Tottenham Hotspur smashed Everton 5-0 in North London on Monday, leaving no question whether the miserable Toffees are facing a relegation fight well below their tradition.
Harry Kane scored twice and Dejan Kulusevski and Matt Doherty both had two assists, as Heung-min Son also scored to join a Michael Keane own goal on the score sheet in the blowout.
[ REACTION: Lampard fuming but confident after loss ]
Everton was almost comically poor from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford all the way up to its isolated forwards, allowing seven shots to reach Jordan Pickford and failing to put any of its five attempts on target.
Tottenham’s 14th win gives it 45 points, three back of fourth-place Arsenal. Seventh-place Spurs have two fewer matches played than West Ham (45 points) and Manchester United (47).
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
Everton has 22 points after losing its 15th match of the season. That’s a point ahead of 18th-place Burnley with a match-in-hand on the Clarets. The Toffees have lost four times in five under Lampard with a combined score line of 11-4. Three of those four goals came in a 3-0 win over Leeds.
Tottenham vs Everton final score, stats
Tottenham 5, Everton 0
Goals scored: Keane o.g. (14'), Son (17'), Kane (37', 55'), Reguilon (46')
Shots: Tottenham 14, Everton 5
Shots on target: Tottenham 7, Everton 0
Possession: Tottenham 56, Everton 44
Three things we learned from Tottenham vs Everton
1. Harry Kane’s very big day keeps onus on Daniel Levy: Remember the unsettled striker who fumbled his way through the early days of this season as Tottenham failed to hit its goals? Well, this Harry Kane looks like the guy who’s been in the Golden Boot discussion for a half-decade (when healthy), scoring two goals of the very pretty variety and passing Thierry Henry on the Premier League’s all-time goals list. Kane is now one goal back of Frank Lampard, who might need to see his name in a positive light to feel okay following this beatdown. Jokes aside, Kane is looking very much perfect for Antonio Conte’s system and both Conte and Kane will be looking at Daniel Levy about summer transfers if Spurs can sneak into the top four. Otherwise, he may have neither man.
2. Frank Lampard is not doing well: The fixture list hasn’t been super kind to Frank Lampard, but his only Premier League win at Everton came against a Leeds side which has since fired its manager. The Toffees lost 3-1 at Newcastle, 2-0 at Southampton, and 1-0 at home to Man City (although the champs did get a big break). Everton had zero shots on target well into the second half and center forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin had 23 touches during his 69 minutes. Richarlison had only a handful more when DCL subbed out. Lampard’s “look I’m starting young homegrowns” act meant promising Anthony Gordon and Jonjoe Kenny in the lineup and Dele Alli, Andros Townsend, Andre Gomes, Anwar El Ghazi, Dele Alli, and Salomon Rondon waiting to get their names called by the boss. At least he’s struck the right tone in his post-match interview on the USA Network.
3. Everton is a legitimate relegation candidate... so let’s look at the Toffees’ run-in. Visits from Wolves and Newcastle will be followed by an FA Cup quarterfinal at Crystal Palace and PL trips to Watford and West Ham. Manchester United arrives next before the Toffees start a run of Liverpool away, Chelsea at home, and Leicester City away. Brentford and Arsenal finish out the season’s fixtures. Lampard’s men could settle the season pretty quickly if organized and motivated correctly, but the club is leaking goals and could use a coach who knows how to tighten up and fight. You know, like Rafa Benitez (Oops).
[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]
Man of the Match: Matt Doherty -- Credit to Kane’s wonderful goals and Dejan Kulusevski has really lifted the club’s creativity, but Doherty looked like Wolves-era Matt Doherty on Monday. The right wing back had two assists, five tackles, four key passes, and won 9-of-11 duels.
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 Tottenham’s stadium lit up in yellow and blue to show their support for Ukraine. #THFC #EFC #TOTEVE pic.twitter.com/7FZm9GQ5cj
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) March 7, 2022
Tottenham opens the floodgates
Heung-min Son wasted an early rush when he dribbled into a desperation tackle by Anthony Gordon instead of spotting the overlap of Ryan Sessegnon.
Sessegnon soon produced the opening goal when he raced onto Ben Davies’ well-weighted through ball and cut a hard cross to Kane at the near post, just missing the striker but getting on the scoreboard through a Michael Keane own goal.
It was 2-0 when Son took his chance with a low strike in the 17th minute that went under birthday boy Jordan Pickford.
And then Kane, well, wow.