Bournemouth 1-4 Spurs - report from Vitality Stadium

The team produced a tremendous response to the early setbacks of conceding to Junior Stanislas and losing Harry Kane to injury to blow away Bournemouth on the south coast.

Questions were asked of us when, coming off of a midweek defeat to Juventus in the Champions League, we were floored by Bournemouth's whirlwind start which saw Stanislas hit the bar before giving his side the lead inside seven minutes.

And there was more consternation when top scorer Harry Kane limped off with an ankle injury on the half-hour mark - exactly a year ago to the weekend since he suffered a similar problem against Millwall in the FA Cup.

But the character shown by the team soon allayed any fears. With Christian Eriksen magnificent in the middle of the park, Dele Alli swept home the equaliser 10 minutes prior to half-time, before turning provider for Heung-Min Son to volley into the ground and past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic for 2-1 shortly beyond the hour mark.

It was one-way traffic in the second period as we dominated the game, with Son bagging a deserved second when Eriksen won the ball and played him clean through on goal from inside our own half, before Serge Aurier headed home in stoppage time to complete a 4-1 victory.

Sunday afternoon's result at the Vitality Stadium sees us move up into third place in the Premier League table ahead of next Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final at Swansea City.

Team News

We lined up with three changes to the team that suffered Champions League heartbreak in midweek with Aurier and Danny Rose replacing Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies at full-back and Victor Wanyama coming into the holding midfield role at the expense of Eric Dier, who suffered an elbow problem against Juventus. He was, however, still able to take a place on the bench.

Key Action

  WOODWORK: CROSSBAR DENIES STANISLAS - 4mins  
Bournemouth came bursting out of the blocks and when Lys Mousset and Stanislas went flying forward from half-way on the counter, the latter looked odds-on to open the scoring after picking up a square pass from Mousset and with only Hugo Lloris to beat, but the keeper made himself big in his path and the Bournemouth man clipped his shot onto the bar.

  GOAL: BOURNEMOUTH 1-0 SPURS - JUNIOR STANISLAS - 7mins  
Stanislas made amends three minutes later with the opening goal as the Cherries continued to press high with energy and determination. Ex-Spur Adam Smith got away from Rose down Bournemouth's right flank and crossed for Stanislas, who was free on the far side, to pull the ball down and drill low across Lloris into the bottom corner.

   
  Above: Erik Lamela battles with Simon Francis.

  GOAL DISALLOWED: SPURS - 29mins  
We were starting to look much sharper as the first half progressed but were denied an equaliser on 29 minutes when Eriksen whipped the ball from a central position around the back for Kane to sweep in, but the striker was flagged off-side and was clattered by the advancing Begovic as he finished the move off. The striker sat clutching his ankle before limping off.

  GOAL: BOURNEMOUTH 1-1 SPURS - DELE - 35mins  
Lloris dived low to his left to save Mousset's shot, which was going wide anyway, before Kane's replacement, Erik Lamela, kick-started the move that led to a deserved equaliser.He produced some neat footwork to release Aurier into space down the right side and his centre was converted by the arriving Dele.

  SAVES: LLORIS DENIES FRANCIS, BEGOVIC THWARTS ERIKSEN - 47-57mins  
Lloris flew full-stretch to his right to deny Simon Francis from range at the start of the second half but in reality, that was about as close as Bournemouth went for the rest of the game. Aurier's header from the resulting corner hit Nathan Ake in the face but ricocheted over the top while Eriksen's 25-yard strike at the other end was saved by Begovic down to his left.

  GOAL: BOURNEMOUTH 1-2 SPURS - HEUNG-MIN SON - 62mins  
You sensed another goal for us was coming and it duly arrived on 62 minutes when Rose slid the ball down the outside left for Dele, who turned inside before clipping the ball over to the far post where Son met it on the volley, firing down into the ground and beyond Begovic from six yards out. Begovic denied Son moments later while Lamela advanced along the byline from the right but saw the ball nudged behind at the near post as we threatened once more.

  GOAL: BOURNEMOUTH 1-3 SPURS - HEUNG-MIN SON - 87mins  
Callum Wilson had the ball in the net for the hosts on 84 minutes but the whistle had already gone for a push on Davinson Sanchez by the striker before Bournemouth gave the ball away and we took full advantage. Eriksen stepped in to take control and immediatey sprung it forward for Son, who was all on his own as he raced over the half-way line and down the left channel. Lamela motored forward in support, but Son carried it around Begovic and smashed in at the near post.

  GOAL: BOURNEMOUTH 1-4 SPURS - SERGE AURIER - 90+1mins  
Begovic again saved from Son to deny him his hat-trick, but the goalkeeper played a part in our fourth goal in stoppage time. Kieran Trippier received the ball on the right from fellow substitute Moussa Sissoko and delivered a great cross which was parried upwards by Begovic, falling perfectly for Aurier - who had switched to left-back when Trippier replaced Rose - to nod in from the left angle.

Mauricio Pochettino said

"After Wednesday (Juve) the team showed massive character. That pleased me the most, after that big disappointment, how the team fought and reacted was fantastic. It's always difficult here. The good thing is the character we showed after going 1-0 down. I'm so pleased for everyone. We needed this victory and we deserved it."

Heung-Min Son said

"We were 1-0 down and had problems in the first 15 minutes but we bounced back strongly. It was important to win again. I was so sad after Wednesday because we deserved more. Today, we deserved three points. We bounced back and as I said, this is a strong team, strong mentality. After a disappointing result, we come back stronger."

Match Data

AFC Bournemouth (4-5-1): Begovic, Francis (c), S Cook, Ake, Daniels (Ibe 67), A Smith, L Cook, Mousset (King 67), Gosling, Stanislas (Defoe 76), Wilson. Substitutes (not used): Boruc, Surman, Arter, Fraser.

Spurs (4-2-3-1): Lloris (c), Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Rose (Trippier 81), Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Dele (Sissoko 86), Son, Kane (Lamela 34). Substitutes (not used): Vorm, Dier, Lucas, Llorente.

Goals: Bournemouth - Stanislas 7; Spurs - Dele 35, Son 62, 87, Aurier 90+1.

Yellow cards: Bournemouth - Gosling 61; Spurs - Rose 18.

Referee: Mike Dean.

Attendance: 10,623.

Man of the Match

Wth 79 per cent of fans' votes on social media, Heung-Min Son was named Man of the Match.

Up Next

Attentions now turn to the Liberty Stadium next Saturday (17 March) where we'll face Premier League rivals Swansea City in the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals. After a goalless home draw with the Swans back in September, goals from Fernando Llorente - against his former club - and Dele accounted for the Swans during our last meeting in south Wales on January 2. Kick-off is at 12.15pm.