Match ends, Tottenham Hotspur 1, Everton 0.
TottenhamTottenham Hotspur1EvertonEverton0
Emmanuel Adebayor struck to sink Everton and give Tottenham an important three points in the race for a place in next season's Champions League.
The ex-Arsenal striker profited from a quickly taken free-kick to drill past Tim Howard and send Spurs up to fifth.
His second-half finish settled a tight contest after Leon Osman had headed over and seen a shot saved, as Everton had the better of the opening period.
The loss leaves the Blues sixth, five points behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
Roberto Martinez's side will feel hard done by after Seamus Coleman saw a strong penalty appeal turned down when he went down under Etienne Capoue's lunging challenge in injury time.
While a draw would perhaps have been a fairer result, Tottenham's resurgence under Tim Sherwood continues.
Andre Villas-Boas's successor, who has now won six of his nine Premier League games in charge, owes much to Adebayor, who played only once in the league under the Portuguese this season.
Everton - without their main striker Romelu Lukaku through injury - travelled to White Hart Lane with only one clean sheet from their past 10 league games.
Despite largely restricting their hosts, a momentary lapse of concentration from Kyle Walker's free-kick enabled Adebayor to score his sixth league goal since Villas-Boas's departure.
Martinez will, however, take positives from Everton's energetic start as Spurs - without a single goal inside the first 15 minutes of any league fixture this season - started typically slowly.
Leon Osman went close on four occasions inside 10 minutes, his best effort a volley which required a smart save from Hugo Lloris, and the midfielder headed over from the resulting corner.
Neat link-up play between Osman, Steven Naismith and Kevin Mirallas threatened to hurt Spurs and Sherwood swiftly stepped off his bench in an attempt to influence his lacklustre side.
Captain Michael Dawson responded by glancing a free header over the bar, but all too often Spurs' first-half attacks became overly intricate and broke down in the final third.
Adebayor came to the fore early in the second period and headed one of his side's nine corners over the bar, before breaking the deadlock in clinical style.
The 29-year-old expertly chested down Walker's set-piece delivery in the 65th minute and fired left-footed past Howard at his near post.
It was Spurs' first shot on target and with the hosts yet to lose a league game from a winning position this season, Martinez summoned Gerard Deulofeu.
His fellow substitute Aiden McGeady saw his deflected cross well fielded by a scrambling Lloris, but Everton's first-half zest had disappeared.
Adebayor fired over from range late on, before Coleman appeared to be tripped by Capoue in the area.
But referee Mark Clattenburg waved away the penalty appeal and Everton suffered only their fourth league defeat of the season.
For a selection of images from Sunday's Premier League games go to the BBC Sport Facebook page.
Line-ups
Tottenham
Formation 4-3-3
- 25Lloris
- 2Walker
- 20Dawson
- 5Vertonghen
- 3Rose
- 42Bentaleb
- 19DembéléBooked at 87mins
- 8PaulinhoSubstituted forCapoueat 68'minutes
- 7LennonSubstituted forDefoeat 86'minutes
- 10Adebayor
- 23EriksenSubstituted forTownsendat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Kaboul
- 9Soldado
- 15Capoue
- 16Naughton
- 17Townsend
- 18Defoe
- 24Friedel
Everton
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 24Howard
- 23Coleman
- 6Jagielka
- 15Distin
- 3Baines
- 16McCarthy
- 18Barry
- 11Mirallas
- 21OsmanSubstituted forMcGeadyat 73'minutes
- 22PienaarSubstituted forBarkleyat 64'minutes
- 14NaismithSubstituted forDeulofeuat 73'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Robles
- 2Hibbert
- 7McGeady
- 10Deulofeu
- 20Barkley
- 26Stones
- 28Traoré
- Referee:
- Mark Clattenburg
- Attendance:
- 35,944
Match Stats
Home TeamTottenhamAway TeamEverton
- Possession
- Home46%
- Away54%
- Shots
- Home8
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away3
- Corners
- Home9
- Away7
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away13
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Tottenham Hotspur 1, Everton 0.
Post update
Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Tim Howard.
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Attempt saved. Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Emmanuel Adebayor.
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Foul by Gerard Deulofeu (Everton).
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Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Booking
Mousa Dembélé (Tottenham Hotspur) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Gareth Barry (Everton) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Mousa Dembélé (Tottenham Hotspur).
Substitution
Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Jermain Defoe replaces Aaron Lennon.
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Foul by Sylvain Distin (Everton).
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Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by James McCarthy (Everton).
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Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Everton. Conceded by Kyle Walker.
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Seamus Coleman (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur).
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Gerard Deulofeu (Everton) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur).
Post update
Attempt missed. Ross Barkley (Everton) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the right. Assisted by Sylvain Distin.
