AFC Bournemouth (Home) 31.12.2023

Bournemouth kicked off and started sharply, with Sinisterra getting to the dead ball line twice.  The first tine Porro shepherded him to run the ball off and the second time he cut the ball back, but it was cut out.  Sours then launched a quick break with Johnson getting down the right wing, squaring the ball across the area for Son coming in and surprisingly it came off his shin to go wide, although an offside flag was being waved.  Tottenham worked the right wing again when Sarr played a ball in, Son stepped over it and  Richarlison hit it over the bar, with Giovani Lo Celso looking to take the shot.  The early chances kept coming, with Outtara crossing from their left to pick out Solanke outside the six yard box, but his downward header went down too close to him and took all the power out of it.  And in the ninth minute, Spurs capitalised on a poor effort to play the ball out from the back.  Neto played a pass along the turf to Christie, but Rodrigo Bentancur, surprisingly making a swift return from injury to the line-up, read it superbly, nicked the ball away and Lo Celso won it on the stretch.  The ball ran to his right for Pape Matar Sarr and he moved forward with the ball.  There had been a move just before when we played the ball across the face of the penalty area, frustrating the crowd, with nobody able to find a clear shot on goal, so there was a huge shout of “Shoot” when he received the ball.  Luckily, he ignored that and took his time to steady himself, reach the 18 yard line and then drill a low shot past the keeper to his right.  It was a calm piece of play amidst the urging of the crowd, but while it wasn’t perhaps the cleanest hit, it was placed well enough to give the keeper no chance of saving it.  

Bournemouth were applying an interesting tactic of fouling Spurs players.  It involves running full pelt at one of our men and making it look as though they didn’t mean to accelerate as they approached.  Ben Davies was the main recipient of this move with Kluivert, Tavernier and Solanke all taking him out.   Bournemouth almost fell foul of playing the ball out short again just after the goal, but then decided to play longer and one ball over the Spurs defence looked to have put Solanke in on goal.  Vicario initially came out, judged he wouldn’t be able to win the ball outside his box, so went back and Destiny Udogie came across to take the ball off the Cherries striker, using his pace to be able to cover the danger.  The left wing of the visitors attack was their major threat and Sinisterra was finding space with the cover in front of Porro not being filled, leaving him exposed.  It produced a shooting chance for Tavernier, but he scuffed his effort wide of Vicario’s left hand post.

Meanwhile our left side was working well with Son and Udogie knocking the ball between them in that side of the box without being able to pick out a shot through the red and black shirts in front of them, but the ball was kicked out of the box by a defender to Emerson Royal who let fly from over 25 yards out and it forced Neto to dive left to beat the ball out for a corner.  Another move on the left saw Son play the ball into the box, but Richarlison and Udogie left it for each other before the striker tried a low cross that was blocked out for another corner.  Bentancur won the header at the near post, but directed his header over the bar. 

WIth Bournemouth being the form team in the Premier League, they were knocking the ball around with a bit of confidence, but their attacks mostly lacked the final ball that could have hurt us more.  When Kluivert cynically tripped Lo Celso in the Spurs box as he was bringing the ball out from a Bournemouth move that broke down, it didn’t look like Spurs would do much from it, but working it short and playing the ball up to Richarlison, the Brazilian did very well to hold off a physical challenge from Zabarnyi to play Son through in the left hand channel.  He had the option of playing it across the area to Johnson who was coming in from the other side, but took it on and just before he was challenged by Adam Smith let got a shot that would have gone through Neto’s legs if he hadn’t gone down on his knees to stop it.

You could tell it was a holiday time match, as often it was clear to hear what the players were shouting on the pitch.  A Kluivert back-heel put Sinisterra away with low ball across the box not finding a team-mate running in, but when the ball was played back in Solanke glanced a header wide of the keeper’s right-hand post.  Sarr had gone down and needed a few minutes treatment before covering his face with his shirt as he had to go off and be replaced by Oliver Skipp.  The day had started so well for him and it looked as though he thought the injury might keep him out of Senegal’s squad for the African Cup of Nations, which he was due to leave for after this match.

