Another day, and another match where Tottenham Hotspur showcased the good, the bad, and the ugly side of their game in one 90-minute sitting. Having been 2-0 down for just under an hour, a last-minute winner from Rodrigo Bentancur saw Spurs emerge 3-2 winners against a resolute Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
As has often been the case this season, Spurs made a slow start to proceedings, and were duly punished by the hosts when Keiffer Moore swept home Marcus Tavernier’s cross shortly after 20 minutes.
Spurs were unlucky not to be level before half-time when Heung-Min Son’s cross was headed onto the post by Marcos Senesi, but could have little complaints about being 2-0 down shortly after the restart, when Moore beat Emerson Royal to head in off the bar from Adam Smith’s wicked cross.
Nevertheless, Spurs kept plugging away without creating much, but were rewarded for their persistence just before the hour mark when Ryan Sessegnon – on the cusp of being substituted – latched onto Pierre-Emile Hojberg’s split pass to fire past Mark Travers and give the visitors a lifeline.
From then on, Spurs ramped up the pressure on Bournemouth, and were again rewarded for further persistence when Travers was beaten to Ivan Perisic’s corner by Ben Davies, who headed home his first goal of the season to level the game at 2-2.
Smelling blood, the visitors kept pushing, and when Hojberg curled narrowly over the bar, it looked as though we were set for a share of the spoils on the South coast. However, Rodrigo Bentancur had other ideas, and reacted quickest to a half-cleared Son corner to lash home the winner and consolidate Spurs’ top-four position ahead of Tuesday’s crucial trip to Marseille.
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