Everton were condemned to a 3-0 defeat against a flying Tottenham side.

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a stunning long-range effort which caught out Jordan Pickford from 25 yards just before the half-hour mark.

A second followed for the visitors when Christian Eriksen capitalised on a catalogue of errors by the Blues’ defence to rifle home from close range.

Kane doubled his tally early into the second half with a comfortable finish after Cuco Martina failed to stop a Ben Davies’ cross from the right flank.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

Spurs deliver a reality check for Koeman

 

Ronald Koeman had gone on to claim that the only gulf between Everton and Tottenham was the timeframe of working with the same personnel.

That was only a half-truth from the Blues’ manager as his side were delivered a second stark reminder of their own mortality here against the Londoners.

Describing them as second-best in this encounter would be disingenuous; they were not even in contention even before Harry Kane’s half-hour opener.

Any delusions of grandeur that Everton will be able to match Mauricio Pochettino’s serial title challengers have been well and truly shattered.

Martina needs dropping – and fast

 

No matter how much time elapses, Evertonians are unlikely to be convinced that Cuco Martina remains the answer to their defensive problems.

His start to life at Goodison Park makes Marc Hottiger, the club’s worst right-back in the Premier League era, seem almost assured in comparison.

Swinging at thin air as Dele Alli’s cross broke for Christian Eriksen to double the advantage was followed by an inability to cut off Kane’s supply from Ben Davies.

Even with Mason Holgate at his disposal, Koeman resisted the temptation to enlist a seemingly more competent option than the Curacao international.

Calls for Jonjoe Kenny to be handed an overdue call-up have become increasingly pronounced on the back of Martina’s latest horror show.

Striker failure comes home to roost

 

It threatens to be the decision by which Everton’s season will live and die and, crucially, was the difference again here.

Kane’s man-of-the-match performance highlighted why the failure to procure a striker before the transfer window closed will prove costly for Koeman’s ambitions of pushing this side on.

Muddling through with Sandro Ramirez and Wayne Rooney until January is unlikely to end well, with both fluffing their lines on rare opportunities in front of goal.

Sandro was destined to be an Everton no.9 in squad number only but a supporting cast of Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson fared little better.

Not even Dominic Calvert-Lewin, introduced at half time for the Spaniard, could yield a breakthrough despite an impressive start to the new season.

Whether a target man in the mold of Christian Benteke or Olivier Giroud would have made a greater impact remains to be seen.

But as with events across Stanley Park this summer, talking about quality reinforcements rather than sourcing them is now coming home to roost.

Rooney’s return threatens to unravel

 

Sooner or later, Rooney’s Goodison homecoming will invariably hit the buffers.

Few, however, anticipated that it would threaten to begin unravelling just four games into Everton’s new Premier League campaign.

Signing a 31-year-old whose statistics had seen better days was always going to have obvious drawbacks, not least after the feel-good factor had worn off.

What limited goal scoring chances presented themselves were wasted here, notably one which had all the hallmarks of a ‘Roy of the Rovers’ moment.

This was the sort of game for which Rooney was re-signed; one where he would take his team by the scruff of the neck and at least try to turn the tide.

He was never going to be Everton’s answer to Benjamin Button but that lack of influence when the chips were down may alter some blue-tinted glasses.