AFC Bournemouth travelled to London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, recent victories over Liverpool, Fulham and Leicester City had really raised the mood around the Cherries camp and AFC Bournemouth head coach Gary O’Neil’s side travelled to the game in good spirits… or at least they began the journey in good spirits but having only turned up 45 minutes before kick-off due to traffic in London, they may not have arrived in a particularly good mood.
Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes and O’Neil opted to tactically go like-for-like with Spurs which saw a switch to three at the back with Chris Mepham, Jack Stephens and Lloyd Kelly. Marcus Tavernier and Matias Vina were picked as the wing-backs. In central midfield, it was the regular trio of Jefferson Lerma, Joe Rothwell and Philip Billing with Ryan Christie supporting Dominic Solanke up front.
The Cherries came from behind to lead 2-1 through goals from Vina and Solanke, until former AFC Bournemouth player Arnaut Danjuma scored a hugely controversial goal with Harry Kane obscuring Neto’s view to the point where Neto had to move to his left to actually see the ball. At that exact moment, Danjuma struck putting it to Neto’s right, almost grazing Kane’s knee in the process. Andy Madley the referee inexplicably decided that this wasn’t interfering with play and the goal stood.
Justice was done however as in the 95th minute O. Dango channelled his inner Marc Pugh to cut inside and score a dramatic winner.
After the match, O’Neil told Sky Sports…
“We set off from the hotel as usual. The roads were clear and there was an accident just in front of us so firstly I hope everyone involved is okay. Then unfortunately we were sat without being to move for 55 minutes.
“Then we arrived and people were pushing hard to get us to kick-off at 3.05pm. Obviously I was pushing hard for us to delay it as long as I could because the lads need their normal preparation time.
“I didn’t see the rush really so I was pushing hard to get it for safety reasons. Players need their normal prep. We can’t afford to lose people because they’ve not managed to warm up properly.
“Thankfully we delayed it just enough because the performance of the players was excellent. To see out the game against such a good side was an incredible achievement.
“It was a rollercoaster of a last 10 minutes – it was very up-and-down. I’ve settled down now, will enjoy this evening but I’ve already switched focus on to how I get the group ready for the next one.
One very proud gaffer ā¤ļø
— AFC Bournemouth š (@afcbournemouth) April 15, 2023
Man of the match against Spurs
Solanke
Vina
Tavernier
Mepham
O. Dango
Lerma
Rothwell
Someone else
Gk union whatās your thoughts ??? On or offside ??? pic.twitter.com/wvXrRt2IPg
— Neil Moss (@Neil_Moss1975) April 15, 2023
Written by afcb_rednblack
What a wonderful day, and a fantastic result! Congratulations GON, another great win, and really well done to all the lads who played well and didnāt give up.
Very happy to score my first goal in @premierleague. Thanks to everyone for making that possible. @afcbournemouth pic.twitter.com/Y5dJ1s7SYL
— Dango Ouattara (@DangoOuattara) April 15, 2023
95 – Dango Ouattaraās winner (94:11) was the latest winning goal Bournemouth have ever scored in the Premier League and the second latest winning goal scored against Spurs by any team on record (since 2006-07), after Mario Balotelli for Man City in January 2012 (94:39). Stunned. pic.twitter.com/h96atOVCzO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 15, 2023
AFCBade said…
Winning at spurs – imagine what we could do with a decent recruitment policy!! Vina and Ouatarra vital goals while hopefully, Domās contribution shuts up a few critics.
Danjuma – have a good evening !
afcb_rednblack wrote…
I found him (Danjuma) quite irritating after he scored, it was the way that he was trying to wind up the crowd after he scored.
I understand it on one level, but, with him, it just smacks of pure arrogance. – To join the conversation, click here.
This group, this club š„¹ pic.twitter.com/qDq1ARfYnJ
— AFC Bournemouth š (@afcbournemouth) April 15, 2023
Neil Dawson added…
Awesome gameā¦ anyone have Marc Pugh v West Ham flashbacksā¦ an identical goal in the sun but this one a little later and a little more importantā¦
It would have been a travesty had we not gotten anything from that everyone worked their socks off and stuck to the planā¦
One of those were you there moments for the future.
Nobody had a poor game but thought Kelly was superb, so was Vina in his brief stint, Solanke was so pivotal and Rothwell had his best game for us.
Brilliant and allows the whole place to breathe a bit. Creds for the stadium as well it was excellent.
Johnny Comelately said…
Great game, great performance and a well-deserved great result. The whole team played well and matched Spurs man for man. Vina, what a star and such a shame he went off injured. Rothwell was immense but worryingly he looked to be carrying another injury so I just hope the two of them are fit for the next game. And Solanke scored again and might even get the 10-12 goals I was expecting he would get and what better time to get them? GON got his just reward for putting on Anthony and Ouattara rather than just chucking on more defenders and if he keeps that up he might even win me round. 10 out of 10 for the performance and 10 out of 10 as a spectacle. – To join the conversation, click here.
Scenes!š¹ deserved win. Goal was for you lil nephew, Get well soonā¤ļøšš¾. pic.twitter.com/J6ks9vMCvY
— Dom Solanke (@DomSolanke) April 15, 2023
Here is the state of play at the bottom after today's results š¬ pic.twitter.com/0SkOhVWEJv
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 15, 2023
