's goal came from an unlikely source but it may lift some of the White Hart Lane gloom.

Gardner's well-directed header in the 26th minute should have been the call for the cavalry but Everton picked off their attacks one by one, man by man.

Jol admitted: "To put it mildly, this was not one of our best nights. It is impossible to concede three goals against Everton and expect to get back into the game.

"They didn't really have any chances — they scored from two free-kicks — but we have lost our first two games. It's hugely disappointing. I can't blame the supporters for their reaction. We don't normally concede three goals at home and I am sure that we won't again."

Do not bet on it.

Precision finish: Leon Osman drills in Everton's second with Jermaine Jenas unable to intercept

Everton were back in front when Tottenham failed to deal with another cross from Arteta, the game's outstanding performer, and they paid the price for Paul Robinson's hesitation. Spurs failed to clear and Leon Osman took full advantage when he teed up his leftfoot effort by neatly cushioning the ricochet off his knee before dispatching a volley beyond the keeper.

Moyes said: "I'm pushing for Arteta to be in the Spanish team. If he was English, he would definitely be in their team."

Osman's strike should have been the wake-up call for Tottenham.

Instead, the alarm bells were buzzing again when Stubbs' free-kick was deflected in off Didier Zokora in first-half injury time but Moyes' men did not hang around for the inquest.

They trotted back out of the tunnel to continue a thoroughly professional performance in the second half. Predictably, Jol threw on Jermain Defoe with 29 minutes left but it was too little, too late for Spurs.

By then, Jol had abandoned his tactics and players were pouring forward in search of a goal, but even then they were denied when Defoe's effort was magnificently blocked by Tim Howard.

"How did he save it?" lamented Jol.

Many more questions like that and Tottenham will soon be blaming this on more than just bad luck.

TOTTENHAM (4-3-3): Robinson 5; Chimbonda 4, Kaboul 4 (Rocha 17min, 5), Gardner 6, Stalteri 5 (Routledge 66, 5); Zokora 5, Jenas 7, Malbranque 4; Keane 6, Bent 6 (Defoe 62, 5), Berbatov 4.

Booked: Malbranque, Jenas.

EVERTON (4-4-2): Howard 7; Hibbert 6, Yobo 7, Stubbs 7, Lescott 7; Arteta 9, Neville 7, Carsley 7, Osman 6; Johnson 6, Anichebe 6 (Jagielka 80).

Man of the match: Mikel Arteta.

Referee: Mark Halsey.

Take two: Leon Osman celebrates after scoring Everton's second in the 37th minute at White Hart Lane