Dean Huijsen became Bournemouth’s youngest-ever goalscorer at just 19 years and 235 days when he scored in the 17th against Tottenham Hotspur Marcus Tavernier scored the winning goal for the Cherries from a corner kick in the minute.
Although Tottenham had 65.5% of possession on the night, Bournemouth were the more goal-oriented of the two teams, with 21 shots on goal compared to 12 shots on goal by the visitors, with 8 of them on target. The team only had 4 shots on target. Evan Nelson had a ‘goal’ disallowed in both halves, while Son Heung-min’s late shot was also ruled out for offside.
Here we look at five things we learned from a wet and windy night on the south coast…
Tottenham Hotspur’s set-piece woes continue
Since the start of the 2023/24 season, only Nottingham Forest (23) has conceded more set-piece goals than Tottenham (20) in the Premier League.
Angie Postkoglu rubbishes speculation about Tottenham’s positioning after Gabriel Magalhaes scored from a corner during Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in September’s north London derby The “argument” of the ball loophole. He previously insisted the club had no plans to hire a dedicated set-piece coach, commenting that defending free-kicks and corners was “my burden”.
Whisson scored Bournemouth’s winner at the back post unmarked on Thursday night and the Australian must have been furious with his performance – one of Tottenham’s best performances in the Premier League this season Conceded the ball through a corner kick for the third time.
Dean is a man
Teenage defender Dean Huizen produced a performance that belied his age against Tottenham. While Dominic Solanke got the better of the Spain Under-21 international in the first duel of the night, Whison dealt with the former Cherries striker’s threat well throughout the rest of the game.
In the 90 minutes of the game, he completed 10 clearances and 4 tackles, while winning 4 ground duels and 1 aerial duel. He celebrated his winning goal in his third start of the season in a nod to the “cold guy” meme.
Bournemouth initially paid Juventus £12.8m to sign Huizen in the summer, which already looks like shrewd business.
Davies’ injury could be a huge blow for Tottenham
In the absence of Tottenham’s first-choice centre-back pairing Mickey van de Veen and Christian Romero, Ben Davies has impressed in the north Londoners’ defence. So it was a huge blow to see the Welshman replaced just after the hour mark with a hamstring injury.
Youngster Archie Gray had to move into halfback for the rest of the game. With the severity of Davies’ injury currently unclear and Romero facing late fitness tests, Spurs may only have one of their senior recognized centre-backs, Radu Dragusin, available for Sunday’s home game against Chelsea. .
Bournemouth’s attack from the left makes progress
Bournemouth FC had a lot of fun that night taking advantage of Tottenham’s use of inverted full-backs, attacking from both flanks.
Their left-wing duo of Milos Kolquez and Marcus Tavernier were particularly effective in creating goal-scoring chances on the night. So far this season, 43% of the Cherries’ attacks have come from the left, 33% from the right, and 25% of their forwards have come from the centre.
“Jekyll and Hyde” Tottenham Hotspur
What makes Spurs stand out this season is that you never know what they are going to do in every game. Ange Postkoglu’s side had a very good win against both Manchester clubs, scoring seven goals and conceding no goals, but Ange Postkoglu’s side were also wasteful Taking a 2-0 lead, they lost 3-2 to Brighton, while both Crystal Palace and Ipswich failed to win. In 2024/25 they met ‘Dr Tottenham’.
Despite the indifferent form, Spurs’ home and away fans have been supporting them since the manager’s appointment in the summer of 2023. But Postkoglu spoke to a small group of visiting supporters at the Vitality Stadium on Thursday night. The Australian commented that he “didn’t like what people were saying” but that sometimes “you have to live with it”.
While it is certainly too early to discuss Postkoglu’s future, the 59-year-old must try to prevent Spurs from entering a busy period, with Spurs set to play seven games between now and the New Year. Following Sunday’s London derby with Chelsea, they face a crucial Europa League tie at Ibrox next Thursday, while they face Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on December 19.
