Tottenham vs Everton result: Christian Eriksen saves Spurs’ blushes as Champions League final awaits

Tottenham missed out on a fourth successive top-three finish but rubber-stamped their return to the Champions League after a 2-2 draw with Everton in north London.

Eric Dier gave Spurs an early lead but, at the end of a week of comebacks, quickfire strikes from Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun turned the match on its head before Christian Eriksen promptly levelled the scores again, with the three second-half goals all coming in the space of just seven minutes.

A victory would have taken Mauricio Pochettino’s side above Chelsea, who were held to a goalless draw at Leicester, but they had to settle for fourth.

Everton’s fans, meanwhile, seemed perfectly happy with the day’s results. Desperate to avoid the sight of their Merseyside rivals Liverpool winning the Premier League title, they cheered the news of Manchester City’s goals at Brighton just as loudly as their own at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs started the day lying three points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal and eight goals better off on goal difference, so a top-four finish looked all but certain.

But in this of all weeks, after Liverpool and Spurs’ remarkable European fightbacks against Barcelona and Ajax, the impossible suddenly seemed possible and complacency seemed ill-advised.

Everton arrived having won five of their previous seven matches, and Pochettino had to deploy Dier – who had been substituted at half-time in last weekend’s defeat at Bournemouth - as a centre-back in the absence of Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth.

Nonetheless, there was a party atmosphere around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the match.

Highlights from the midweek drama were shown on the big screens, with Spurs’ fans cheering Lucas’s third goal as if it was happening live on the pitch in front of them, while there was a deafening roar when the Brazilian’s name was announced in the line-up moments before kick-off.

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Tottenham quickly picked up where they had left off in the Netherlands. With less than three minutes gone, Erik Lamela whipped in a corner, Fernando Llorente made a nuisance of himself in the middle – as he had done so effectively in Amsterdam – and Dier lashed the ball home from close range.

Given Everton had kept six clean sheets in their previous seven games, the early strike was no mean feat.

Spurs had most of the ball for the rest of the first half but were unable to seriously test Jordan Pickford, with Dele Alli missing the target a couple of times.

Indeed, Hugo Lloris was the busier goalkeeper. Michael Keane sent one header at the Frenchman and put another wide, while Bernard was denied as he sent an effort towards the bottom corner and ex-Spurs midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s low strike was too central.

Pochettino withdrew Alli at the interval, introducing Victor Wanyama, but Spurs were given another scare before the hour-mark as Tosun prodded a through ball into the path of Bernard, who shot well wide

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Spurs eventually mustered their second attempt on target as Llorente’s header was saved by Pickford, but Everton got a deserved equaliser 20 minutes from time.

After a slick passing move, Sigurdsson slipped the ball to his right and ex-Arsenal winger Walcott found the bottom left corner.

The Toffees took the lead less than three minutes later. Keane had threatened in the air on a few occasions and, although his initial header from a corner was saved, Tosun bundled the ball over the line.

The lead did not last long though. In the 75th minute Spurs won a free kick and Eriksen sent his 25-yard strike over the wall and into the bottom right corner to avoid a final-day defeat.