Toffee stuffed balloons
Son Heung-Min leads Tottenham to a comprehensive 4-0 win against Everton and Yves Bissouma’s redemption arc begins.
“I am going to ban him next week and bring him back,” Ange Postecoglou jokingly said of Yves Bissouma on Match of the Day.
The Ivorian was caught inhaling laughing gas in the build up to Tottenham’s opening game of the season at Leicester.
Postecoglou then suspended Bissouma for the game which was one of the many frustrating talking points surrounding the 1-1 draw.
With Rodrigo Bentacur and Dominik Solanke suffering from injuries, Bissouma was trusted to make amends in the 4-0 stuffing of the Toffees.
Dejan Kulusevski and new signing Wilson Odobert also made their first starts in an attacking line-up designed to overwhelm Everton from kick off.
Son Heung-Min, Odobert and Kulusevski stretched their opponents early on, pinning Everton into their 18-yard box and preventing any chance of a counter attack.
Jordan Pickford made two fine stops in the first ten minutes. First from Christian Romero and then from a long-range effort from Son.
But in the 14th minute Spurs found the breakthrough. Brennan Johnson and Kulusevski combined down the right before the ball fell to James Maddison.
A short pass back to the Swede started a mazey run that took several Everton defenders out of contention.
He then laid the ball back to Bissouma on the edge of the area who unleashed a stunning drive that hit the underside of the cross bar before crashing into the net.
It was the perfect answer to a week of criticism for the midfielder.
Spurs continued to press, and in the 25th minute they had their second thanks to an uncharacteristic mistake by the Everton and England number one.
A harmless Everton throw in on the halfway line ended with the ball being passed back to Pickford.
However, Son quickly chased the ball down and when Pickford miscontrolled, the Korean pounced on the opportunity to give Tottenham a 2-0 lead.
It was a terrible mistake from an Everton perspective, but Tottenham had earned some good fortune after their dominance wasn’t rewarded against Leicester.
Everton improved in the second half and may have got back into the game had Guglielmo Vicario not been equal to a thumping shot from Jesper Lindstrøm.
But Spurs eventually put the game beyond doubt in the 71st minute.
An in-swinging corner from Maddison was met by Romero inside of the six-yard box. The Argentinian’s header hit the underside of the bar and bounced into the net to make it 3-0.
Bissouma was then given a standing ovation from the Spurs crowd after being substituted moments later.
Tottenham completed the rout 13 minutes from time when Micky Van der Ven intercepted an Everton attack.
The Dutchman stormed up the pitch before laying the ball off to Son on the edge of Everton’s box.
Son then superbly fired his shot in between Pickford’s legs to score his second goal of the game and secure Tottenham’s first win of the season.
There will be those who will point out that Everton were dreadful - and that is true.
However, this performance will calm the nerves of Spurs supporters who have been unhappy with the lack of further signings and the team’s failure take their chances against Leicester.
Son will undoubtedly take the plaudits for his man of the match display, but it is Bissouma’s potential redemption that will be spoken about in the days ahead.
Postecoglou was happy with his performance in his post-match comments with BBC Sport.
But he was also wary that this wasn’t the first time Bissouma has had disciplinary issues.
“He's still got work to do. I'm not doubting his footballing quality. We want to make him the best version of himself. That starts off the field as much as on it.”
“We know Biss is a good footballer. It's about him being the best version of himself and he will only get there if - as we've spoken a few times - discipline is a big thing for him, and I thought it was a disciplined performance for him today.”
Tottenham’s next match is away to Newcastle United on Sunday.
