There are precious few ‘firsts’ yet to take place in the 33-year history of the Premier League. But what is perhaps the final frontier seems likely to be conquered soon.
Having seen his old set-piece coach humble the champions not 24 hours earlier, Thomas Frank provided captivating proof that Brentford have forgotten to revoke his access to the Google Doc which contains their dead-ball routines.
David Moyes concurred that Everton were “undone” by corners against Spurs. The Toffees were the only Premier League side yet to concede from a set piece all season – as the curse-harbouring commentator warned before one potent delivery – but were breached and bullied twice here.
It was salt in the wound for Jake O’Brien to have his equaliser disallowed for offside, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish penalised for making Guglielmo Vicario the filling in a particularly skilful sandwich. It was the correct call but a harsh reminder of the fine margins considering Spurs doubled their lead and basically rendered the contest moot a quarter of an hour later.
There were rumblings of frustration with Micky van de Ven nudging Jordan Pickford off balance for his second goal, but there should only really be introspection when a 6ft 4ins centre-half is allowed a free header from about three yards out.
Van de Ven had diverted a Rodrigo Bentancur header from almost exactly the same position 25 minutes earlier, which meant an entire half of seeing whether the Dutchman could make history.
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But the whistle soon after his second marked his last attacking contribution. The rest of the game became an inevitable training session in deep defending for the visitors as Everton threw their not inconsiderable weight behind an unlikely comeback.
Beto really ought to have scored, Grealish had a decent chance and Ndiaye was electric. Yet Spurs under Frank are made of stern enough stuff – their recent slight wobble notwithstanding – to weather what was more of a slight downpour than a storm.
It did prevent Van de Ven from scaling that seemingly impossible mountain. His final touches on stunning corners from Mohammed Kudus and Pedro Porro teased a first Premier League hat-trick ever scored by a defender but it remains elusive – for now.
There is a tantalising sense that we are getting closer, that the spirit of Ronald Koeman is being evoked in Our League, and the caveats about Steve Watson having actually been repurposed as an attacking midfielder when he tormented Leeds two decades ago need no longer be made.
Moyes oversaw that feat which has often been erroneously cited as the first Premier League hat-trick scored by a defender, and might well have feared being on the wrong side of it when Van de Ven made his presence felt.
Everton escaped without suffering that ignominy but it is a matter of time until Dan Burn fills his boots or Joe Rodon takes the match ball home. If Nicolas Jover isn’t working on getting Gabriel a hat-trick before the season is out he should have his clipboard confiscated.
