Tottenham’s wait for a first Premier League goal of the season stretched into a fifth successive game, as Roberto De Zerbi’s side played out a frustrating goalless draw with Everton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The result stings even more given the money Spurs have thrown at rebuilding their squad this summer.
De Zerbi has overseen a spending spree topping $400 million, breaking the club’s transfer record twice within days first landing Mateus Fernandes from West Ham, then smashing the bank again for Sandro Tonali from Newcastle. Sávio arrived from Manchester City soon after, alongside Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson and several other new faces.
Yet none of that investment has translated into goals, and Tottenham now sit without a single strike through four league games a first in the club’s history.
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Spurs came flying out of the blocks against Everton, pinning the visitors back in the opening stages. Van Hecke should have broken the deadlock inside five minutes, but he sent Robertson’s free-kick sailing over the crossbar from close range when he really ought to have hit the target.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles then drilled wide from a half-clearance during an early Everton corner, before Fernandes fired well off target as Spurs tried to seize control.
The game settled into a tighter contest either side of half-time, with Kinsky pushing away James Garner’s free-kick before Fernandes finally worked Pickford, though his effort flew straight at the England goalkeeper.
Thierno Barry then rose to meet a towering header, only for Kinsky to make himself big and block it, while Tyrique George’s sweetly struck half-volley crashed into Rodrigo Bentancur.
Tottenham’s best chance to snatch victory fell apart in bizarre fashion. Kinsky gifted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall a golden opportunity with a loose pass, but the goalkeeper atoned instantly, rushing off his line to smother the shot before Dewsbury-Hall could punish him.
Brennan Johnson then squandered a clear sight of goal, blazing over under minimal pressure when he should have given Spurs the lead.
Everton pushed for a winner of their own late on. Jordan Pickford’s clearance was cut out deep in stoppage time, sending the ball back toward the Spurs goal, and Lucas Bergvall curled a bending effort goalward only for Pickford to race back and push it wide with the last real action of the game.
For all their spending, Tottenham simply couldn’t find a way to convert pressure into goals, extending an alarming drought that now defines the start of their season.
Everton, by contrast, defended resolutely and carved out enough chances to have claimed all three points themselves, stretching their unbeaten start to the campaign.
