Spurs pip the Cherries
Written By: Robert Halter
Tottenham Hotspur against Bournemouth marked the first Premier League home game for new Spurs manager, Jose Mourinho, end of November. The Cherries tested Paulo Gazzaniga in the fourth minute, when from Dominic Solanke’s lay off, a low drive by Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, was pushed behind for a corner, at Gazzaniga’s near left post. In the ninth minute from Solanke’s testing cross, Callum Wilson nodded the ball out to the right. A minute later, Lewis Cook spread the ball over to the left, and Diego Rico drilled a soaring strike and Gazzaniga dived low to his right in making the save. In the nineteenth minute, from a mistake by Groeneveld, it allowed Dele Alli to release Harry Kane, and from his pass, racing forward, Heung-Min Son struck the ball past Aaron Ramsdale, but wide of the far right post. But within two minutes, the Lilywhites opened the scoring from Toby Alderweireld’s punt forward, and a neat touch by Son, cleared the way for Alli to fire the ball into the middle of the net. In the twenty fourth minute, after combining with Son, from close range, Kane struck the ball against the feet of Ramsdale. The Lilywhites then had a goal chalked out by a VAR decision, after Davinson Sanchez handled the ball from Moussa Sissoko’s shot, before scoring. In the thirty second minute, from Jefferson Lerma’s assist, on the turn, Jack Stacey, bent the ball narrowly past the far left post. In the thirty seventh minute, through Alli’s incisive pass, Kane’s miss timed effort, flew out of play. Two minutes later, after Son started the move, Alli and Kane combined before Son brought the ball down on his chest and struck the ball into the outside netting of the right post. In the forty third minute, a left footed shot by Groeneveld, outside the area, went straight into the clutches of Gazzaniga. At the start of the second half, Serge Aurier’s sliding pass found Sissoko, whose deep cross went past the flapping hand of Ramsdale and just out the reach of Kane. But in the fiftieth minute from another long ball by Alderweireld, after wriggling his way through a guarded penalty box, Alli lifted the ball over Ramsdale, into the heart of the goal. In the fifty third minute, through Ryan Fraser’s cross, the ball was headed by Wilson, onto the outside roof of the net. In the fifty sixth minute, from Auriers’ cross, it was scuffed by Sissoko, before Alli blazed the ball over. The Cherries later replaced Fraser with Harry Wilson, who could have made an instant impact, as from Cook’s assist, Wilson curled a strike over to the left. On sixty six minutes, Aurier’s delivery flashed past Alli, as he was unable to connect with a back heel. Rico got the first booking for pushing Aurier. Although in the sixty ninth minute, Spurs rounded off a three way move as Alli ran the channel, before Son clipped the ball over and Sissoko struck a low right footed volley into the left side of the net. The Cherries responded as Wilson supplied Cook, whose low strike was pushed behind by Gazzaniga. However, after Tanguy Ndombele fouled Cook on the edge of the box, a curling free kick by Wilson flew into the top right corner. Spurs then took off Ndombele for Lucas Moura while Bournemouth replaced Cook with Dan Gosling. On seventy eight minutes, as Alli broke through, he was kept out by a low block by Ramsdale. In the eighty fifth minute, Rico and then Solanke, opened up space for Gosling, who got in a tangle with Gazzaniga, who got hurt in the process. Near the end, Son made way for Giovani Lo Celso. A late caution went to Lerma for treading on the toes of Alli. In stoppage time from Rico’s corner, a header by Gosling, went past the left post. Soon Alli was taken off for Harry Winks. But before the final whistle, from Groeneveld’s pull back, the ball was struck by Wilson past Gosling who was in front of Gazzaniga, into the middle of the net, after a VAR review. At the end, from Nathan Ake’s ball through, a vital block by Jan Vertonghen kept out Wilson, as Spurs beat the Cherries by 3-2.