Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas reels from late show from Everton

Two late goals turn result at Goodison Park

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas was left scratching his head over his side's late defensive frailties after they threw away a 1-0 lead over Everton in dramatic fashion.

With hosts Everton trailing to Clint Dempsey's deflected shot 14 minutes from the end, Steven Pienaar and Nikica Jelavic scored within 88 seconds of each other in the 90th minute and added time respectively to secure a 2-1 victory for the Toffees at Goodison Park.

Spurs have developed a poor record for conceding late goals - 10 in the last 15 minutes - and that cost them again.

Villas-Boas said: "It was a disappointing result bearing in mind we were leading taking the game into the last minute.

"It has been quite an adventure in the Premier League this season; if we count the number of results that have been going for us before the last minutes we would be first.

"There are so many different reasons. It is not really easy to explain because a couple of them come from different situations.

"It is something we are aware of, which is why we speak about it openly, and it is something we have to improve, seeing off games.

"It is not a mental thing, it is the nature of the game because it was our best period for quite some time in the second half."

Everton boss David Moyes felt his side were well worth the victory, having dominated throughout and been denied what he though was a penalty for handball late in the first half.

"It is as good a finish as we've had," Moyes said. "We've had a few like that where we've lost and felt low so we were due one.

"I remember a season where we used to score late goals and win games 1-0 but recently it has not been the case.

"If Everton hadn't won we'd have been saying 'How not?' because we played terrifically well, especially in the first half with Kevin Mirallas and Seamus Coleman.

"We just couldn't find the final pass or touch to finish it off and Tottenham got better in the 15 minutes after half-time, but I thought we had grown into it again when they scored.

"Our poorest period was in the last 10 minutes when we were changing players around and we had tried everything to get an opening, but they kept at it and we got it in the end."

The win, extending Everton's unbeaten Barclays Premier League run at home to 12 matches stretching back to March, lifted the Toffees back into the top four.

It is not a place which flatters them according to their manager, who had seen his side draw seven of their last nine to drop out of the top four.

"The position doesn't shame the way the players have been playing, they have been doing that well," he added.

"But we could quite easily have slipped out and been in the bottom half of the league."

PA