Report as Spurs suffer sixth straight away defeat
Saturday 4 May 2019 21:40, UK
Heung-Min Son and Juan Foyth were sent off for Tottenham as Bournemouth left it late to break their resistance in a 1-0 win on Saturday.
Son saw red (43) for an uncharacteristically aggressive reaction to a tackle from Jefferson Lerma. Substitute Foyth was on the pitch for just three minutes before he was dismissed (48) for a high lunge on Jack Simpson.
That left Bournemouth with the game at their mercy but Spurs defended resolutely despite a two-man disadvantage until Nathan Ake headed the winning goal in injury-time (90).
Before the two red cards, Spurs created ample opportunities but were repelled by an inspired debut performance from 19-year-old goalkeeper Mark Travers, who made four top-class stops on an amazing introduction to senior football.
The result leaves Mauricio Pochettino's men just four points ahead of Arsenal in fifth, but a win in their final game with Everton will guarantee a top-four finish.
Travers was into the action early as he produced a string of saves to show why Eddie Howe was confident of throwing him into Premier League waters for his debut.
Dele Alli was denied by a flying parried save before Lucas Moura was thwarted in similar fashion.
Spurs continued to create plenty of openings but Travers stood strong to repel an Alli header from 10 yards and used his feet to divert away a Moura effort.
Eric Dier was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch when, already booked, he tackled Joshua King from behind but the referee deemed it a fair challenge.
However, Son was dismissed before the half-time whistle.
The South Korean pushed Lerma over after trying to retrieve possession which referee Craig Pawson deemed a piece of dangerous play.
Pawson had the red out again just three minutes after the restart as Spurs' afternoon got even worse. Foyth, on the pitch for just three minutes, overran the ball and went through with a foot raised on Simpson.
Hugo Lloris was expected to be busy but Bournemouth struggled to break down the well-marshalled nine men.
Just as Spurs looked likely to see it out, Ake got his team out of jail to power home a Ryan Fraser corner in stoppage time.
They say goalkeepers do not peak until their 30s. Using that theory, Bournemouth have quite a talent on their hands. His first-half display will be one he will not forget in a hurry.
The 19-year-old made five saves to repel the Spurs strikers with four of them out of the top drawer. Travers is just the fifth different teenager to keep a clean sheet on his Premier League debut, joining Richard Wright, Paul Robinson, Paul Rachubka and Joe Hart in doing so.
Eddie Howe: "I think (survival) is a huge achievement. At the end of the season our biggest challenge is always to keep our best players. We've been able to do that to this point, I think this will be our biggest summer in terms of doing that. I am confident that we can and it's really important that we do."
Mauricio Pochettino: "Two red cards, very difficult for the team - we fight, we made the effort, only disappointed and we need to move on. I respect the decision of the referee. We are third, we are competing for the top four, we are in the semi-final of the Champions League - I think if you go back to our first game of the season in the Premier League, everybody would sign to be in the position that we are in.
Spurs are back in Champions League action on Wednesday when they go to Ajax to try and overturn their 1-0 first-leg defeat. Meanwhile, Bournemouth's final game of the season is away at Crystal Palace.
