Tottenham Hotspur 4 Bournemouth 0
White Hart Lane, 15 April 2017
Goal Scorers: M Dembele (16), H Son (19), H Kane (48), V Janssen (90+2)
Perhaps not exactly anticipated as one of the ‘must watch’ matches of the season, this match between Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth kicked off at 12:30pm on Saturday. With the usual capacity crowd in this final season of this incarnation of White Hart Lane stadium filling up to some 31,943 fans, many Bournemouth supporters must have hoping for something of a miracle given Spurs had won their last 6 matches in the league.
This was always going to be a match that Tottenham needed to win, as they continue their pursuit of Chelsea in relation to the Premier League title race. And it was a match that would see them playing right up to the top of their game with a resounding 4-0 win over a stunned Bournemouth.
With goals from Man of the Match Mousa Dembele, Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane (who was finally making his return to the pitch after his recent ankle ligament trouble) along with a first class effort and goal from substitute Vincent Janssen, it was certainly downhill all the way for the hapless Cherries. Spurs had 69% of possession and 14 shots on target vs Bournemouth’s 1. The dominance was complete.
This result of this match does of course mean that it has now been seven straight winning Premier League games in a row for Spurs which is something they have not achieved in over 50 years, and the Spurs crowd certainly showed their appreciation with roaring support throughout the match.
It was Kane’s impressive return to the pitch and his gladiator-like efforts from very early on in the game that stood out, with an outstanding effort within five minutes which was knocked away by Artur Boruc, even though the offside flag had been raised at that point.
Bournemouth were on the defensive from very early on, however it seemed a foregone conclusion to anyone watching that those defensive efforts were not going to be enough to tame the Spurs attacks. And it was at the 16th minute that Dembele managed to bag his first goal of the season.
Three minutes later, Christian Erisken fed Kane who in turn flicked the ball over to Son and he duly powered in the second goal. It was then Kane in the 48th minute who managed to bang in yet another goal.
Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino wound the match down in the closing stages by substituting some of his best players in Kane (79 minutes), Alli (84) and Eriksen (87). Despite coming on for Eriksen at 87 minutes, finally Vincent Janssen had the home team supporters singing their approval (‘He’s Vincent Janssen, he scores when he wants’) when he banged in a goal from close range at the 90+2 minute mark.
It was not a match that Bournemouth fans would have enjoyed watching, that’s for sure. They rarely ventured out of their own half, with the only noticeable effort by any of their players to try and score being at the 72 minute mark when Charlie Daniels tried his best, but failed to score. Other than that, they were almost constantly forced to play defensively. That’s now two 4-0 victories in a row for Spurs, who go to Wembley next for the FA Cup semi final against Chelsea.