AFC Bournemouth (Away) 26.08.2023

Although early in the season and not a lot can be read into it, the win gave Spurs the top spot for a couple of hours and however brief it was, it will give the team a lot of confidence.  Everyone says there will be bumps in the road and with the state of them in England, there will be potholes too, but if the team can continue playing in the way they have started, this bunch of players can do well for the club.

As the rain fell down heavily during the warm-up, it was to be the same starting XI that faced Man U last week and while Bournemouth were hit hard by injuries (including two new signings who they bought as damaged goods), they had an experienced and pricey team out for the Dorset club.  

In the first minute, Bournemouth pressed on Vicario as Spurs tried to play out from the back and forced a corner, but Spurs won the ball at the near post with a strong header away.  A neat one-two between Son and Maddison put our skipper into the box, but he couldn’t pull the ball back into the middle from the left inside the box, but Spurs were being pressed hard in their defensive third when in possession, a couple of times illegally so, when Udogie took two late hits.  With nine minutes gone, Spurs moved the ball well across the Bournemouth box and the move ended with Maddison having a shot that popped up and hit Aarons on the arm, but above the short-sleeve mark, then Destiny burst past two players into the box that won a corner, but when it came in low, it was easy turned away by the Cherries defence.

Bournemouth were putting in some careless challenges, with a dive on from behind on Maddison by Christie and then Solanke going under Romero as he jumped for the ball, leading to Romero landing heavily on his hip.  Neto was not being pressed as much when he played out, but he managed to hit Maddison with a clearance with the ball going to Son, who threaded James through, but Aarons got back to put the Spurs midfielder off his shot that the keeper kept out, with Richarlison getting his head to the rebound, but it looped up for Neto to take easily.

A move down the right sprang into life when Bissouma turned inside away from Christie and he played the ball left to Pape Matar Sarr.  He spotted a gap between the central defenders and played it perfectly for Maddison’s well-timed run found space in between the back-line and the keeper to guide the  ball to Neto’s right and in for his first Tottenham goal, a bit like Ben Davies’ shot against United that went in off Martinez but with a touch more contact.  It was a neat take and a build-up of the type that Ange is trying to develop. 

A simple move from the back went to the other end through Maddison setting Son away on the left and his pull-back to Sarr running into the box brought a low save from the keeper, although Pape didn’t get a great deal behind his shot. Sonny had a pop at goal when a corner went to the back of the box and he flicked it up for a volley that went wide. Semenyo seemed to have got away with three or four fouls without a card and he went down outside the area when Romero won the ball, with the home crowd howling for a free-kick. As it was, Tottenham broke away and Richarlison was put in inside the box, but he came inside a defender and then got the ball stuck under his feet allowing Rothwell to get back to block his shot.  Richi then got a header to  Maddison’s far post free-kick, but with players around him, he could only hit the side-netting.

It was five minutes before half-time before Bournemouth forced Guglielmo Vicario to a save and it came when Semenyo bundled over Bissouma and played the ball to Christie, whose shot was pushed away to the Spurs keeper’s left.  It was well-struck but at a good height for Vicario to make sure the ball went safe.  Kluivert handled to stop the ball reaching Kulusevski on the right wing, as Porro looked to play the ball up to halfway, but other than a free-kick, the referee allowed the deliberate handling to go without a card.  Ironically, it was Kelly’s first foul that brought out the first yellow card of the afternoon, even though he did commit to a sliding tackle he was never going to win against Richarlison.  The home team had a chance with the last kick of the first half when Kluivert had a shot blocked from the left and it flew across the box for Billing to hit it first time, but he couldn’t get it on target and it flashed past Vicario’s right hand post. Going for power, he put too much on it to be accurate.

Within seconds of the second half starting, Semenyo had shoved Maddison over from behind and with Lewis Cook coming on to add some bite in midfield, the Spurs players would need to be quick on the ball not to get caught.  Weak challenges were being given to Bournemouth as free-kicks and a particularly soft yellow was given to Bissouma (ironically for a tackle on Semenyo) compared to what the ref had allowed home players to get away with.  Also, the Bournemouth manager was running up the line waving an imaginary yellow card without getting an actual yellow.  Richi picked one up for a petulant kick at Zabarnyi’s foot after he had stumbled over the ball and was on the floor.  In between all the bookings, Bournemouth did create a chance when Solanke got into the box on the left to pull a ball back across the face of goal, but there was nobody there.  Semenyo struck a first-time effort from the edge of the box that went a yard wide as the Cherries stepped up the pace.

