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London - A stunning finish from revitalised striker Emmanuel Adebayor helped Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton 1-0 to move above their top-four rivals in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham were second best for most of the match as Everton confidently dominated possession, but they were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge when Adebayor fired powerfully into the bottom corner midway through the second half.
It was the Togo striker's sixth goal in his last eight Premier League matches.
Tottenham, who had won just two of their previous 13 league games against Everton, are now fifth in the table on 47 points, three adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool, but two ahead of Everton in sixth.
Seventh-placed Manchester United, on 40 points, host bottom club Fulham in Sunday's late kickoff.
Unlike Saturday's meeting between Liverpool and Arsenal, this game between clubs from Merseyside and north London started cagily at White Hart Lane and away side Everton shaded the early skirmishes with Leon Osman twice going close.
After finding space on the edge of the area and curling an effort just wide, he forced a stunning save from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a superbly controlled volley.
Spurs, who looked disorganised at the back and lacking bite in midfield, did come close to taking an undeserved lead midway through the half when Adebayor was inches away from connecting with a Danny Rose cross on the slide.
The striker, who has been entirely re-invigorated since Tim Sherwood took over as manager from Andre Villas-Boas in December, had looked isolated in attack as Tottenham laboured to create chances.
It was typical, therefore, that his goal should come from a moment of individual brilliance.
He controlled a long free kick forward from Kyle Walker on his chest, used his upper-body strength to hold off two defenders before drilling a left-foot shot into the bottom corner. It was Tottenham's first effort on target.
Everton continued to press but when Mark Clattenburg waved away a penalty appeal for an Etienne Capoue challenge on Seamus Coleman in stoppage time, they were condemned to their second defeat in their last three games.
"I am very happy for the team and winning the goal was important for confidence," Adebayor told Sky Sports.
"We kept calm, we knew we had the quality to make a breakthrough and we did in the end.
"We want to be winning games 3-0 but we want the fans to be patient. It's not going our way at the moment."
Tottenham travel to play Newcastle United on Wednesday and Everton host Crystal Palace.
