AFCB fought hard but were overpowered by Spurs 1-4

Match Report

10 March 2018

AFCB 1 v 1 SpursAttendance: 10,623

Bournemouth greet Spurs' players.

Bournemouth 's flag waving signalled that the club would try a full on assault on Spurs to test their ability to cope with a Cherries' fast start. Spurs may have though they had got away with things when Stanislas hit the bar when faced with an out of position Hugo Loris, but Stanislas made up for his inaccurate shooting moments later to give the Cherries a lead, which they could not hold on to. Dele Alli equalised before half time and at least AFCB had seen off Harry Kane who had limped off in the first half after having a goal ruled out. Second half goals from Son Heung-min took the game away from the brave Cherries, despite their best efforts, which saw Callum Wilson have a goal chalked off for pushing. A misplaced pass by Lewis Cook to Erikson had gifted Spurs their third goal, but even when Aurier netted the fourth, the home fans could not blame the AFCB players who had played as well as in any home match this season.

Lys Mousset starts at Dean Court.

Harry Kane starts but doesn't last long.

Bournemouth made a surprise including of Lys Mousset in the starting 11, while Josh King dropped to the bench with a bit of a neck strain. Harry Arter and Jordan Ibe were also on the bench but Mac Pugh was still not ready to come back yet.

The Match Day Gallery will show more pictures of the players later this evening.

The Cherries started as well as they have at home this season. Quick running by Lys Mousset soon had Spurs in trouble, latching on to a forward ball by Lewis Cook, and he unselfishly squared the ball to Junior Stanislas in the third minute when he could have shot himself. Stanislas had the goal gaping, but while the fans jumped up on seeing the ball head goal-wards, it didn't set the alert off on Mike Dean wrist and the bar had rattled only for the ball to bounce on the line and not over it. The bewilderment had hardly had a chance to dissipate before the resulting corner was cleared and Francis got Bournemouth going again.

This time Adam Smith got round Danny Rose and crossed for Junior Stanislas to find the ball at his feet and he adjusted himself quickly, before picking out the far corner and putting AFCB 1-0 up on seven minutes. It was a sweet left-foot finish by Stanislas. The ground was fully rocking and Bournemouth had deserved their lead for they way they went at Spurs. Could they keep it going?

Another Bournemouth corner would see Lys Mousset shoot just over the bar. Lewis Cook was putting Son Heung-Min in his place with a clean tackle, but Daniels was finding it hard to keep tabs on Aurier who was a crossing machine on the right. Begovic grabbed his cross at the second attempt.

Bournemouth had a chance to increase their lead on 14 minutes with a free kick but Stanislas hit his kick int the wall. Adam Smith was throwing himself at the ball and made a fantastic block to stop a Danny Rose shot. A few minutes later Rose picked up a yellow card for a foul on Wilson, but Stanislas still couldn't get past the Spurs' wall.

Gosling was linking well with Mousset but couldn't quite get Mousset in the clear. As Spurs found their feet, their first corner saw Vertonghen head over. On 29 minutes AFCB looked to have been undone. A cross from Erikson on the right was perfectly weighted for Kane, who was confronted by Begovic but managed to steer the ball into the goal, only for the offside flag to go up. Kane was injured on his ankle and he had to be replaced by Lamella on 35 minutes.

A mix up by Steve Cook and Begovic left the ball at Alli's feet, but he mis-hit his shot which was a let off for Bournemouth.

A minute later, Spurs had got themselves back in the match. Aurier who had been giving Daniels all kind of problems, out stripped Daniels again and the cross found Alli in the middle of the box. Begovic had not managed to get to the ball first and Deli Alli scored off his knee to make it 1-1. How he delighted in celebrating in front of the North Stand!

Bournemouth still kept creating and Adam Smith poked a shot just wide after the restart. Francis was keeping Son Heung-min quiet but the crosses down Daniels side kept coming. Spurs were controlling the game better now and Begovic fumbled a shot from Eriksen before dropping on the ball. Half time arrived at 1-1.

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AFCB are pegged back before half time.