Richarlison and Sarr went off to give Hojbjerg and Perisic some playing time.  Richi looked as though his frustration was getting the better of him, so it was a good move as he had already been cautioned and it would have been easy with this referee to collect another.  Spurs seemed to have settled down just after the hour and that was when Dejan Kulusevski made it 2-0.  Perisic played the ball wide on the left for Udogie, who came back inside, about 18 yards out, found Son further inside and then ran to slide to reach the return pass close to the line.  His low ball to the near post was neatly tucked away across the keeper by the Swede.  Bournemouth’s defending was very poor with Kelly static as Kulu smartly moved across him to steer the ball home.

The referee and VAR were weak again, Micky van de Ven getting a thrown elbow in the face from Solanke allowing Anthony to go on to have a shot that was hit low but without power while VdV was prone on the floor getting soaked as the rain poured down again.  Maddison found space moving forward on the right and he tried a low shot rather than find Son inside him and the ball went wide.

VAR was involved again, when Aarons was pulling Perisic’s shirt and the Croat pushed him off with Aarons holding his face. After a long review they decided it wasn’t a red card, mainly because Ivan had pushed the former Norwich man on the shoulder.  So, no punishment for the initial shirt-pull or the fact that he was seeking to mislead the referee. Shocking refereeing and no help from the men who were miles away – both in distance and in reading the game, who, minutes before, has failed to see a blatant elbow.  It was only the fact that Aarons has no neck that Perisic’s shove caught him where it did.  There was no consistency from the man in the middle as Semenyo committed another foul just before he was substituted.

Lo Celso came on for Maddison and Skipp for Bissouma, with Gio easing the ball around with confidence.  It was worrying when Udogie went down off the ball, with Ange taking no risks by substituting him with Ben Davies coming on in his place.  Cook fired far and wide after Vicario had punched away a corner and then Son did the same at the other end when Spurs were finding it easy to play the ball around the Bournemouth players. Aarons crossed for Solanke to win a header in the box, but the ball went five yards wide.

With 90 minutes on the clock, Porro had a free-kick in a central position that hit the wall and then he pulled the rebound wide to the right of the keeper’s goal.  The home team seem to give up around the 80 minute mark and Spurs were finding acres of space to play passes into and a neat move up the right that brought a shot over the bar from Ben Davies, when Sonny set him up.  Perisic then turned Aarons inside out but couldn’t find the target, dragging hit shot across and missing the far post by a foot.  Bournemouth’s last effort came from the Jaidon Anthony, who skied a shot without a lot of care as to where it was going.

This was a much more collected performance than last season’s chaotic 3-2 win here.  You probably expected Bournemouth to be a bit more aggressive after getting beaten by Liverpool the previous week, but their consistent fouling (perhaps the only consistent thing about their play) was allowed to continue by weak officiating.  How we ended up with more yellow cards than them is a mystery that only one man can explain.  There is a marked difference in our game this season, with little things like players moving to receive throw-ins, which wasn’t evident under the last manager and the channelled aggression to win the ball helped by Bissouma and Sarr’s speed of thought and movement in midfield.  The Cherries made it easy for us though, with an insipid performance than indicates that it might be a long season for them.  Yves was key to the win, alongside Maddison, but there were solid performances across the team-sheet, with van de Ven looking confident at the back alongside Romero, who played a controlled game to use his strength without giving away fouls.  There wasn’t too much threat from a powder-puff Bournemouth attack, but every game contributes to an understanding developing between the keeper and the back four.

Sarr was another who again imposed himself on the opposition.  Too often in previous years, Spurs have not done that, either as individuals or as a team, allowing the other team to trample over us.  While Conte and Mourinho thought that they could rely on their tactical nous, Ange is proving that you have to have the attitude and belief to go with it.  Everyone is contributing to the team effort and the togetherness shows in their pre- and post-match routines.  Players who may not have felt part of the set-up last season have been brought into the fold and the Head Coach has given them the confidence to play the way that he wants.  Even though Kulusevski hadn’t been as involved as much as he might have liked, popping up in the right place at the right time paid dividends for the second goal.

We can expect changes to the line-up for Tuesday’s League Cup tie at Fulham, but Ange will expect the same style and application as there has been in the first three league fixtures. 

Gary Morgan

• James Maddison scores his first goal for Tottenham.