Tottenham Hotspur earned three points with Rodrigo Bentancur‘s stoppage-time goal in yesterday’s away game. The Spurs were two goals down against Bournemouth. But they completed their comeback just a few minutes before the final whistle.
Throughout the game, Tottenham Hotspur dominated the game, but the scoreline was in Bournemouth’s favour. Antonio Conte’s defenders were not able to compete against Bournemouth’s attackers, and they were behind until the 56th minute.
The 3-2 win of yesterday, helped Tottenham to retain their third spot in the league table. Right now, they are just three points behind the league leader Manchester City.
On the other hand, Bournemouth has suffered three straight defeats and currently is in the bottom half of the table.
Match Day Activity of Tottenham Hotspur
Conte did take a risk and benched a few of his regular players. But he soon regretted his decision, as the opponent destroyed their defense. Eric Dier, and Bentancur both players started the game from the bench. Lucas Moura also came from the bench to add some attacking power in the midfield.
In the first half, Kieffer Moore scored the opener in the 22nd minute with Tavernier’s assist. Before the halftime whistle, Bournemouth was leading the scoreline with one goal.
In the second half of the game, the situation got worse for the Spurs. Moore scored again in the 49th minute with a header from a brilliant cross of former Tottenham man Adam Smith. But things began to change when Sessegnon scored in the 57th minute from a long pass of Hojbjerg. But the excessive number of corners really changed the whole dynamic of the Spurs game. As their final two goals came from the corners in the 73rd and 92nd minutes of the game.
Tottenham Hotspur deserved to win this game. Even though they were behind in the game most of the time. Conte’s men had almost 69% of the possession. They had staggering 19 corners in the game. Both their winner and the equaliser also came from the corner. They did not shy away in the attack with 7 shots on target out of 23 shots.
Both Managers in the Post-Match Interview
Conte walked down the tunnel during the celebration of the winning goal, but he returned to the pitch again just a few minutes later. During the post-match interview, the manager revealed the reason. He spoke: “I came back when I knew that the goal was regular. I thought in my mind and my heart that if something happens then I can have a heart attack because in two days to score and then to be disallowed I said, I go down [the tunnel].”
Interim Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil also revealed his thoughts on the game. He spoke: “They put everything in and got nothing out. The nature of that is tough to take, so I am really disappointed for the group.”
O’Neil believes that the substitutes changed the game for Tottenham. As he added: “When they bring on Lucas Moura, Perisic, Bryan Gil, Bentancur and keep bringing world-class players off the bench, you think it is tricky. We have lost against Tottenham and that is never a disgrace.”
The next game of Tottenham Hotspur will be a vital one, as they will face Marseille on Wednesday to seal their fate of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League.
