It was not meant to be Tottenham’s day, but somehow they made it their day. That is a sign of the progress this side has made in seven months under Ange Postecoglou.
Quite how Spurs overcame Bournemouth 3-1 will be unfathomable to Andoni Iraola; his team dominated large swathes of an absorbing encounter that was only truly over when referee Simon Hooper called time.
All seemed well when Pape Matar Sarr broke the deadlock inside 10 minutes, profiting off a poor Neto clearance but the midfielder soon left the field of play in tears, suffering an injury that has cast doubt over his involvement in January’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The visitors piled on the pressure and should have drawn level, but instead watched Son Heung-min score a goal beautifully laid on by Giovanni Lo Celso before Richarlison added a third.
Alex Scott’s strike six minutes from time could have been consequential had the substitute’s second not been ruled out for offside.
Spurs prove they can do it the hard way
Errors flowed, chances were spurned and Spurs lost their energetic goalscorer. Throw their pre-existing absences into the mix: this is not the type of game the club is famed for winning.
Yet, for all their imperfections, Spurs refused to be undone by familiar failings of the past and ground out a result.
Soaking up lengthy spells of pressure either side of the break, they used every sinew of their being to preserve their early advantage. Guglielmo Vicario made some smart saves and Richarlison just got enough on Marcus Tavernier’s first-half free-kick to divert it away from goal.
While both the Brazilian and Son missed gilt-edged chances, it was the team’s inability to make regulation passes that harmed their rhythm most. Sunday’s 81.5% pass completion was a far cry from the performances earlier in the season that topped 90%.
But whereas in previous years - when Spurs would have unravelled - Postecoglou’s side now believe they can live with anyone, as long as they stick to their identity - and so it proved. Bournemouth gave up more space as they tired and eventually relented to the hosts’ superior offensive quality.
Brave Bournemouth miss final touch
Iraola will be proud of his charges despite the result. For the most part, they played with the swagger of a team who were looking to extend a seven-game unbeaten run.
His only bugbear will be Bournemouth’s lack of cutting edge in the final third. The Cherries amassed 24 shots across the 90 minutes, double that of their opponents, but only registered four on target.
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Football is a cut-and-dried business where ultimately only the number of goals scored matters and Iraola’s men will need to learn how to make their dominance tell on the scoreboard if they are to make the next step up.
After all, they have proved they can do it on the biggest stages, plundering three past Manchester United at Old Trafford at the start of December. The fact they were not overawed by the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the 65,000 in attendance should fill them with confidence.
Dominic Solanke is their principal threat but Luis Sinisterra and Tavernier offer plenty down the flanks. Scott came off the bench and had the ball in the back of the net twice: he will certainly be one to watch out for in the near future.
When Bentancour plays well, Spurs play well
In Rodrigo Bentancour, Postecoglou has a player who is talented enough to dictate matches. Initial forecasts had predicted a February 2024 return, so the Uruguyan’s surprise inclusion in Sunday’s matchday squad was naturally well received by fans who have supported him through a wretched past 12 months.
Having returned from his initial ACL injury in October, Bentancour was dealt a further setback when he suffered ankle ligament damage in last month’s defeat to Aston Villa.
But here he was - back in the starting 11, deployed in the six position behind Sarr and Lo Celso. And, for the first 20 minutes, the midfielder was fantastic. His skills bamboozled the visitors and he even had the wherewithal to pick off Neto’s misplaced pass in the build-up to the opening goal.
His performance dropped off as the match wore on and so did Spurs’. He simply does not have the minutes under his belt to last the pace - that will come with time. With Yves Bissouma and Sarr off to AFCON, Bentancour will be a vital piece of the puzzle in January. The challenge for Postecoglou now is to not rush him back.
Cherries high line a double-edged sword
It would have been easy for Bournemouth to set their stall out with a low block, defend and hope to catch Spurs on the break. But reactive football is not in Iraola’s playbook and is not what the South coast outfit have built their recent success upon.
The Spaniard wants his side to be protagonists and part of that involves establishing a high line. Centre-backs Marcos Senesi and Illia Zabarnyi spent much of the first period just inside Spurs’ half, squeezing the lines and offering little room for their opponents’ technicians to manoeuvre.
Though Bournemouth’s courage cannot be questioned - for it takes a strong-minded defender to commit to such a tactic - talents like Lo Celso will more often than not find a way through eventually, especially when playing through to pacy wingers like Brennan Johnson and Son.
Sticking to the high line will be Iraola’s call. The overriding conclusion to be drawn from this performance by Bournemouth, however, has to be one of pride.
