Cherries fall at Spurs Wembley home
Written By: Robert Halter
Tottenham Hotspur had never lost to Bournemouth in league competition and had won three and drawn just one of their four previous Premier League fixtures. In the thirteenth minute, Harry Winks linked up play with Dele Alli, whose over the top delivery, was lobbed over the crossbar from Christian Eriksen. On the quarter of the hour mark, from a corner by Kieran Trippier, all the way over on the right, Eriksen took one touch to produce a lofted delivery and a back heel by Alli, went over the top left corner. On nineteen minutes from a low cross on the right by Adam Smith, a first time strike by Junior Stanislas, took a wicked deflection off Davinson Sanchez, as the ball went wide of the right post. A minute later, from a Stanislas corner, the ball got sandwich in between Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier, whose deflection took a reflex save on the line by Hugo Lloris, to stop the ball from going in, and then from a stray pass by Harry Kane, a shot from Lewis Cook was fired over. In the twenty seventh minute, Steve Cook got the first yellow card for slicing down Kane, but Cook made amends for clearing a flick off the back of the boot by Alli, from an Eriksen free kick. On thirty three minutes, from a ball over by Eriksen, as Kane advanced into the area, Asmir Begovic made a reaction stop to claw the ball behind for a corner, which was taken by Trippier and met with a strong header by Alderweireld, which went over the upright. A lunge by Smith into Jan Vertonghen, got another booking for the Cherries, before the half time break. But it was Spurs that got the breakthrough two minutes into the second half, when after exchanging passes with Kane, a threaded pass by Heung-Min Son, cleared the path for Eriksen to wriggle through, with a slice of luck off the Cherries captain, Simon Francis, before drilling the ball into the bottom left corner. On forty nine minutes, Begovic was forced to palm away an in swinging delivery on the right by Winks. Although on fifty seven minutes, from Trippier’s ball over, a header by Kane into the middle of the goal was ruled out for offside. In the sixty second minute, Kane had two bites at the Cherries, first from a Winks pass, he was kept out at close range by Begovic, and Kane was stifled again by Begovic, from Alli’s square pass on the left side of the area. There was then an appeal for a penalty turned away by referee, Robert Madley, after Kane was tugged in the box by Nathan Ake. Spurs later replaced Son with Moussa Sissoko, while Bournemouth brought on Jermain Defoe against his former club for Stanislas and Jordan Ibe for Smith, and the two subs combined as Defoe exchanged passes with Ibe, before his low strike was kept out with the outstretched legs of Lloris at his near post. On seventy eight minutes, the Cherries were unable to bear any fruit, when a Joshua King header spun over through a cross by Lewis Cook. But in the eighty first minute, neat play between Alli and Sissoko was matched with a soaring strike by Eriksen that forced Begovic, to turn behind at full stretch. Soon the Cherries brought on Lys Mousset for Lewis Cook. Vertonghen got booked for a foul on Ibe, before Kane was replaced with Fernando Llorente. In stoppage time, a strong run by Sissoko was met with a brave header by Alli under the challenge of Francis, that went past the right post before Alli was taken off for Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, who could have made an immediate impact but he was pulled down by Begovic, after latching onto a pass from Sissoko, and as Ben Davies blasted over, the Spurs medics gave Nkoudou treatment, the foul by Begovic who was cautioned was outside the area, and when eventually Eriksen took the free kick, his low snap shot was stooped upon by Begovic, but for Tottenham the slender 1-0 victory over Bournemouth resulted in their first Premier League win at Wembley stadium, with their fourth attempt.