Tottenham produced a composed performance as they continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
The Lilywhites were expected to face a tough early test of their credentials, with the Cherries looking revitalized under Iraola, but it turned out to be a simple enough afternoon for Ange Postecoglou’s men.
Early pressure told just 15 minutes in, when a sustained period of possession ended with Pape Sarr slipping the ball behind two defenders into the path of James Maddison, who flicked it beyond Neto and handed Spurs the lead on the south coast.
James Maddison is off the mark for Spurs! ⚽️
A lovely move and finish 👌
📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/5lI9vAcBs0
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 26, 2023
The home side grew into the game, but though they managed to play through the Spurs press at times, their build up play broke down in the final third and they rarely tested Vicario in between the posts for Tottenham.
The visitors doubled their lead on the hour mark as Dejan Kulusevski stole in to poke a cross past Neto and leave Spurs on course for three points.
Tottenham double their lead through Dejan Kulusevski!
How about that work on the left from Destiny Udogie though 😮💨
📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/giHvuYHnyR
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 26, 2023
Potential injury to Destiny Udogie, who went down off the ball and was substituted, was the only blemish on what turned out to be an excellent afternoon for the Lilywhites, while Bournemouth have now lost two games on the bounce ahead of a tricky away trip to Brentford next weekend.
📰 Table Of Contents
Player ratings
Bournemouth
- GK: Neto (5) – Could do nothing about either goal but didn’t have much else to do.
- RB: Max Aarons (5) – Struggled against Udogie and Son throughout.
- CB: Illia Zabarnyi (6) – Composed at the back for the most part.
- CB: Lloyd Kelly (4) – Booked for a poor challenge in the first half and fell asleep to let Kulusevski run across him for the second goal at the Vitality.
- LB: Milos Kerkez (5) – Looked bright but didn’t really have any end product for all of his enterprising runs.
- CM: Philip Billing (5) – Quiet by his own usual high standards.
- CM: Joe Rothwell (5) – Outclassed by the Tottenham midfield.
- CM: Ryan Christie (5) – Bypassed far too often in midfield, and couldn’t create anyting.
- RW: Antoine Semenyo (7) – Looked Bournemouth’s most dangerous player and hit the side-netting in the second half.
- ST: Dominic Solanke (5) – Struggled to get into the game at all and got no change out of either of Tottenham’s defenders.
- LW: Justin Kluivert (5) – Tidy but couldn’t really get into the action.
Substitutes
- Lewis Cook (6) – Came on at the break but couldn’t make much of an impact.
- Hamed Traore (5) – Didn’t have any effect on proceedings.
- Jadon Anthony (5) – His only effort on goal was sent high.
- David Brooks (6) – Added a bit more impetus but could hardly get on the ball.
- Kieffer Moore (N/A) – On for the final five minutes.
Tottenham Hotspur FC
- GK: Gianluca Vicario (7) – Excellent with both hands and feet.
- RB: Pedro Porro (6) – Looked more comfortable than against Manchester United, and defender well when called upon.
- CB: Cristian Romero (6) – Kept his cool and looks a composed defender when he isn’t flying into someone.
- CB: Mickey van de Ven (7) – His pace got him out of trouble on several occasions and he looks a very shrewd addition for the Lilywhites.
- LB: Destiny Udogie (8) – Did some excellent work for the second goal and looks like a top prospect. Will be hoping that the injury that forced him off at the end isn’t too serious.
- CDM: Yves Bissouma (8) – Looks a player reborn this season and was excellent in Tottenham’s midfield once more.
- CDM: Pape Sarr (7) – Played an excellent pass to find James Maddison to fire Spurs into the lead, and looks to have made the central midfield berth in north London his own.
- RM: Dejan Kulusevski (6) – Quiet for the most part but snuck in to score the goal which put the result to bed.
- CAM: James Maddison (8) – The star of the show once more, if execution from his teammates had been better
- LM: Heung-Min Son (5) – Was always finding good positions but was regularly overlooked by his teammates, much to his frustration.
- ST: Richarlison (4) – Nothing is going right for him at the moment and standing on the ball to break up a Tottenham counter attack before picking up a cheap yellow card epitomised that.
Substitutes
- Ivan Perisic (6) – Some tidy work down the left when he came on.
- Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (7) – Bought some calm to proceedings when he was introduced.
- Giovani Lo Celso (5) – Tidy but on with the game well in Tottenham’s control.
- Oliver Skipp (5) – See above.
- Ben Davies (6) – Did nothing wrong when coming on.
Fan reaction:
Fantastic goal: Bissouma’s turn, Sarr’s pass (had we seen much of him doing that before?) and Maddison’s brilliant run onto it to finish
— Jack Pitt-Brooke (@JackPittBrooke) August 26, 2023
Think there’s a good chance that Spurs become every neutral’s favourite Premier League side this season.
Fearless football with the occasional mistake thrown in, young players coming to the fore!
Really enjoying watching them.
— Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) August 26, 2023
Micky van de Ven in the first half vs. Bournemouth:
100% duels won
100% take-ons completed
95% pass accuracyAnd he made more clearances than any other player (4).💪#BOUTOT pic.twitter.com/dWETIciOdm
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) August 26, 2023
Van de Ven is brilliant, if it wasn’t for Maddison, Udogie and Bissouma he’d be getting a lot more recognition. What a signing he’s been
— coys comps (@coyscomps) August 26, 2023
If I was a Spurs fan I’d be side-eying Conte heavy. Bissouma and Sarr were here a year ago but they couldn’t produce anything like this. They’ve added Maddison on top and now have a nicely balanced midfield trio with a good blend of attributes
— Super Eagle (@SVCarbaholic) August 26, 2023
