WATFORD MISSED A chance to inflict more away misery on 10-man Tottenham as the two sides fought out a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Davinson Sanchez was shown a straight red card for catching Richarlison with a stray elbow in the 52nd minute, hampering his side’s hopes of making up ground on the top four.
But the home team will feel most frustrated after failing to make their numerical advantage count.
The Hornets earlier opened the scoring through Christian Kabasele, the defender heading in his second goal in five Premier League matches from Tom Cleverley’s corner.
Tottenham, facing the prospect of a fourth consecutive away defeat in the league, quickly restored parity through Son Heung-min.
And although Sanchez’s dismissal re-opened the door for Marco Silva’s side, Spurs survived the scare of a long-range Abdoulaye Doucoure shot against the upright to claim a hard-earned point and recapture sixth from Burnley.
Meanwhile Sam Allardyce’s Everton reign started in victorious fashion, as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town at Goodison Park.
The former England manager was officially appointed as Ronald Koeman’s permanent successor on Thursday and, although Everton failed to produce a performance to match Wednesday’s 4-0 hammering of West Ham United, they at least managed to secure back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season.
The first 45 minutes of Allardyce’s tenure were rather forgettable, with both sides lacking imagination in attack, contributing to a tepid half of football. But things were quick to liven up after the break, with Sigurdsson putting Everton ahead with an excellent goal in the 47th minute.
Both sides appeared more willing to push men forward in the second period, resulting in a significant increase in entertainment, but Everton continued to look the better in attack.
And they ultimately wrapped up all three points 17 minutes from the end through the lively Calvert-Lewin, giving Allardyce a solid start to life on Merseyside.
Meanwhile Stoke City turned around an early deficit to record a much-needed 2-1 win at the bet365 Stadium and consign Swansea City to the foot of the Premier League table.
The hosts fought back from the shock of falling behind in the third minute to ease the pressure on manager Mark Hughes in the process after a run of just one win in their previous seven outings.
Wilfried Bony’s volley against his former club raised hope for Swansea, who then frustrated Stoke for the majority of the first half only to concede twice in the space of four minutes.
After Xherdan Shaqiri converted Joe Allen’s throughball to level the scores, Mame Biram Diouf smash in a left-footed shot to grab what turned out to be the deciding goal in the battle between two struggling sides.
While the result helps Hughes, opposite number Paul Clement will be feeling the strain after Crystal Palace’s 0-0 draw at West Brom sunk his Swans to 20th place in the standings.
Finally, Alan Pardew was unable to inspire West Brom to a first Premier League win since August as his new side were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns.
Pardew, who had been out of management since being sacked by Palace 12 months ago, will be pleased with his side’s endeavour against his former club, but was left to rue some wayward finishing.
Hal Robson-Kanu squandered a clear opening early on, while Jay Rodriguez was denied by Julian Speroni shortly after the interval after being put clear through.
A point lifts Roy Hodgson’s side off the bottom of the table, while the Baggies sit just three precarious points above the drop zone.
Palace’s failure to score, however, means they have now gone 10 top-flight away games without finding the net – the first team to do so since Manchester City in 1950.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
