Everton posted their fourth consecutive victory in the Women's Super League by defeating Tottenham as Kelly Gago came off the bench to score the winner in with seven minutes remaining.

The Toffees, who sacked manager Brian Sorensen last month with the threat of relegation looming, have now won three in a row under interim boss Scott Phelan and moved up to sixth place and 11 points clear of bottom side Leicester City.

After Signe Gaupset's 76th-minute goal had cancelled out Yuka Momiki's first-half opener for Everton, Gago tapped in a cross from fellow substitute Inma Gabarro to hand her side a winning return as WSL resumed after the international break.

There was an early let-off for Spurs as goalkeeper Lize Kop rushed off her line to deny Toni Payne, who was played through on goal by Aurora Galli with less than one minute on the clock.

But Kop was left with no chance when Zara Kramzar found Momiki just outside the Spurs box and the Japanese forward fired an effort into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead in north London.

The hosts turned to Bethany England early in the second half to find a way back but it was through Norway midfielder Gaupset that Spurs found the equaliser as the January arrival beat Everton keeper Courtney Brosnan with a low drive.

But as Spurs looked to be in the ascendancy, the visitors planted the fatal blow through France forward Gago.

While Everton are now on 20 points, Tottenham remain a place above in fifth spot, but are now three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have two games in hand on them.

Everton were only one point away from the bottom at the start of February, with match-winner Gago staying at the club after handing in a transfer request amid interest from Paris St-Germain in January.

But a managerial change and four consecutive wins later, the Toffees can finally look up the WSL table with wind firmly in their sails.

With four players away at the AFC Asian Cup, including the in-form Honoka Hayashi, Phelan tinkered with the starting line-up for the first time in four matches but the outcome proved no different.

Everton relied on the pace of Nigeria winger Payne in north London to hurt the hosts early on.

The 30-year-old was a constant menace on the right and almost scored straight from kick-off, while also finding herself at the end of two gilt-edged chances towards the end of the half.

The breakthrough, however, came from the left where Kramzar and Momiki combined with the Japanese forward ensuring Everton did not miss the trio of her compatriots on international duty.

Tottenham, however, were much better in the second half and deserved to draw level through Gaupset - the 20-year-old now has two goals in as many matches for Martin Ho's side.

Phelan then turned to his bench for inspiration and his substitutes delivered when full-back Maz Pacheco played a delightful ball to Gabarro who cut back for French forward Gago to finish.

Their winning margin could have been greater, but substitute Melissa Lawley's shot was gloved on to the woodwork by Spurs keeper Kop in the 86th minute.

It was another setback for Ho's side, who were without Australia's Clare Hunt and Japan duo Maika Hamano and Toko Koga at the Asian Cup, and have not won back-to-back games in the WSL since October.

But with five games left, another victory will be enough for Tottenham to match their best ever WSL campaign (32 points in 2021-22).

WSL leaders Manchester City will be Tottenham's next opponents in an away fixture on Saturday, 21 March (12:00 GMT).

Everton also make the trip to Greater Manchester to face Women's League Cup finalists Manchester United at the same time.