David Moyes celebrated his 300th game as the Everton manager yesterday by watching his team win at White Hart Lane for the third year in a row. A second-half goal by Steven Pienaar and a towering performance by Phil Jagielka at the heart of their defence ensured that Moyes could look back proudly on what he has achieved since he replaced Walter Smith at Goodison Park 6½ years ago.

“I’m really fortunate to have been given 300 games because a lot of managers nowadays don’t get that opportunity,” Moyes said. “I’m looking forward to another 300 and hopefully there are good times to come.”

It would have been a perfect day for Moyes if he had not found out after the final whistle that he will be without Yakubu Ayegbeni for the rest of the season because of a ruptured Achilles. The Nigeria forward hobbled off the pitch after only ten minutes and his replacement, Louis Saha, lasted only an hour before disappearing down the tunnel on a stretcher with a hamstring injury.

“We are going to have to look at what is available in the loan market,” Moyes said. “We don’t have big cash reserves so we will have to do what we can. Replacing players like Yakubu and Saha is not going to be easy.”

Everton’s win after their 1-0 defeat by Wigan Athletic a week ago lifted Moyes’s team to seventh in the Barclays Premier League and left Tottenham still looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table. Tottenham had not lost at home since Harry Redknapp replaced Juande Ramos five weeks ago, but, despite making five changes from the side who beat Nijmegen 1-0 in the Uefa Cup on Thursday, they looked tired.

“They’re a very difficult team to play against and they are hard to beat,” Redknapp said. “There is not a lot of space to play against them. It was hard to pass it and we resorted to too many high balls but we can’t play that way. Parts of my team weren’t good enough today.”

One of the first things that Redknapp will be working on when Spurs report for training is defending set-pieces. Six minutes after the break, Everton won a free kick in the Tottenham half and Redknapp’s players, especially Aaron Lennon, switched off with calamitous consequences. Lennon turned his back on Mikel Arteta and the Spanish midfield player took a quick free kick to Pienaar, who beat Heurelho Gomes with a low strike that was deflected by Vedran Corluka.

“We gave a terrible goal away,” Redknapp said. “You can’t give a free kick away, turn your back and then all of a sudden the ball is in the back of your net and half of your players aren’t even looking at the ball. That’s what cost us today.”

Tottenham had chances to get back into the game, with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fraizer Campbell going close, and Gareth Bale made a difference when he replaced Benoît Assou-Ekotto in the second half. The Wales defender is still waiting to find out what it feels like to win a top-flight game after moving to White Hart Lane for £5 million from South-ampton in May last year. “I’m aware of that stat,” Redknapp said. “He’ll turn that around.”

Bale could do worse than look to Moyes for inspiration. Since 2002, the former Preston North End manager has turned the Merseyside club from relegation candidates into European contenders without breaking the bank in the transfer market. “It has been a big honour to manage Everton,” he said, “When I took over the job, people thought that I wasn’t going to be able to turn it around but I think I’ve proved them wrong.”

Tottenham (4-4-2): H Gomes 7 V Corluka 6 J Woodgate 6 L King 7 B Assou-Ekotto 6 A Lennon 5 T Huddlestone 6 D Zokora 6 D Bentley 6 D Bent 5 R Pavlyuchenko 6 Substitutes: F Campbell 6 (for Bent, 61min), G Bale 6 (for Assou-Ekotto, 67), K-P Boateng (for Huddlestone, 75). Not used: C Sánchez, C Gunter, M Dawson, J O’Hara. Next: West Ham United (a).

Everton (4-5-1): T Howard 7 P Neville 7 J Yobo 7 P Jagielka 9 J Lescott 7 L Osman 7 M Arteta 8 M Fellaini 8 T Cahill 7 S Pienaar 9 Yakubu Ayegbeni 5 Substitutes: L Saha 7 (for Yakubu, 10min), V Anichebe (for Saha, 71), L Baines (for Osman, 88min). Not used: C Nash, S Castillo, J Rodwell, D Gosling. Next: Aston Villa (h).

Off to a poor start

Gareth Bale, who has not won in 18 league appearances for Tottenham Hotspur, is not the first bad-luck charm

- Nigel Quashie failed to win his first eight games for West Ham United after signing in January 2007 as they slid towards relegation, but his omission from the team resulted in a recovery

- None of Robbie Savage’s first 18 appearances for Derby County ended in victory after he arrived at the start of 2008

- By contrast, Lassana Diarra was unbeaten in his first nine appearances for Arsenal in 2007, having lost none of his final 22 games for Chelsea

Words by Bill Edgar