B’mouth 0 – 2 Tottenham – rezal404
Tottenham continued their unbeaten start under Ange Postecoglou with a deserved 2-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, a result that took them top of the Premier League.
James Maddison was fit to play after suffering an ankle injury during last weekend’s victory over Manchester United, and it was the England international who gave Spurs the lead in the 17th minute when he turned in Pape Sarr’s precise through ball to end a fine passing move.
Maddison could have put the visitors in front just minutes before his opener had it not been for Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto, whose initial mistake gave Tottenham possession before he made amends by saving the playmaker’s low strike.
Bournemouth improved after the break but could do little to prevent Spurs from doubling their advantage 18 minutes into the second half. Destiny Udogie danced in from the left and exchanged passes with captain Heung-Min Son before keeping the ball in play brilliantly to find Dejan Kulusevski, who converted from close range to score his first goal since January.
It was enough for Tottenham to see out the win and, with the fixture taking place at 12.30pm on Saturday, the three points moved them to the Premier League summit with seven points from three games ahead of the rest of the day’s fixtures.
As for Bournemouth, their wait for a first win under new head coach Andoni Iraola continues. Despite showing promising signs in each of their three matches so far, they have managed just one point in the league and will hope their early-season form quickly improves.
Dejan Kulusevski doubled Tottenham’s advantage 18 minutes into the second half
How Tottenham triumphed on south coast
After morning sunshine in Bournemouth, the heavens opened by the time referee Tim Robinson blew his whistle and it was a bruising start for Spurs. Udogie, Maddison and Cristian Romero all received early blows in the pouring rain, but it failed to knock the visitors off their stride and the opener arrived in the 17th minute.
Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma exchanged passes before the latter found Sarr, who spotted Maddison’s late run and the 26-year-old was able to scuff his shot into the bottom corner from eight yards to register his first goal for Tottenham since his £40m switch from Leicester.
Maddison had been denied by Neto two minutes earlier after a similar move but was running the show despite proving unpopular with the home fans.
Sarr was next to go close but his deflected shot was saved after Maddison and Son combined and Spurs’ new captain sent a volley wide after 26 minutes.
It was Maddison again at the heart of Tottenham’s next chance when Romero produced a fine tackle on Antoine Semenyo and the visitors’ No 10 led the counter-attack before playing through Richarlison, but he was crowded out and the chance went begging.
Richarlison headed Maddison’s corner into the side-netting minutes later but Bournemouth – also at the start of a new era under Iraola – did finish the first half strongly. Ryan Christie tested Guglielmo Vicario with a low effort and Philip Billing curled wide from 18 yards.
The Cherries continued their momentum into the second half with Dominic Solanke firing a dangerous ball across the face of goal and Semenyo curling wide.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Tottenham striker Richarlison, who was booked and then substituted six minutes later
Postecoglou had seen enough and Richarlison’s frustrating afternoon ended not long after he received a yellow card for a late tackle on Illia Zabarnyi with Ivan Perisic and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg introduced by the hour mark.
Son was now down the middle and the tactical tweak worked a treat with a one-two with Udogie resulting in Kulusevski making it 2-0.
Udogie got to the byline and brilliantly cut back for Kulusevski, who flicked into the corner. Kulusevski let out a roar in celebration after his 63rd-minute effort and it was timely for Tottenham.
Maddison could have put the game to bed seven minutes later but dragged wide before Perisic survived a VAR call for shoving Max Aarons.
A raft of substitutions was followed by another downpour alongside thunder and lightning, but it failed to dampen Tottenham’s spirits with Postecoglou’s side able to continue their promising start with a second consecutive win.
Tottenham celebrate on the pitch with head coach Ange Postecoglou after continuing their unbeaten start
Fantasy Premier League stats
Opta stats: Maddison shining away from home
- This is the third consecutive season Tottenham have gone unbeaten in their opening three games of a Premier League campaign (W2 D1), and just the third time since 1992-93 they’ve scored at least two goals in their first three games (2009-10 and 2018-19 also).
- Tottenham ended a run of nine consecutive away Premier League games without a clean sheet, their longest run in the competition since an 18-game run between January 2019 and January 2020.
- Bournemouth have conceded the opening goal in 25 Premier League games now since the start of last season, the most among current sides in the competition.
- Andoni Iraola has seen his sides now fail to keep a clean sheet in each of his last 17 games across all competitions (14 with Rayo Vallecano, 3 with Bournemouth), it’s the longest run of his managerial career.
- All three of James Maddison’s Premier League goal involvements so far this season (one goal, two assists) have come away from home.
- Dejan Kulusevski ended a run of 20 Premier League games without a goal, since scoring away to Manchester City in January.
What’s next?
Bournemouth‘s focus now switches to the Carabao Cup as they visit Swansea in the second round on Tuesday evening at 7.45pm. The Cherries then travel to Brentford for their next Premier League game on Saturday at 3pm.
Tottenham also turn their attention to round two of the Carabao Cup as they make the trip to London rivals Fulham on Tuesday night at 7.45pm. Spurs then go to Burnley for their next Premier League game on Saturday at 3pm.