Players had been slipping over from the start and Bournemouth capitalised when the ball was turned over to them after one slip, when Christie played a dangerous ball into the box, but it got caught under Tavanier’s feet and ended up with a deflected shot gently flying to Vicario.  The next time they got into the Spurs box, a ricochet off a Bournemouth player’s leg sent Solanke through, but Royal held him up long enough for Destiny to come across and use his strength to resist the body charge from the striker, who then needed five minutes treatment as his studs had stuck in the turf as he fell and wrenched his knee.  It was another flying press type challenge that didn’t work out for Bournemouth, just after Smith had done the same to Ben Davies on the other flank.  The referee was obviously falling for the “it wasn’t intended” excuse, but you could see that they were all fouls and probably (even if he wasn’t totting them up) worthy of a booking, as they were endangering players safety.

What was endangering players’ safety was the rain that started to our down.  People in the front few rows retreated to get some cover as the rain pelted down and the sky darkened considerably. Lo Celso had slid in on Tavanier and conceded a free-kick just outside the box in a fairly central position and the fouled player took it, drilling it to Vicario’s right, but Richarlison bent down and got his head to it, deflecting it a couple of feet wide with a vital touch.  The combination of Sarr leaving the field and Bournemouth pressing a bit harder had disrupted our play and kept the ball nearer our goal, but then Spurs had a bit of possession, with Christie twice fouling Gio within a minute to stop any progress.

With what looked like a hand in the face by Cook on Skipp wasn’t given and the move built through Sinisterra and ended with Kluivert who dragged a shot across the face of goal, with Solanke not able to reach it.  Seven minutes went up on the fourth official’s board to be added on, most of which was in and around the Tottenham box.  Solanke had a great chance, hanging back to make space to meet Outtara’s pull-back with only an excellent block took the ball over off the top of the bar.  Udogie then held off Tavaneir as he tried to go through in the area, allowing Vicario to come and claim it.  Then Royal got a foot in the way to deflect Kluivert’s shot with the ball going off for a corner when it might have gone anywhere.

There was more added time to play as Outtara needed treatment, staying off the pitch as Porro drilled a diagonal ball for Son, but it looked like a defender would get there, although he didn’t and Son hadn’t anticipated, with the ball going out of play for a throw.  The teams trooped off in the rain, which stopped shortly after for a little while, as Hugo Lloris came out to be interviewed and to give the crowd the opportunity to thank him for his 11 years with the club. 

At the start of the half, Solanke broke through a challenge from Royal, got the bounce of the ball in front of him and it was only another perceptive piece of play that saw Udogie come across from the other side of the box to cover and clear.  A corner shortly after was played to the far post where Solanke headed it back and on target with Vicario reacting well to palm it out and the ball was cleared as the heaviest hailstorm for a long time pinged ice onto the players and the crowd, who tried to take shelter.  Having seen games held up before while the ref took the players off at the old White Hart Lane, it looked a definite possibility, because the ball was then holding up on the turf and players were kicking up water when they played the ball.

Bournemouth were winning a fee corners, but mostly, Spurs dealt with them well.  Taking the ball in three successive incidents off Bournemouth players in one move on the corner of our box, Spurs fashioned a move with Son passing to Lo Celso, whose run forward took him across a player who would only have stopped him by fouling him, before returned the ball to Son on his left with the outside of his left boot.  As the captain came inside, he played a reverse pass between two defenders to Richarlison and he took the shot first time dragging it across the keeper and wide of the far post.  It didn’t look like he realised how much time he had as he could probably have taken a touch to steady himself, but taking with with his left foot, he screwed it wide by a couple of feet.  The ball looked as though it held up on the wet turf too.

