Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth: Dele and Sissoko fire Spurs to third straight win

The new manager bounce is in full effect at Tottenham Hotspur! Under Jose Mourinho, Spurs have now won three straight matches in all competitions after dispatching Bournemouth at home today 3-2. Dele Alli, making his third straight start, scored a brace, and Moussa Sissoko scored (NO, SERIOUSLY), but Spurs shipped two late strikes to flatter the visitors somewhat.

Jose Mourinho switched things up a little bit after his first two matches in charge had virtually unchanged starting lineups. With Ben Davies injured and Danny Rose playing two matches last week, Jan Vertonghen started at left back, with the center back pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez. Tanguy Ndombele also started in the midfield alongside Eric Dier. Moussa Sissoko also started the match in place of Lucas Moura, who began the match on the bench.

First Half

KICK-OFF! We’re underway at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

5’ — Uh oh. Ndombele got tackled early in this match and has been limping around ever since. That would be a big blow if he can’t continue, but he’s soldiering on.

10’ — Shot for Bournemouth — Rico stings the palms of Gazzaniga, but he makes what ends up being a comfortable save.

19’ — A wonderful counterattack from Spurs! Dele starts the attack, finds Kane in the middle of the pitch, who passes to a rushing Son down the left flank. His cross-goal low shot is juuuuuuuust wide of the post.

21’ — GOAL BY DELE! What a goal! Toby Alderweireld with a long pass from deep into Bournemouth’s box. Sonny gets onto it and one-touches it to Dele who is wide open and slots it home. Great ball, great touch, great goal. Spurs lead 1-0!

25’ — Another chance for Spurs! Sonny puts a through ball in for Kane, who fires point blank but his shot is saved by the Bournemouth keeper.

26’ — GOAL DAVINSON SANCHEZ... but it’s ruled out. Moussa Sissoko with a shot that goes off the knee and then the hand of Sanchez before he fires it in the net. There’s a quick review and the goal is ruled out for handball. Booo. It’s a dumb rule that VAR has no choice but to enforce. Still 1-0.

32’ — Chance for Bounemouth. Jack Stacey tries his luck and puts his shot wide of the left post.

40’ — Whoa, handball in the Bournemouth box when Steve Cook went down low to block a Son shot, and they didn’t even review it even after Spurs had a goal disallowed for a handball in the box. VAR is broken.

HALFTIME — Spurs have been dominant in the opening 45, though it took them a bit to get going. Great goal from Dele and Sanchez had another ruled out with a couple other chances. It’s 1-0, but it could’ve been more.

Second Half

No changes at intermission for either side. Kind of fun that with Mourinho in charge this fact is no longer a given!

47’ — Nearly a goal for Harry right off the bat! Sissoko with a gorgeous cross to the back post but Harry couldn’t quite get his head to it.

50’ — GOAL! IT’S DELE AGAIN!! Another lovely long ball over the top from Toby Alderweireld. Dele took it down just outside the box while guarded by two defenders, took a touch, split the defense, and slid the goal home. Wonderful! Spurs up 2-0!

54’ — Uh oh. Paulo Gazzaniga took a boot to the knee from Callum Wilson and is receiving treatment from Spurs’ physios. He ends up fine, and play continues.

63’ — Sub for Bournemouth. Ryan Fraser off, Harry Wilson on.

66’ — First card of the match, and it’s on Bournemouth’s Diego Rico.

69’ — GOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL MOUSSA SISSOOOOOOOOOKOOOOOOOOOOOOO RIOTS

THAT GOAL

WOW

THAT GOAL

Y’ALL I CAN’T

73’ — Goal for Bournemouth. Harry Wilson pulls one back for the Cherries with a lovely free kick from the top of the area. Nice shot. 3-1 Spurs.

Substitution for Spurs — Lucas Moura is on for Tanguy Ndombele. And one for Bournemouth as Gosling comes in for Lewis Cook.

77’ — Sonny through on goal with a great counterattack but Steve Cook nips in to make a crucial tackle to save the shot. Just after, Dele has a chance for his hat trick saved. Wow.

82’ — Foot’s off the gas now for Spurs as they lead 3-1. Bournemouth getting a couple of corners in possession now, Spurs need to be careful they don’t switch off.

84’ — Ugh, Gazzaniga takes another shot, this time to his head and he’s up and woozy. Looks like he’ll continue on.

88’ — Hey, look — it’s Giovani Lo Celso! He’s on for his first cameo appearance under Mourinho, coming on for Sonny.

90’ — FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT. Jefferson Lerma, who was an absolute knob-end in this match last season (the one that saw Sonny sent off for shoving him), stomped on Dele’s foot, and the teams started some fisticuffs. Lerma earns a yellow. Six minutes of extra time to be played.

94’ — Final sub for Spurs as hero Dele comes off for Harry Winks. What a match for Dele.

96’ — LOL, Goal to Bournemouth. Harry Wilson makes it 3-2. Some shout for an offside, but VAR upholds the call on the field. And immediately afterwards, Callum Wilson nearly gives an equalizer at the death but Jan Vertonghen makes an important tackle.

FULL TIME! It took a while for them to get into the match, but Spurs were clearly the better side today, with the match finishing 3-2.

Reactions

• Dele has pretty much singlehandedly justified the sacking of Pochettino, hasn’t he? He’s been magnificent with the reins taken off under Jose, and there’s no reason to think he has even peaked.
• Both of Tottenham’s goals were started from with Alderweireld pinging long balls over the top from deep positions. I’ve missed that. Please stay, Toby.
• I’m confused and frustrated by the league’s handball rules. I get the justification, but it’s hard to take when you’ve had a goal disallowed by an accidental handball and then had a handball penalty shout waved away in the same half.
• Moussa Sissoko was, to be frank, outstanding today. It’s probably his best match for Spurs all season, and one of the best I’ve seen him play in his career.
• Spurs are scoring at will, but they’re still conceding some stupid late goals. They can’t expect to out-shoot every opponent, and if they keep shipping two goals a match they could end in some difficult situations down the stretch.
• Finally a cameo from Lo Celso! Hard to say right now who he’d come in for if he were to start, but man, I’d like to see him play more.
• Winning things is good! I missed winning football matches. Spurs are now up to sixth (for now) in the table. That is also better than 14th.