Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham: Dean Huijsen header enough as Cherries deservedly beat Spurs

Evening Standard

·5 December 2024

Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham: Dean Huijsen header enough as Cherries deservedly beat Spurs

Spurs were fortunate to only concede once in an incredibly poor performance

Tottenham’s inconsistent season continued as they were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth on Thursday night, a match in which they were fortunate to not to suffer a heavier defeat.

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Dean Huijsen headed in the opener in the first-half from a corner, taking advantage of some terrible defending to find himself free at the back post, and that proved good enough for the Cherries.

There were chances for Bournemouth to make it a more comfortable night after the break. Evanilson was denied by VAR after an offside check, Ryan Christie struck against the outside of the post and Marcus Tavernier was among those to waste big opportunities.

The hosts were not punished as Tottenham failed to mount any sort of late charge, a miserable night capped by Ben Davies going off injured to further add to Ange Postecoglou’s defensive problems.

Bournemouth leapfrogged Ange Postecoglou's visitors into ninth position following a deserved success.

Inconsistent Spurs hammered champions Manchester City 4-0 in their previous away fixture but that was their only win in five games in all competitions ahead of the trip to Dorset.

Dominic Solanke was passed fit to face his former club after missing Sunday's 1-1 draw at home to Fulham due to illness, with captain Son Heung-min dropping to the bench as part of three changes.

The north London club started in the ascendancy and, after the recalled Dejan Kulusevski shot straight at Cherries goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, Solanke fired wastefully over, having been released by stand-in skipper James Maddison.

Bournemouth looked lively on the counter-attack and edged ahead.

Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster initially produced a fine save to deny Evanilson following dithering from Radu Dragusin but, from the resultant inswinging corner taken by Marcus Tavernier, Huijsen, a summer signing from Juventus, arrived unmarked at the back post to nod home.

While Tottenham continued to dominate possession, the Cherries remained the greater threat.

Tavernier had the ball in the net 14 minutes after the opener but was clearly offside, before later seeing a close-range header from Milos Kerkez's cross clawed away by Forster.

Despite Tottenham's shortcomings, Postecoglou opted against changes at the break.

His team resumed on the front foot, albeit still looking susceptible on the break, with Justin Kluivert, who hit a hat-trick of penalties in Saturday's 4-2 win at Wolves, coming close to doubling the Cherries' lead.

Son replaced Pape Sarr in the 57th minute and immediately increased the tempo of Tottenham's play.

The South Korea international finished on the rebound two minutes after his introduction following Kulusevski's initial effort but was denied by an offside flag, before later slipping in Maddison, who curled narrowly wide.

Fellow substitute Pedro Porro tested Kepa with a thumping low drive, prior to Christie striking the base of the left post at the other end.

Tottenham survived a major scare 18 minutes from time when Evanilson's close-range finish was disallowed for offside after Forster's risky pass to Kulusevski was intercepted.

Bournemouth should have put the game beyond Spurs, with Tavernier and substitute Dango Ouattara each squandering excellent opportunities by firing over.

The misses ensured plenty of tension during six minutes of added time but mattered little in the end as Spurs could not muster a meaningful attempt to snatch a point.