Kluivert had a shot from the edge of the box that was going well wide, but the ref gave another corner and when that didn’t come to anything, they wanted another one when Christie planted tow hands in Davies’ back to push him onto the ball before it went off !  When Spurs lost the ball at the other end, Skipp clattered into Cook and still having possession, the ref played on and booked Skipp when play next stopped, which was for a foul by Kluivert on Emerson, that was exactly the same as the one he was booked for.  Spurs then might have had a penalty when Aarons was all over Lo Celso from behind in the box, but there wasn’t deemed to be sufficient contact.  Spurs took Bentancur off after he made a surprise appearance and Hojbjerg came on in his place.  

It had been evident that Son was very tired, as he wasn’t making his darting runs and when he got the ball wasn’t going away from players, so his passing came to the fore, slipping in Lo Celso for that incident.  It wasn’t a good sign for South Korea, as he is one of their key players in their Asian Cup campaign.  Not finding a second goal was perilous for Spurs, as Solanke had another opportunity coming across the near post to meet a low cross, but he hit it wide.  They were having lots of shots, but not many were on target.  Bournemouth almost had a West ham piece of luck when Davies tried to intercept a pass, but the ball went across the Spurs box and Royal and Vicario both went for it, as a forward came in, with the ball  fortunately going to Skipp allowing Spurs to play the ball out.  Royal then need to be tended to as he took a kick on the shin from the keeper.

Iraola had done Spurs a favour by taking the dangerous Sinisterra off and Kluivert with him, but they kept attacking and only a good piece of tracking back by Royal took the ball off Salanke’s feet as he got into the D.  It lead to Vicario playing the ball upfield before he was tackled inside the six yard box and it boucned off a player challenging son and then another before Lo Celso got hold of it.  He cut back inside just in the Tottenham half, sending Smith skidding away and then picked out Richarlison’s run in the middle and it just reached him allowing a pass out to the left for Son, with Senesi left exposed, but the defender stayed on his feet and took the ball when Son tried to come inside in the area.  Royal played s really good pass inside Aarons for Porro, who .pulled the ball across, but only to a red and black shirt.

Bournemouth brought on Spurs fan Alex Scott, their summer signing from Bristol City.  His first act was to foul Royal as a free-kick was played into the Spurs box.  Playing the ball from right to left, Davies played the ball up the line before Solanke barged him over late for the umpteenth time, Udogie held off a challenge and played it back to Son and then Hojbjerg got it.  His forward pass looked for Richarlison, but a tackle on him took the ball to the Lo Celso and his awareness allowed him to play a first time pass through the back line to the left.  Son looked well offside but Aarons had been playing him on over on their left, so he ran forward unchallenged as Smith was catching him up, he didn’t cut back this time but thundered a left foot shot across Neto and into the net off the far post.  It was a well made goal working the ball from the back and Gio’s astute pass freeing Son to score.  It was probably a goal that we needed, as at 1-0 Bournemouth were still in with a chance.  

The rain was incessant as was Tottenham’s passing.  A fine ball up the line by Porro gave Skipp acres of room on the right wing and his first time ball into the area looked for Son, but a challenge on him left it in front of Richarlison.  His first time shot was kept low and Neto did well to push it away, diving low to his right.  While Bournemouth had the ball around the Spurs box, there was little cutting edge to their attacks and when we won the ball Davies was running it up the line until Solanke hauled him down … again !!  From the free-kick, Spurs played the ball around until Richarlison tried to pass through to Udogie, who was bursting into the box.  However, on this occasion the ball didn’t drag on the wet turf and shot through to Neto.  The game was getting a bit strung out and Semenyo made a good run on the left before firing a low ball across the face of goal, but there was nobody there it add the finishing touch as Vicario went low and got a hand to it.  From the second phase of the play, Lo Celso won the ball inside our penalty area and went off on a run that was brutally halted by Senesi running straight into him just as he reached the centre circle.  A deserved yellow card was waved in the Bournemouth defender’s direction. 

