Tottenham Hotspur woke up late but managed to find their footing in a 2-2 comeback draw with Bournemouth in North London on Sunday.
REACTION — Ange Postecoglou on comeback, AZ Alkmaar test
Bournemouth, on the other hand, will feel a chance wasted after Justin Kluivert and Evanilson staked the side to a 2-0 lead away from home in a fun-to-watch encounter.
Cherries keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was caught out by Pape Sarr and then conceded a penalty to Heung-min Son that the South Korean converted to tie the game.
WATCH – Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth full match replay
Bournemouth sit eighth after collecting a 44th point of the season, while Spurs break out of a four-team log jam to move 13th with 34 points.
Spurs cherry pick win after Bournemouth’s substandard harvest
Credit Tottenham Hotspur for coming back to get a point here, but don’t go overboard as Spurs could’ve trailed by three or four at halftime. Guglielmo Vicario made a pair of big saves, one after just 17 seconds, as Spurs midfield struggled mightily against Bournemouth’s possession with the ball and press away from it. Bournemouth put eight shots on target to Spurs four, and truth be told the hosts were gifted their goals by off-kilter Kepa Arrizabalaga (who has been so good this season). Sours came around — surprise, surprise — once Heung-min Son, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and the exceptional Lucas Bergvall were all on the pitch. That hints at a mistake or three from Postecoglou, but it’s also about the long-injured Spurs having some rusty players and going against a very good side one who — it must be said — will feel like Spurs have after so many dangerous but goal-shy score draws in previous seasons.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth player ratings
(from fotmob.com)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth player ratings (from fotmob.com)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth player ratings (from fotmob.com)
What’s next?
Spurs host AZ Alkmaar at 4pm ET Thursday in the Europa League, down 1-0 after one leg. They then visit Fulham in the Premier League at 11:30am Sunday.
Bournemouth host
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10am ET Sunday
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Premier League on Peacock
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth final score: 2-2
Marcus Tavernier 42', Evanilson 65', Pape Sarr 67', Heung-min Son pen 85'
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth live updates
Heung-min Son goal — Spurs 2-2 Bournemouth (85th minute)
Son rolls it the wrong way of a diving Arrizabalaga, a confident strike to end a goal slump.
Tottenham penalty
Kepa Arrizabalaga was way out of his goal, and Heung-min Son makes the most out of a silly Kepa slide to win a penalty.
Pape Sarr goal — Spurs 1-2 Bournemouth (67th minute)
Out of nothing, an answer.
Pape Sarr thinks he has Kepa Arrizabalaga well off his line anticipating a cross, and he sends a pinpoint aerial effort top corner.
Evanilson goal — Spurs 0-2 Bournemouth (65th minute)
This one will count.
Kluivert slips Evanilson through Danso and Micky van de Ven, who has replaced Romero, and the Brazilian dinks it over the keeper.
Offside denies Kluivert
Antoine Semenyo was casually coming back into an onside position when he played the ball prior to an Evanilson run that finished with Kluivert snapping the ball into the goal.
It wasn’t spotted in the run of play, but VAR didn’t miss it.
Still 1-0 to Bournemouth, 52'.
Spurs subs
Bissouma and Johnson exit the fray as Ange Postecoglou looks to fix this game with Lucas Bergvall and Heung-min Son.
Marcus Tavernier goal — Spurs 0-1 Bournemouth (42nd minute)
It’s a terrible pass from Pedro Porro, well behind his target, and it gives Milos Kerkez a 60-plus yard runway down the left.
The Hungarian sends a high, huge cross over the fray and Tavernier slides it over the line.
*We initially wrote James Tavernier, the longtime Glasgow Rangers leader and Marcus’ big brother.
Romero chops down Kluivert just outside box
Romero’s rough and rusty return continues with a foul breaking up a dangerous 2v2 Cherries rush.
James Tavernier and Kluivert stand over the free kick from the left side of the arc.
Tavernier smashes the wall and Spurs get it out for a second only for Evanilson to head into the arms of Vicario.
0-0, 19.
Vicario again!
This time the Italian denies Justin Kluivert after a bad Spurs giveaway in the midfield, and he collects a tepid bid at the rebound to give him three saves in five minutes.
Seventeen seconds!
We nearly have a goal 17 seconds into the game.
Cristian Romero is rusty, and he make a mistake right away that sends Evanilson toward goal.
The big man takes his shot but Guglielmo Vicario makes a great save to limit the danger to a corner.
Tottenham Hotspur lineup
Vicario, Porro, Romero, Danso, Spence, Bentancur, Bissouma, Sarr, Johnson, Odobert, Solanke
Bournemouth lineup
Arrizabalaga, Kerkez, Cook, Huijsen, Hill, Christie, Adams, Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth preview — By Andy Edwards
It’ll be another quick turnaround for Tottenham Hotspur following their humbling 1-0 defeat away to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday, when Ange Postecoglou’s side hosts relentless (but slumping) Bournemouth on Sunday (10 am ET).
To add (re-)injury to insult, Dominic Solanke hobbled off in stoppage time, just 20 minutes after he came off the bench for his first action since Jan. 15 (knee injury). Spurs’ $83-million striker (signed from Bournemouth in the summer) took a knee to the back as he went up and contested a high ball into the box, but Postecoglou indicated it wasn’t “anything too bad … a knock” after the game. Still, the timing couldn’t be worse with Spurs’ attack generating next to nothing in three of their last four halves of football. Center backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were unused substitutes on the bench on Thursday, and their experience and composure on the ball will be badly needed against Bournemouth after Kevin Danso and Archie Gray were unable to cope with Alkmaar’s high press — precisely what the Cherries are known for.
After going 11 games unbeaten from the end of November to January (7W-4D-0L), Bournemouth have lost three of its last four games in the PL and the Cherries now find themselves in danger of falling away from the Champions League chase (7th place, three points behind 5th-place Chelsea). After averaging 2.3 goals per game during their purple patch (joint-most points, 25, in the PL during those 11 games), Andoni Iraola’s side has scored just four times in four games since, with three coming in the same game against last-place Southampton. Evanilson’s absence (broken foot) wasn’t felt immediately, but eventually the goals dried up and the Brazilian was missed. Alas, the 25-year-old started (and scored) in last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Wolves and is expected to make his first PL appearance since Jan. 4.
Tottenham Hotspur team news
OUT: Richarlison (lower leg), Radu Dragusin (torn ACL - out for season), Dejan Kulusevski (foot) | QUESTIONABLE: Dominic Solanke (back), Ben Davies (undisclosed)
Bournemouth team news
OUT: Julian Araujo (thigh), Illia Zabarnyi (suspension), Enes Unal (knee), Marcos Senesi (thigh), Adam Smith (knock) | QUESTIONABLE: Ryan Christie (groin)
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth prediction
Aside from playing at home, where they have lost more games (7) than they have won (5) this season, what advantage do Spurs have here? Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Bournemouth.
