Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
Wembley StadiumAttendance73,502.
Sunday 15 October 2017 07:43, UK
Christian Eriksen's early second-half strike fired Tottenham to their first Premier League win at Wembley with a 1-0 victory against a spirited Bournemouth side.
Eriksen's (47) third goal in the Premier League this season ensured Tottenham emerged victorious against Eddie Howe's men, who were defensively solid for most of the match.
Harry Kane had two glorious chances to put Spurs further ahead in the second half, but Bournemouth were able to limit the hosts to just the one goal as their away troubles continue.
Victory for Tottenham places them four points ahead of rivals Chelsea in third, while Bournemouth drop down to 19th after their fourth consecutive loss on the road.
Even though Tottenham had the majority of possession in the opening 20 minutes, Bournemouth blew two great opportunities to take the lead. On the counter-attack, Junior Stanislas' first-time shot was blocked by Davinson Sanchez shortly before a dangerous corner forced Hugo Lloris into a reflex save to prevent Eric Dier from scoring an own goal.
Tottenham struggled to break down Bournemouth's compact defence but their best chance of the half arrived to Kane, who met Eriksen's curling pass around the Cherries defence but his scuffed shot was parried away by Asmir Begovic.
Mauricio Pochettino's side improved drastically in the second half with Eriksen scoring the opener in the 47th minute. The Denmark international jinked past Steve Cook with ease before slotting home.
Begovic was called into action to make a superb double save against Kane on the hour mark as Spurs continued to apply the pressure, but neither of the England striker's close-range attempts could beat the experienced Bosnia international.
Jordon Ibe and Jermain Defoe almost made an instant impact in the 75th minute as Ibe played a lovely reverse pass through to former Spurs striker, but his low strike was saved by Lloris' trailing foot at the near post.
Begovic was called into action twice in the final 15 minutes. First he denied Eriksen from the edge of the box before coming out to tackle Georges-Kevin N'Koudou on the edge of the box in the final minute, but Spurs held on for a significant victory.
Bournemouth may have lost in the Premier League again, but the scoreline could have been far worse if not for the goalkeeping heroics of Begovic.
The former Stoke and Chelsea goalkeeper made five crucial saves in the contest, and also showed great bravery to deny Georges-Kevin N'Koudou a late second goal in injury time.
Mauricio Pochettino: "It was important it was a game we needed to win and take the three points but it was difficult but in the end our performance was enough to take the three points.
"In the Premier League you can always concede some chances, Jermain [Defoe] had one and Hugo Lloris made two big saves and was fantastic.
"It's normal for you to ask [about Wembley] when we don't win here. But I am so pleased to avoid the question this week and hopefully for the rest of the season."
Eddie Howe: "We're encouraged by our performances of late. At the start of the season we were concerned that we weren't performing and getting beaten which is the worst scenario.
"Suddenly performance are picking up and if we continue to play like that I'm sure we'll be fine."
"You could almost sense the relief in the cheer when the final whistle went.
"Finally, three points - even though it was probably a little bit tighter than they would have liked. All the time when it's 1-0 in the Premier League you know a chance could be created in the blink of an eye. Relief is the word of the day for Spurs.
"I think I would be a little bit concerned if I were a Bournemouth fan. We are eight games into the season now and the table is starting to take shape.
"If you are sat in that bottom three there are concerns starting to be raised. However, there's enough encouragement in some of the performances this season not to stress too much."
What's next?
Tottenham have a crucial Champions League tie against holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night. Bournemouth, meanwhile, travel to Stoke City next Saturday.
