FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Tottenham moved to within three points of the Premier League summit after beating Bournemouth 3-1 on New Year’s Eve.
The travelling Cherries made life extremely difficult for Spurs throughout on a wet and windy afternoon in north London but the hosts rallied to claim the three points.
Defeat means Bournemouth missed the chance to move level on points with Chelsea but will return to the south coast proud of their efforts.
How the game unfolded
Tottenham went close to finding the net in the opening 90 seconds when Brennan Johnson’s cross was blazed over from close range by an unmarked Son Heung-min, though a late offside flag was raised.
Bournemouth spurned a great chance of their own soon after when Dango Ouattara’s cross found Dominic Solanke, who was put off just enough by Ben Davies and his header bounced downwards into Guglielmo Vicario’s grasp.
With just under ten minutes on the clock, Spurs went in front. Neto’s poor pass from the back was pounced upon by Rodrigo Bentancur and play shifted onto Giovani Lo Celso, who teed up Pape Matar Sarr to find the net from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Midway through the first half, another good opening for Son went begging, this time on the counter attack. Richarlison dug in to roll the ball onto the South Korean in behind the Bournemouth backline, but he lacked decisiveness when bearing down on goal and his tame shot was kept out by Neto.
Bournemouth penned Tottenham in towards the end of the first half and rattled the crossbar when Solanke’s shot took a nick off Davies.
Solanke went close again on the other side of half-time, forcing Vicario into a smart save after heading on a corner.
Tottenham should have doubled their lead on the break when Son picked out the run of Richarlison, but he somehow slipped his shot wide of the post.
Another Solanke chance went begging when he diverted wide a cross from Marcus Tavernier, much to the surprise of the travelling fans.
Against the run of play, Tottenham grabbed a second goal. Richarlison held the ball up for Lo Celso, with the Argentine superbly finding Son making a run beyond a disjointed Bournemouth backline and finding the far corner with a fine finish.
Almost immediately from kick-off, Spurs went close to a third. Oliver Skipp’s low ball across the face of goal was knocked on by Son into Richarlison, who was thwarted by a low save from Neto.
Tottenham did add their third on 81 minutes. Johnson’s run in behind was picked out by Emerson, and the Welshman crossed for Richarlison to finish at the near post.
Bournemouth hit back with a goal of their own, with Tavernier’s cutback turned home by Spurs fan Alex Scott.
Bryan Gil should have got on the scoresheet when he met a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg cross, only for the diminutive winger’s header from a yard out to strike the bar.
Bournemouth had the ball in the net one last time on 100 minutes through Scott but the flag was raised for offside and the Cherries’ defeat was confirmed soon after.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 6/10 – Didn’t have too much to do in way of shot-stopping despite Bournemouth’s pressure.
RB: Pedro Porro – 6/10 – Vacated a lot of space for Bournemouth to run into. Got going offensively in the second half.
CB: Emerson Royal – 5/10 – Run ragged by Solanke and pressed into oblivion when on the ball. Tottenham really need a new centre-back. To his credit came up with a fine ball for Johnson leading to the third goal.
CB: Ben Davies – 6/10 – Similarly uncomfortable playing from the back but at least got tighter to Solanke.
LB: Destiny Udogie – 8/10 – Tottenham’s best defender by a comfortable distance. Often mistakenly overlooked by Son on the overlap.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 6/10 – Sharp on his surprise return from an ankle injury, though wasn’t helped out by some of his teammates’ sloppy passing.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – 7/10 – Outstanding in his half-hour on the pitch before succumbing to a muscle injury.
RM: Brennan Johnson – 7/10 – Took a while to get going but sought to attack the space when it opened up to him. Delightful cross for Richarlison’s goal.
AM: Giovani Lo Celso – 8/10 – Excellent in spurts, grabbing two assists for the cause. Guilty of hanging onto the ball for too long on occasion.
LM: Son Heung-min – 7/10 – A frustrating afternoon became a fine one with a wonderfully taken goal to ease the pressure on Spurs.
CF: Richarlison – 7/10 – Likewise kept his held high and got on the scoresheet at the end of a textbook Tottenham move.
Substitutes
SUB: Oliver Skipp (32′ for Sarr) – 5/10 – Stumbled about the midfield clumsily for much of the afternoon but found his feet in the end.
SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (58′ for Bentancur) – 6/10
SUB: Eric Dier (82′ for Lo Celso) – N/A
SUB: Bryan Gil (82′ for Johnson) – N/A
SUB: Alejo Veliz (82′ for Richarlison) – N/A
Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Ashley Phillips, Alfie Dorrington, Jamie Donley
Manager
Ange Postecoglou – 7/10 – Tottenham made life difficult for themselves at times but they made enough chances to deservedly win the game.
GK: Neto – 3/10 – Cost his side with a terrible pass which led to the opening goal.
RB: Adam Smith – 5/10 – Quietened Son when the game was tight, but once it stretched the South Korean used his pace to get at the right-back.
CB: Illya Zabarnyi – 5/10 – Solid for the most part but also suffered when Bournemouth had to come out in the second half.
CB: Marcos Senesi – 5/10 – Ditto. Recovery pace proved useful from time to time but eventually Spurs’ attackers broke through.
LB: Dango Ouattara – 6/10 – A useful threat on the overlap in his one half of action before suffering an injury.
CM: Lewis Cook – 6/10 – Pinged the ball about an open pitch with joy, but seldom made Tottenham pay.
CM: Ryan Christie – 7/10 – Opened Tottenham up with some delightful balls over the top of the backline.
RM: Marcus Tavernier – 8/10 – Bournemouth’s most reliable outlet, constantly carving Spurs open from either flank.
AM: Justin Kluivert – 6/10 – Popped up in pockets of space to drag Spurs defenders out of position.
LM: Luis Sinisterra – 6/10 – Got by Porro with relative ease but his final ball was lacking for the most part.
CF: Dominic Solanke – 5/10 – Caused all sorts of problems for Tottenham’s makeshift backline but his inability to get on the scoresheet was to Bournemouth’s ultimate detriment.
Substitutes
SUB: Max Aarons (46′ for Ouattara) – 4/10
SUB: Philip Billing (60′ for Kluivert) – 5/10
SUB: Antoine Semenyo (60′ for Sinisterra) – 5/10
SUB: Alex Scott (69′ for Christie) – 7/10
SUB: David Brooks (82′ for Smith) – N/A
Subs not used: Mark Travers (GK), Chris Mepham, Joe Rothwell, Kieffer Moore
Manager
Andoni Iraola – 6/10 – Bournemouth gave a good account of themselves but just lacked that killer instinct.
Player of the match – Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham)
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