A second-half goal by Erik Lamela earned Tottenham Hotspur a valuable point following his side’s 1-1 draw with Everton during their opening Premier League clash at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Argentine’s 59th-minute header denied new Everton manager Ronald Koeman a winning start at home, however, the Spurs forward after the hosts opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute when Ross Barkley’s free-kick sailed over the wall and into the far corner of the Spurs goal.
Lamela equalised in the 59th minute after Everton had claimed a deserved lead through Ross Barkley’s early goal.
The 24-year-old was lethal in attack for Spurs, taking three shots at goal, with two on target while Lamela saw all of his attempts coming from inside the Toffees penalty area.
According to SASoccermag’s Opta-powered match stats, Erik Lamela managed to complete a total of 68 touches on the ball while winning seven out of 16 duels after spending 90 minutes on the field.
In defence, the former Roma forward won two out of two tackles for his side, winning two fouls and conceding one, making one interception during the stalemate opener.
Lamela completed 35 of his 46 passes, with 28.3% coming from the defence while 23.9% of his passes coming from the left, right and directly down the centre.
Although the match ended in a draw, Everton controlled the match and had the best possession (56.4%), while Spurs could only manage 43.6% of the possession.
Meanwhile, Spurs had more shots on goal than the Toffees, producing 13 chances at goal compared to 12 efforts respectively.
Everton will continue their search for their first victory of the new Premier League season when they travel to the Britannia Stadium when they play West Bromwich Albion, while Tottenham Hotspur welcome Crystal Palace to White Hart Lane on August 20.
Kick-off has been set for 16:00.
Image: Tottenham Hotspur