AFC Bournemouth 2 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur: Second half barrage gives Spurs a huge boost

Rodrigo Bentancur’s stoppage time goal capped off a brilliant comeback as Tottenham Hotspur picked up all three points on the road against AFC Bournemouth by the final score of 3-2.

Inconsistency has been a big issue for Antonio Conte’s boys, but with a gauntlet of matches remaining before the World Cup break, the Italian was forced to rotate in defense and midfield for this match. A back three of Davies, Lenglet and Sanchez, seems a tad scary so the hope is the midfield is able to give them some cover in this 3-5-2 formation.

Match Timeline

• 3’ - Not a great start as Bournemouth get a free header off of a corner. Thankfully it’s too high and goes out for a goal kick.
• 4’ - Speaking of chances, another one for Bournemouth on the break. Hugo hits the deck to make the save.
• 11’ - Better from Spurs as Kane attempts to find Emerson in the penalty area, forcing Bournemouth to head it out to touch for a corner.
• 15’ - One constant in this match is slipping. There’s been several players falling over with nobody around them because of how slick this pitch is.
• 23’ - Goal Bournemouth (Moore) - Lenglet gets his ass kicked by a posted up Solanke, freeing up Tavernier on the break. He beats a flailing Sanchez with his pass, allowing Moore to curl it into the corner. Errors all around by the Spurs defense.
• 30’ - Half an hour gone and Spurs have just been bad. There’s no flow to the attack, the midfield is having issues passing, and the defense is all over the place.
• 33’ - Another chance for Bournemouth as a through ball gets to Tavernier, but Hugo is quick enough to deny any chance with a diving stop at the top of the penalty area.
• 36’ - Hey a chance! Emerson gets deep into the final third and plays a cutback pass to Skipp, who gets a shot off to force a save and a corner.
• 36’ - Close! Fantastic ball into the box by Son that comes off a Bournemouth defender’s head, almost for an own goal. The woodwork keeps it out, though.
• 41’ - Emerson tries a turn and fire and promptly sends the ball to Alpha Centauri.
• 45+2’ - The final kick of the half is shot from distance by Sonny that forces a save to keep the score 1-0.

Half Time: Bournemouth 1-0 Spurs. Not a great half by any stretch and our defense needs to stop playing bad.

Second Half

• 46’ - Substitution, Spurs - Lucas Moura comes on for Oliver Skipp.
• 49’ - Not a bad rip from Davies as he had the right power, but it’s just wide of the post and out for a goal kick.
• 50’ - Goal Bournemouth (Moore) - Jesus. F*cking. Christ. Smith has absolutely nobody on him and plays a perfect cross into the penalty area. Moore easily gets in front of Emerson and powers home a header. 2-0.
• 53’ - Moore goes for his hat trick and gets an accidental forearm to the face in the process by Lenglet. VAR has a look at it but it’s just a goal kick in the end.
• 56’ - Line change coming it looks like. Perisic, Bentancur and Dier, are all off the bench.
• 57’ - GOAL SPURS!!! (Sessegnon) - Out of absolutely nothing, Sessegnon receives a beautiful through ball from Hojbjerg and beats two defenders to pull one back. 2-1!
• 58’ - Substitution, Spurs - Perisic gets called back to the bench, but Dier and Bentancur come on for Bissouma and Sanchez.
• 63’ - Substitution, Bournemouth - Jadon Anthony comes on for Billing.
• 64’ - Substitution, Spurs - Ivan Perisic comes on for Emerson Royal.
• 70’ - Yellow Card, Spurs - Kane gets booked for dissent apparently. Okay, Taylor.
• 72’ - GOAL SPURS!!! (Davies) - An absolutely perfect corner that comes gift wrapped with poor keeper play. Davies gets on the end of a long corner and calmly heads it top shelf. 2-2!
• 78’ - Close! Dier gets going on the flank and feeds Sonny for a one-timer, forcing a diving save to keep the match level.
• 79’ - Substitution, Bournemouth - Fredricks comes on for Tavernier.
• 81’ - Yellow Card, Bournemoutn - Spurs earn a free kick in a dangerous spot 20 yards out. Big moment coming. Lewis Cook also goes into the book.
• 84’ - So close! Hojbjerg gets the ball free after a cross and almost curls it into the top right corner.
• 84’ - Substitution, Spurs - Bryan Gil comes on for Sessegnon.
• 89’ - Substitution, Bournemouth - Jack Stephens comes on for Solanke.
• 90’ - There will be a minimum of five minutes added on.
• 90+2’ - GOAL SPURS!!!! (Bentancur) - Give Vio ALL THE MONEY! Another corner kick goal as the ball in gets deflected down to Lolo, who smashes it home top shelf. 3-2!
• 90’+5’ - Kane with a masterclass of possession in the corner and eventually earns a free kick.

FULL TIME! Spurs with a thrilling comeback to get all three points, 3-2!

Thoughts on the Match

• Tale of two halves, to say the least. Spurs looked like hot garbage for 50 minutes. The triple sub changed this match in a big way.
• I was all set to give Ryan Sessegnon man of the match for Spurs, but Rodrigo Bentancur was brilliant in his 40 minutes of play. The moment he came on he was looking forward for passes and locked down the midfield with Hojbjerg.
• Sessegnon was fantastic as well. He got flipped a few times in the formation and it didn’t matter where he was. He was dangerous multiple times and got a goal for his efforts.
• I never, ever want to see that combination of defenders on the back line again. I’m going to pretend it never happened and try to erase it from my memory.
• It’s obviously still early to have a verdict on Bissouma, but he was not good today. It could be he’s still settling in and getting used to the system, but his performance was forgettable.
• Three points are three points. We now look ahead to Tuesday’s critical Champions League match.