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Bournemouth earn shock win to dent Tottenham’s top four hopes

Bournemouth celebrate their dramatic late winner
Bournemouth celebrate their dramatic late winnerAFP
Substitute Dango Ouattara's late goal gave AFC Bournemouth a dramatic 3-2 victory against Tottenham Hotspur, securing just their second win in 12 Premier League (PL) head-to-head's against the North London club.

Following a 15-minute delay to kick-off due to a traffic incident holding up Bournemouth, Spurs showed that they were in no mood to wait around once the action started, scoring an early opener.

Ivan Perišić was well picked out by Clément Lenglet and calmly pulled the ball back for Son Heung-min to score in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time this season.

Heung-Min Son gives Tottenham a 1-0 lead
Heung-Min Son gives Tottenham a 1-0 leadAFP

Despite the early setback, the visitors kept moving the ball well and got into promising positions, with Marcus Tavernier unleashing a curling strike that Hugo Lloris tipped over the crossbar.

They then carved out an equaliser a mere three minutes after Cristian Stellini was forced into a defensive change due to Lenglet sustaining an injury. Pedro Porro was dispossessed before Dominic Solanke slipped through Matías Viña, who provided a delightful dink to mark the full-back’s maiden Cherries start with his first goal since May 2021 when he was playing for Palmeiras.

Bournemouth celebrate their equalising goal to make it 1-1
Bournemouth celebrate their equalising goal to make it 1-1AFP

After experiencing such a high, Viña’s afternoon was brought to an abrupt end as he was injured shortly after the restart. Gary O’Neil’s side avoided any teething problems, instead capitalising when Davinson Sánchez’s tackle on Tavernier poked the ball into Solanke’s path, as the striker conjured the Cherries’ second dinked finish to beat Lloris.

Sánchez was brought off under half an hour after being introduced as Spurs chased an equaliser, although Perišić blazed a wild effort over the crossbar and Oliver Skipp’s venomous attempt was saved.

Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring as Bournemouth take the lead
Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring as Bournemouth take the leadAFP

It was former Cherries talisman Arnaut Danjuma that eventually broke them down, scoring his first league goal for Spurs when he met Richarlison’s header with a clinical finish that gave Neto no hope.

However, Dango Ouattara responded by cutting across Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and provided the coolest of finishes, taking the Cherries for their first back-to-back victories since October 2018 and extending their buffer from the relegation zone to six points.

Meanwhile, Spurs’ five-game unbeaten run across all competitions came to an end as they missed out on an opportunity to end the day in the top four.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominic Solanke (AFC Bournemouth)

Match stats
Match statsFlashscore