Bournemouth faced few issues in beating an uninspired Spurs side 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Thursday evening, their only flaw being they didn’t score more.
Dean Huijsen’s free header gave them the lead 17 minutes in, and they had plenty of opportunities to score more, with Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson both scoring from offside positions along with a hatful of other opportunities going begging.
Spurs did have a goal of their own ruled out, with Heung-Min Son putting the ball in the back of the net mere minutes after being introduced as a substitute, but that was all they could muster. It was an utterly abject display from a side looking ever further from finding an identity.
As it happened
They are the giant-killers alright. Bournemouth, having already made light enough work of Arsenal and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium, enjoyed a third consecutive win against the traditional ‘big six.’ Spurs didn’t look particularly giant, though. Rather, feeble, and devoid of both idea and identity.
Ange Postecoglu’s side set the tone straight away with an early yellow card after Ben Davies hauled down Evanilson on the break. That was a real theme of the game; they simply could not deal with Bournemouth’s counter, and with a line as high as their manager insists upon, that could only spell trouble.
Spurs would get a couple of shots away early on, though. Dejan Kulusevski blasted an effort from just outside the area into the midriff of Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Dominic Solanke was gifted a golden chance against the side with whom he scored 21 goals last season, but blasted a close-range strike well over the bar.
And that was it for the visitors’ first half creativity. They would keep 66% of the ball in that time and couldn’t create anything. Bournemouth, on the other hand, could.
On 16 minutes, Evanilson was denied a snapshot by Fraser Forster after both Destiny Udogie and Radu Drăgușin failed to deal with a cross. They’d been warned. From the following corner, they proved they had not heeded it.
Marcus Tavernier’s whip was deep: very deep. Still, no one tracked Dean Huijsen as he drifted towards the back post, allowing him to nod home with acres of space to play with. The header was nothing special, but it didn’t need to be; Spurs might as well have scored the goal themselves.
Embed from Getty ImagesThey might’ve been two down just after the half-hour mark too, with Tavernier slotting home after Evanilson played him in behind, but doing so a tad too late. The linesman’s flag was up so quickly that there was no time to even consider celebrating.
That aside, there was perhaps nothing that summed up Spurs’ first half more than Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr each crossing the ball no less than 10 yards above everybody in the area and straight out of play within a minute of one another. There was no plan, no rhythm and, quite frankly, no Heung Min-Son.
Who could possibly have guessed that when he came on, Spurs would immediately improve?
On 57 minutes he came on. On 59, he had the ball in the back of the net – although it wouldn’t count, much to the relief of Arrizabalaga, who horribly spilt Solanke’s shot into the path of an offside Spurs captain. But this game, finally, was on.
Embed from Getty ImagesBang on the hour mark, he turned provider, picking out James Maddison on the edge of the six-yard box. He was afforded far too much time to turn, before curling an effort just wide of the top corner. Spurs had turned things around. They were on top, and just one substitution had done the trick.
Except, the weren’t. Really, it was a case of one step forwards, one step back for the Lilywhites, because 72 minutes in the ball was in the back of the net. Again. It was all their fault. Again. And, ultimately, it was offside. Again.
This time it was Evanilson. Forster played the ball out to Kulusevski, who was under all kinds of pressure from Tyler Adams. He won the ball back, had a shot denied by the keeper before it fell for the Brazilian to tap home, albeit much further offside than the delayed VAR check gave him credit for.
But it was another moment of sloppiness from a Spurs side living on a prayer. They should’ve conceded a second. And a third. And a fourth. If Tavernier and Evanilson had held their runs, and if late sitters from Dango Outtara and Tavernier once more had been buried instead of skied, they would’ve had the commanding lead they deserved.
In the end, just the one goal flattered the visitors, whose thoroughly uninspired display indicated nicely why they’ve only won one of their last six games – that against a then even more win-shy Manchester City. They look utterly lost, and Postecoglu almost out of ideas.
Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth looked very good, though. At least in their case, what they’re trying to achieve on a football pitch is clear: there’s an obvious shape, press, intent. They were Spurs’ polar opposites today. For want of a better phrase, they were the Cherries on top.
The lineup
BOU: Arrizabalaga; Kerkez, Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Smith; Christie, Adams; Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson
TOT: Forster; Udogie, Davies, Drăgușin, Gray; Maddison, Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Solanke, Johnson