Huijsen header wins it for Cherries

A first-half goal was enough to give AFC Bournemouth all three points on a disappointing night on the south coast on Thursday.

Dean Huijsen’s header in the 17th minute was the only goal of the game as the home side enjoyed the better of the contest with 21 shots, eight on target, compared to our 12 efforts and four on target, despite us having two thirds of the possession at a blustery Vitality Stadium.

Our best opportunities came early on with the game still goalless but Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke were unable to take advantage of the chances as the Cherries enjoyed only their third win over us in the Premier League era. Those two sights of goal both came from two fine James Maddison passes, the first after six minutes into Kulusevski, who drilled straight into Kepa’s midrift before our number 10 sent a ball over the top for Solanke and he held off Huijsen but couldn’t keep his shot down and fired over from 10 yards out.

Fraser Forster was called into action in the 16th minute, blocking Evanilson from close range at his near post but, from the corner, Marcus Tavernier delivered a deep cross which Huijsen met with a powerful header into the back of the net.

We were having plenty of possession and moving the ball around quite well until the final third, where moves were breaking down and every time we lost the ball, Bournemouth countered at pace. We dealt with most of the attacks well enough, although we were thankful to Forster just before the break, who stuck out a hand to keep out Tavernier’s dangerous glancing header from a Milos Kerkez cross.

The early moments of the second period saw us on the front foot as well and Maddison had Kepa scrambling back to keep out a vicious in-swinging corner before the Cherries broke away through Justin Kluivert down their right, racing clear of Destiny Udogie but Forster stood tall to block his effort.

Skipper Heung-Min Son was introduced off the bench just before the hour mark and had the ball in the net with his first touch however it was ruled out for offside, before Son cleverly found Maddison inside the area but he curled just wide from the corner of the six-yard box. Another substitute almost scored straight after coming on as well, only for Kepa to make a smart save to deny Pedro Porro’s 20-yard half-volley as we ramped up the pressure, although our hosts always carried a threat and Ryan Christie hit the outside of the post with a right-footed drive in the 66th minute.

Momentum shifted again at this point as it swung back Bournemouth’s way and we got away with one when Forster’s pass out was picked off by Tyler Adams, his shot was saved, the rebound bounced off Adams to Evanilson and he tapped home, but from an offside position, as determined by a VAR check.

Tavernier should have put the game to bed with 10 minutes remaining, blazing over after good work from Antoine Semenyo, while Dango Outtara did likewise moments later. The final stages were fairly frantic as we pushed for an equaliser without forcing Kepa into a save while the Cherries kept creating chances at the other end but were wasteful with them although, in the end, that didn’t matter for the hosts.

The night saw Ben Davies make his 300th Premier League appearance – 228 of them for Spurs – although it ended early with the Wales international limping off injured, while Archie Gray came in for his first Premier League start and Solanke recovered from illness to lead the line against his former club.

Match data

Goal: Bournemouth – Huijsen 17.

Yellow cards: Bournemouth – Kepa, Adams; Spurs – Davies, Bissouma.

Referee: Simon Hooper.

Venue: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.

Weather: Partly cloudy, fresh breeze, eight degrees.