Tottenham vs Everton: Not even second-half fightback can dampen spirits ahead of Champions League final

Forget the fireworks and the wide-eyed schoolchildren and the endless choral renditions of ‘Glory, Glory’ — not to mention the nail-bitingly nervous 1-0 win over Crystal Palace that followed.

Because this, a Sunday afternoon stroll against Everton on the final day of the season, was the first true party to be held at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium: an entertaining 2-2 draw played out amid a carnival atmosphere during which some 60,000 supporters dared to dream ahead of the biggest match in the club’s history.

It didn't take long for any lingering pre-match nerves to be settled and the celebrations to begin. Eric Dier poked Tottenham into the lead after just three minutes and from therein this game settled into an amiably breezy rhythm: a crowd-pleasing stretch of the legs ahead of Liverpool in Madrid, when against all odds this stitched-together Spurs side will attempt to win the biggest tournament in club football.

Even Everton’s second-half fightback caused but a minor grumble among Tottenham’s fans, if only because Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun’s second-half goals were scored just seconds after the away supporters had regaled their hosts with a chant of ‘we’re going to have a party when Tottenham win the cup’.

Everton’s fightback cost Spurs third-place and yet, with a European final on the horizon, nobody seemed particularly bothered — particularly when Christian Eriksen curled home a sublime equaliser in the closing stages.

How long ago does Tottenham’s penultimate match of the league season, a barmy 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth, seem now? In the immediate hours after that worrying defeat Spurs fans could have been forgiven for looking ahead to this fixture with trepidation. Had Arsenal have taken care of business against Brighton as expected, their place in the top four would have hung perilously in the balance.

Even after the draw at the Emirates there were those Tottenham supporters who feared a humiliating eight-goal swing. Pessimistic? Sure — but anybody who bore witness to the club’s laughable 5-1 defeat by Newcastle on the final day of the 2015/16 season would have told you it was possible.

Yet this is a completely different Tottenham team. A team that has now repeatedly fought for the title, emerged relatively unscathed from one of the biggest injury crises in their modern history and now has a chance to end Real Madrid’s Champions League hegemony. Tottenham’s win against Ajax turned this potentially awkward afternoon into a ninety minute lap of honour.

In fairness, Everton’s travelling supporters were not completely focused on the match in front of them, either. Substitutes from both of the two teams turned around in surprise when the sight of Cenk Tosun controlling Kurt Zouma’s long punt forward appeared to trigger wild celebration — instead, Sergio Aguero has just equalised against Brighton — while Aymeric Laporte’s second goal was greeted in equally jubilant fashion.

To their right, the watching Spurs supporters did not know whether to mock their suddenly invigorated neighbours or join in the celebrations. By the time Riyad Mahrez had made sure of the title they had made their mind up: rising as one to celebrate, the whole stadium desperate for Liverpool to conclude the season empty-handed.

But while both sets of supporters were here to party, Tottenham’s players were eager to impress. This was a chance for players on the very fringe of Pochettino’s starting XI to stake their claim for a starting spot in Madrid and, with so many players due to return within the next three weeks, he has a genuine selection headache to nurse ahead of 1 June.

Dele Alli made a bright start and is beginning to look far more like the player we know he has the potential to be. Eriksen pulled the strings and crowned his performance with a wonderful goal. And Lucas Moura shone again, albeit in a completely different capacity to that bewitching night in Amsterdam. There he had led Tottenham’s attack, using his pace to scuttle through on goal and three times dragging the ball beyond André Onana.

Here, he was deployed out wide, hassling and harrying and generally making a nuisance of himself. Come the full-time whistle, it was only a surprise to see that Kurt Zouma was able to make his way down the tunnel without a protective neck brace, so often did he wrench himself backwards to see the Brazilian haring into space.

There were also some more basic victories. Despite more than a few robust challenges, no Spurs player was sent hobbling to fight for space amongst the club’s already crowded treatment table. Factor in the impending returns of Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez, Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Victor Wanyama, Harry Winks and — of course — Harry Kane, and the club’s injury crisis may ease just in time for Madrid.

All of those players reappeared in time for the obligatory lap of honour and end-of-season awards ceremony, which the vast majority of Tottenham’s hung around to enjoy. This was not an afternoon to dissect another two points dropped in the league or rue how third place had slipped through their fingers. This was an afternoon to sing and dance and cheer — and look ahead to the most significant night in the club’s 136-year history.