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Van de Ven double lifts Tottenham to victory at Everton

football26 October 2025 18:00| © Reuters
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Two headed goals by Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven helped his side to a 3-0 Premier League win over Everton on Sunday as the visitors became the first team to win in the Merseyside club's new stadium.

Tottenham made a sluggish start but took the lead in the 19th minute when Dutch defender Van de Ven nodded in from virtually on the goal line following a corner.

Jake O'Brien thought he had equalised soon after but his powerful header was disallowed for an infringement on Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Van de Ven doubled Tottenham's lead with another close-range header from another corner in first-half stoppage time to leave Everton with a mountain to climb.

Vicario made some superb saves in the second half as Tottenham protected their advantage and substitute Pape Matar Sarr headed a late third to secure the victory that lifted Tottenham to third in the table with 17 points from nine games.

Everton are 14th with 11 points.

Before kickoff at the gleaming Hill Dickinson Stadium on the banks of the River Mersey, Everton were the only team in the Premier League not to have conceded a goal from a set piece.

By halftime that boast was redundant as the hosts were twice left red-faced by corner routines.

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Set pieces have become a theme of the season so far with corners and long throws being utilised across the top flight with increasing success.

Tottenham showed they are keeping up with the fashion as both their goals smacked of simple training ground ploys.

First Mohammed Kudus swung in a deep corner beyond the back post when Rodrigo Bentancur improvised with his shoulder to send the ball back into the area where Van de Ven pounced.

Tottenham's second goal was also simple but deadly. This time Pedro Porro whipped in a corner and Van de Ven out-muscled Everton's England keeper Jordan Pickford to skim a header into the net and leave the hosts scratching their heads.

"I've never scored two goal in one game," Van de Ven, who now has five goals in all competitions this season, told Sky Sports.

"We saw some great mentality again today. When we play away in the Premier League, we know it is going to be tough, and we showed great character."

It was the perfect way for Tottenham to bounce back from last weekend's home defeat by Aston Villa and they have now picked up 13 out of 15 points on the road this season.

Everton will point to a rather harshly disallowed goal, ruled out because an offside player was adjudged to be hampering Vicario from a corner.

But they did not show enough invention despite plenty of possession and even when they did get a sight of goal, Vicario proved an unbreakable barrier with one reflex save from Beto's close-range overhead kick simply top class.

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