Tottenham were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Everton.
Tottenham Hotspur’s disastrous start to the season officially sank to its lowest ebb. They played out a goalless draw with Everton at home in the league on Saturday, as the wait for the first win of the season continued.
Worryingly, the result extended the Roberto De Zerbi-managed side’s Premier League goal drought. They had the majority of the ball but nothing to show for it against a disciplined and resilient Everton side, who themselves had a couple of chances in the second half to win the contest.
The 0-0 scoreline meant it is the first time in Spurs’ history that they have failed to score in any of their first four league fixtures in a single campaign.
Roberto De Zerbi opens up on Tottenham’s goalless draw with Everton
De Zerbi cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines for much of the game, as Tottenham failed to breach the Everton defence. Beset by injuries to full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, the Italian had to make changes to his XI and put the best one out. He even handed Dominic Solanke his first league start of the campaign and played Omar Marmoush behind the England international, yet no solution was found over another 90 minutes of relentless action.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, De Zerbi was asked to sum up his team’s performance and result against Everton. To which he stated:
“It is not tough. A tough moment was last season in Sunderland, when we were fighting relegation. Now it is not a normal moment, but it is one of the moments in football when you are building a team and are starting late.
“I think we played very well in the first 30 minutes, and then we lost energy because our physical condition is not the best, and we are working on that.
“We didn’t shoot for the quality of the play we showed. We have to shoot more times. We went inside Everton’s area 74 times, but we didn’t create enough chances to explain the quality of play we did. We have to work, for sure.
“We also have to analyse the last decision because too many times we made the wrong decision. But I think we played well.”
Another frustrating day in the office
Tottenham find themselves 17th in the Premier League table at the moment with just two points from four matches.
As with the Nottingham Forest draw, finishing was the glaring shortcoming of the Lilywhites’ evening. They dominated the ball and controlled large passages of play. Spurs have players who are decent in possession, and some of those did create opportunities.
Dominic Solanke looked anonymous in his first league start of the season. His presence was barely felt, while Omar Marmoush continued his trend of making wrong decisions with the ball. Mateus Fernandes couldn’t really link midfield with attack and lost possession at times in the most critical junctures. Savio was the hosts’ most dangerous player, and if there had to be a goal, it looked likely to come from his actions. Eventually, it didn’t, though.
De Zerbi has plenty to ponder after his team’s failure to find the back of the net once again, but if there is a positive to take, he will point out to another clean sheet.
