It’s indicative of rising standards in the Barclays Premier League that where once a draw in this fixture would have been satisfactory to both teams it is no longer deemed good enough for either. On a raw, blustery day on Merseyside, Everton and Tottenham both concluded this game rueing missed opportunities.

This wasn’t one of those goalless draws that had you pining for an armchair, a warm fire and an anaesthetic. No, this was merely a game between two emerging teams that left you regretting that they couldn’t have given you just a little bit more.

Both teams were ambitious and progressive in outlook. As such, all the afternoon needed was a goal to really bring things to life. Had we seen one then we may well have seen three or four. It was a game of football that always looked as though it may grow into something a little better but, ultimately, didn’t manage to.

Certainly, the incentive was significant on Sunday. Victory for either team would have taken them in to second place and established their top four credentials.

As it is, both Everton and Tottenham remain on the fringes of things, ultimately let down by a lack of clinical play in the final third of the field.

Tottenham may be the more disappointed. Andre Villas-Boas’s team were far superior in the first half, playing the better football as Everton struggled to cope with the buffeting wind. Had Roberto Soldado not been so ineffectual in the centre-forward role then Tottenham would have had something to cling to in the second half.

Ultimately, Everton gradually grew into the game and finished the stronger. Indeed, the penalty appeal they had in the second half was perhaps stronger than the one Tottenham had earlier in the game. Coincidentally, both incidents involved the same two players.

Jan Vertonghen was an impressive presence down the left side for Tottenham all afternoon. He really is an assured footballer. His fall under a challenge from Seamus Coleman in the first half, however, looked a little dramatic and referee Kevin Friend was perhaps correct to turn his back on all the commotion.

Later in the day, with 25 minutes to go, however, Friend had an altogether tougher decision to make and, arguably, he got this one wrong.

Vertonghen never looked comfortable as Coleman tore in from the right and seemed to trip the Everton defender as he tried to halt his momentum. Coleman managed to stay upright and release a shot and maybe it was this – in short, the young man’s honesty – that failed his team. Had he crashed to the ground, he probably would have won the spot-kick.

Afterwards both managers were phlegmatic. Both perhaps knew that their teams got what they deserved from the afternoon. It is warming to see both committed to stylish, artistic football and it is hard to imagine their clubs moving anywhere but forwards during the time they remain in charge.

For Tottenham, Vertonghen was perhaps the pick but the young Romanian central defender Vlad Chriches was also impressive, as was England’s Andros Townsend down the right side. As for Everton, the central midfield duo Gareth Barry and James McCarthy grew into the game impressively and it was only a shame that Belgian forwards Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku were not at their usual high levels.

‘It says a lot that both teams were frustrated with a draw and finished the game trying to play offensively,’ said Everton’s Martinez. ‘That was really refreshing’

It was hard to argue with Martinez. Both these teams have lifted expectations already this season and the way that Tottenham started the game showed exactly what they expected to take from the game.

Soldado may have done better than head an early chance wide after Aaron Lennon did well to cross from the left in the eighth minute before Lewis Holtby saw a shot deflected over the crossbar in to the Gladwys Street by McCarthy.

As Everton struggled to get going, Tottenham pressed on, Kyle Walker driving a free-kick in to Tim Howard’s midriff and Paulinho seeing a near post shot smothered midway through the half.

The home team were not completely without threat or momentum, it was just consistency they lacked. In to the second half, though, and they did find their way in to the game.

A double substitution on the hour helped as Martinez threw on Ross Barkley and young Spaniard Gerard Deulofeu. Both impacted on the game immediately and it was Deulofeu who provided the moment of the game, drifting past four Tottenham players down the right before bringing a save from Hugo Lloris at his near post.

Barkley was impressive too, though, and it is pleasing to see the young Englishman react to being omitted from the starting eleven by playing with such energy and attitude. He remains one to watch.

In terms of chances, Everton saw a couple of shots blocked but couldn’t really test Lloris. Happily, when the Tottenham ‘keeper was accidentally clattered by Lukaku’s knee late in the game, he was fit enough to carry on.

At full-time, there were a few groans from the home supporters. That is what heightened expectation does to a crowd. Both teams will be happy enough though. With 10 games gone, they should sense only opportunity.

—Daily Mail