Spurs 2-2 Bournemouth (Sarr 67′, Son pen 84′; Tavernier 42′, Evanilson 65′)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — There were two ways to interpret Tottenham Hotspur’s fightback against Bournemouth, depending on whether your disposition matches the springtime sunshine or not.
One is that they displayed impressive resilience to recover a point from 2-0 down with 25 minutes plus added time to play against a Champions League-chasing side. The other is that they were hugely fortunate to not slip to an eighth home defeat in the Premier League, saving themselves with a fluke goal and a penalty.
The decisive moment in the game was in the 73rd minute. From one of countless Bournemouth turnovers, Justin Kluivert, superb in and out of possession all afternoon, raced through on goal and smashed a low strike past Guglielmo Vicario.
It fizzed off the base of the post and kept Tottenham clinging on. Bournemouth were as brilliant as Spurs were mediocre and warranted a win.
Greater accuracy and luck in that moment would have rewarded their efforts. Spurs got lucky and will hope for more good fortune in the coming weeks as they seek to salvage their season.
Tottenham are enduring the sort of regression that they were tipped to last season after Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich.
According to Opta, Spurs are more likely to finish in 13th place than anywhere else, which would represent their worst return since 2003-04.
Tottenham’s campaign – and by extension, Ange Postecoglou’s future – hinges on Europa League success, and the second leg against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday loomed large over this fixture. They will need to improve markedly even to beat the Eredivisie’s sixth-best team.
Fans are running out of patience with Angeball, and it seems like the man behind the idea is running out patience with them too.
“At 2-0 down it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to just let the game get away from us,” he said. “But credit to them they found a way to get back into the game and we got something out of it.”
Domestic duties naturally take a backseat for as long as Spurs are in Europe, as Postecoglou’s team sheet made clear. Son Heung-min and James Maddison were both kept in reserve; a break glass in case of emergency measure that was duly activated.
Postecoglou started Cristian Romero for the first time in the Premier League in three months.
The Argentine had a difficult day, twice playing his team into trouble in the first four minutes. Vicario rescued his teammate by denying Evanilson after 20 seconds and then Kluivert after errant passes out from the World Cup winner.
Player of the match: Justin Kluivert
- Put in a huge shift out of possession and was a constant threat in attack. Unlucky to not score.
Bournemouth were nightmarish opponents for the returning Romero given their intensity off the ball. Romero displayed all the composure of a 12-year-old at a school disco.
Pedro Porro was equally sloppy, recording the second-lowest pass success rate of the 20 outfield players in the first-half.
His telegraphed ball towards Brennan Johnson was seized upon by Milos Kerkez who bolted up the pitch and served a sumptuous cross for a sliding Marcus Tavernier to finish on the volley.
“He’s got so much space to run into. He slows himself down brilliantly. You won’t see a better cross than that all season,” raved Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports’ commentary of the Liverpool-linked left-back.
Kerkez earned a hug and a pat on the head from Andoni Iraola.
Tottenham were booed off at half-time, and further grumblings of discontent resurfaced shortly after half-time when Kluivert slammed in a second.
The hosts were granted a temporary reprieve with Antoine Semenyo deemed to be offside, but Kluivert made a telling contribution soon after, sliding a cute ball through to Evanilson who produced a delightful dink over Vicario.
Bournemouth’s lead was reduced almost instantly. Pape Matar Sarr had skewed a big chance wide shortly before Evanilson’s strike but dragged Spurs immediately back into it with a cross-shot that had shades of Ronaldinho vs David Seaman in Shizuoka.
Both Son and Maddison were summoned and they combined for the equaliser. Son raced onto Maddison’s searching ball and beat Kepa Arrizabalaga to the ball. The skipper scuffed an unusual spot-kick straight down the middle to equalise.
Son cut a frustrated figure after the goal and in his post-match interview despite the comeback.
Both Postecoglou and Iraola have been employed in their current roles for the same amount of time, but Bournemouth looked far better coached than Tottenham did. Their press was unabating and coordinated; their interplay slick and quick.
Spurs were outplayed at various points, and yet have slight cause for optimism ahead of Thursday’s win-or-bust tie. Romero will only get better after his first hour back, while Micky van de Ven came through 35 minutes.
The big guns are back and injuries are increasingly no longer an excuse for Postecoglou. Huge improvement is required to save a wretched season. There is no longer any expectation, only fading hope.
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