Second half

Bournemouth came out early for the second half and soon started their attacks. Francis was keen to take aim and fired a powerful drive at goal that Hugo Lloris had to palm away for a corner. Aké made contact with the ball from the corner but it came off his face and slipped harmlessly over the bar.

Bournemouth's flurry soon turned to more defensive duties. Eriksen was starting to make Spurs tick and Adam Smith was doing much of the chasing. Daniels made a challenge on Son that could have been seen as a penalty, Mike Dean didn't give it. Just before the hour, Eriksen tested Begovic before at the other end Gosling saw his shot saved by Lloris.

Gosling then had a yellow card against his name. Bournemouth were finding it hard going and Spurs turned up the heat when Alli picked out Son at the far post and he put Spurs 1-2 up with a shot that looked half hit into the ground, but it was effective enough.

Begovic was now a busy keeper. Spurs won a couple of corners while Bournemouth looked to get Ibe and King on in place of Daniels and Mousset.  Bournemouth went to a 4-3-3 formation and Stanislas  brought a save out of Lloris. Adam Smith had moved to the left back spot, while Gosling took a head knock.

Bournemouth were still having a go but the shots were more erratic with Francis firing high. On 76 minutes, Stanislas was then withdrawn and Defoe came on.

AFCB fans hoped for a last 10 minute push for an equaliser and Spurs did what they could to slow things down. Rose was subbed on 81 minutes for Trippier. A foul on Adam Smith gave Steve Cook a chance to get up and he won a header that fell to Wilson to stab home. The goal was disallowed, much to the disappointment of the home fans. It was Wilson, who had pushed Sanchez to get an advantage.

Deli Alli took his time to be subbed for Sissoko on 85 minutes. Bournemouth won a free kick on half way and Lewis Cook tried to bring the ball forward but misplaced his pass to Eriksen. Son Heung-min came away with the ball and with all AFCB's defenders pushed up expecting the free kick to have been played into the box, there was no one at the back apart from Begovic. Son made no mistake and made it 1-3 to Spurs.

Added time of five minutes only gave Spurs another opportunity to score. First, it was Son again who had a shot saved by Begovic. At the other end Ibe went down appealing for unsuccessfully for a penalty. But the game was well and truly over when Aurier made a good header count to make it 1-4. Begovic was unable to catch the cross and it left Aurier in a great position to add to the score, which he did.

It was a lot closer than the 1-4 score line would suggest.

Summary

Bournemouth had a game plan to chase and harry Spurs and put them under pressure early on. Had Stanislas' first effort gone in and Bournemouth had got to a 2-0 lead we could have seen a first Bournemouth Premier League win over Spurs. It was that close to happening, but the inability to get that second goal only kept Spurs pushing forward and Spurs have great players who score goals. Four was perhaps flattering of Spurs, but the north London team took their chances and there will be some defensive discussions about most of Spurs' goals that came a little too easy. That is the only poor thing you can say about Bournemouth though as they applied themselves to the game well and Simon Francis had his best game of the season. It's the next three games where Bournemouth will be judged more critically as they really need the points to get them to safety as soon as possible now.

AFCB played as well as they could have against Spurs.

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Surman, Arter, Fraser, Ibe, King, Defoe

AFCB Ratings
Begovic 6,  Francis 9, S Cook 7, Aké 7, Daniels 5, A Smith 7, Gosling 8, L Cook 8, Stanislas 7, Mousset 7, Wilson 6

MOM: Simon Francis - a great display from Simon on a day that saw him tackle and block Son Heung-Min effectively in the first half and even get forward well in the second half. It was a pleasure to see him play so well after the season he has had.

Ref Watch - Mike Dean: 4/10 I didn't think he gave Bournemouth many decisions and while the assistant referee ruled out Wilson's goal, I wasn't surprised that Mike Dean quickly agreed. Spurs could also have been given a penalty. 

Spurs
Lloris, Aurier, Sánchez, Vertonghen, Rose (Trippier 81), Dembélé, Wanyama, Eriksen
Alli (Sissoko 85), Son Heung-min, Kane (Lamela 35)

Spurs Subs
Vorm, Trippier, Lamela, Dier, Sissoko, Llorente, Lucas Moura

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