They made to pay less than a minute later as the free-kickw as taken and it was passed out to Royal on our right, halfway inside our half.  He faded a lofted pass over Aarons’ head for Brennan Johnson to run onto and without hesitation he played it first time and low to the near post where Richarlison had the run on Senesi, tucking it right-footed and first time low through Neto’s legs to make it 3-1.  It was a replay of the goal the Brazilian scored against Everton eight days before … he even smiled when he was celebrating !!

Spurs made three subs with their last opportunity to do so.  Richarlison, Lo Celso and Johnson went off with Gil, Veliz and Dier.  Bournemouth also changed foe and the move paid off for them, with a nice passing movement down the left providing Tavernier the chance to pull the ball back to the penalty spot, where Scott side-footed low into the left hand bottom corner of Vicario’s goal.  3-1 with six minutes left and plenty of time to be added !!

In the 87th minute a right wing Porro cross was flicked on by a Bournemouth defender and Son picked the ball up at the far corner of the box.  Coming inside, he then played the ball outside him where Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had made a good overlap and he took it past Zabarnyi to the dead ball line before playing the ball across chest high past Neto for Bryan Gil.  A yard out, he had to arch backwards to get his head to it and hit the bar.  When it came out, Alejo Veliz was first to it, tried to juggle it to get a shot away, but was challenged and ended up kicking Adam Smith as the defender attempted to block the effort.  Son and Skipp had follow-up shots blocked and as Billing brought the ball away, he was upended by Royal, who was booked.

Veliz was limping and went down, although he tried to stay up, while play went on and Brooks had four goes at fouling Udogie as he ran down the left wing and ended up knocking him to the floor in the box, but advantage was played initially but no penalty decision came.  And there was no booking for Brooks either.  Semenyo had a tame effort from 25 yards out and when Veliz went down again, the Bournemouth bench were vocal in their disapproval of the player getting treatment.  One of the Bournemouth bench got booked, as did Lo Celso and Ange.  Ange had been raging, while Gio probably was trying to interpret being a Spanish speaker, as he was mostly talking to Iraola.

Veliz was eventually helped off with tears in his eyes ignoring the stretcher that had been brought on.  The game went on with eight added minutes, but with another couple for Alejo’s treatment.  Porro defended strongly as Semenyo tried to break into the box and then turned to clear the ball, thumping it into Tavernier’s face.  Solanke headed another cross wide, Semenyo had a ball drop for him at the near post from a corner, but Porro blocked it well, then Brooks curled a shot harmlessly too high, as they tried to make the most of the man advantage.  Tavernier slung in a cross from the left and Alex Scott stooped in to head past Vicario.  An offside flag went up, VAR checked it and after another stoppage, it was ruled out.  

And that was it.  A game full of incident and more injuries for Tottenham, but most importantly, three points to erase the memory of Thursday night’s visit to Brighton.  A 3-1 win also wiped out the balance of goals, with our forwards finally coming out on top and if the rumours about Spurs looking at signing Solanke are true, I hope that we can find someone better than him.  He may be second top scorer in the Premier League, but the number of chances he missed today is anything to go by, he doesn’t have a great conversion rate.

The injuries to Veliz and Sarr left the young players in tears for different reasons.  Sarr as he might miss the AFCON tournament and Veliz having just scored his first goal for the club and hoping for a run in the team.  Hopefully, they will not be out for long, as they both deserve their chances for club and country.  Lo Celso continues to shine in the side, not only creating chances, but getting stuck in and defending his team-mates too.  The defence played well in the face of Bournemouth’s pressure, allowing few direct efforts on goal, as both Udogie and Royal did well, with Porro and Destiny adding to our forward moves.  Richarlison missed one good opportunity, but finished clinically when Johnson played an inviting ball to him. 

Sat behind the top four with 39 points at the end of the year is a good return and not one that I could imagine Spurs having if they were still under our recent old management.  It ends six months of refreshing football, with still some issues to iron out, but with players coming back from injury, young players signing long contracts and a brand new transfer window ahead, it could be a very exciting future for the club.

Kirk Hammerton 

• Tottenham scored in a 33rd successive Premier League match.