Antonio Conte was left to rue the ‘many mistakes’ of his Tottenham players after being forced to settle for a goalless draw against Everton in his first Premier League game in charge of the club on Sunday afternoon. The Italian was appointed to replace Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this week and led his side to victory against Vitesse on Thursday, but was unable to follow up with a first league win upon his return to English football.
Spurs huffed and puffed throughout the match at Goodison Park but ultimately failed to register a shot on target, leaving Conte frustrated on his way back to the dressing room.
The visitors almost conceded a second-half penalty when Hugo Lloris was adjudged to have fouled Richarlison inside the area.
However, an intervention from VAR saw the decision controversially overturned to the dismay of the partisan home crowd.
Tempers began to flare as the clock ticked down, with Everton substitute Mason Holgate being sent off for a reckless challenge on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in stoppage time.
Despite their numerical advantage, Spurs failed to edge in front in the dying seconds and were forced to share the points at the full-time whistle.
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Giovani Lo Celso came closest with a fiercely-struck effort from outside the box that smacked against the post in the closing stages.
It seems as though Conte will have plenty of work to do at Spurs in order to achieve a top-four finish this season based on Sunday’s showing, which lacked the killer blow required to take maximum points.
The new Spurs boss insisted that he was mostly happy with his side’s performance after the final whistle, but suggested that a winner may have been found if his attacking players had made better decisions in the final third.
“Honestly, I have to be happy,” said Conte during his post-match press conference.
“I have to be happy for different reasons. The first Goodison Park is not an easy place to come and play.
“If I have to see a negative aspect in this game, I think we made many mistakes with the forward pass. If we make the final pass in the right way, we had chances to score.”
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