Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Vitality StadiumAttendance10,567.
Match report and free highlights as Tottenham earn a 2-0 win at Bournemouth to continue their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season; James Maddison was fit to play and opened the scoring for Spurs in the first half before Dejan Kulusevski added a second goal after the break
Saturday 26 August 2023 21:59, UK
Tottenham continued their unbeaten start under new head coach Ange Postecoglou with a deserved 2-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
James Maddison was fit to play after suffering an ankle injury during last weekend's victory over Manchester United, and it was the England international who gave Spurs the lead in the 17th minute when he turned in Pape Sarr's precise through ball to end a fine passing move.
Maddison was outstanding throughout and could have put the visitors in front just minutes before his opener had it not been for Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto, whose initial mistake gave Tottenham possession before he made amends by saving the playmaker's low strike.
Bournemouth improved after the break but could do little to prevent Spurs from doubling their advantage 18 minutes into the second half. Destiny Udogie danced in from the left and exchanged passes with captain Heung-Min Son before keeping the ball in play brilliantly to find Dejan Kulusevski, who converted from close range to score his first goal since January.
It sealed the win for Tottenham and, with the fixture being the early kick-off on Saturday, the three points temporarily moved them top of the Premier League before they were replaced by West Ham a few hours later.
As for Bournemouth, their wait for a first win under new boss Andoni Iraola continues. Despite showing promising signs in each of their three matches so far, they have managed just one point in the league and will hope their early-season form quickly improves.
After morning sunshine in Bournemouth, the heavens opened by the time referee Tim Robinson blew his whistle and it was a bruising start for Spurs. Udogie, Maddison and Cristian Romero all received early blows in the pouring rain, but it failed to knock the visitors off their stride and the opener arrived in the 17th minute.
Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma exchanged passes before the latter found Sarr, who spotted Maddison's late run and the 26-year-old was able to scuff his shot into the bottom corner from eight yards to register his first goal for Tottenham since his £40m switch from Leicester.
Maddison had been denied by Neto two minutes earlier after a similar move but was running the show despite proving unpopular with the home fans.
Sarr was next to go close but his deflected shot was saved after Maddison and Son combined and Spurs' new captain sent a volley wide after 26 minutes.
It was Maddison again at the heart of Tottenham's next chance when Romero produced a fine tackle on Antoine Semenyo and the visitors' No 10 led the counter-attack before playing through Richarlison, but he was crowded out and the chance went begging.
Richarlison headed Maddison's corner into the side-netting minutes later but Bournemouth - also at the start of a new era under Iraola - did finish the first half strongly. Ryan Christie tested Guglielmo Vicario with a low effort and Philip Billing curled wide from 18 yards.
The Cherries continued their momentum into the second half with Dominic Solanke firing a dangerous ball across the face of goal and Semenyo curling wide.
Postecoglou had seen enough and Richarlison's frustrating afternoon ended not long after he received a yellow card for a late tackle on Illia Zabarnyi with Ivan Perisic and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg introduced by the hour mark.
Son was now down the middle and the tactical tweak worked a treat with a one-two with Udogie resulting in Kulusevski making it 2-0.
Udogie got to the byline and brilliantly cut back for Kulusevski, who flicked into the corner. Kulusevski let out a roar in celebration after his 63rd-minute effort and it was timely for Tottenham.
Maddison could have put the game to bed seven minutes later but dragged wide before Perisic survived a VAR call for shoving Max Aarons.
A raft of substitutions was followed by another downpour alongside thunder and lightning, but it failed to dampen Tottenham's spirits with Postecoglou's side able to continue their promising start with a second consecutive win.
After the match, Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou toasted his new-look team for providing an early birthday present and backed "bargain" James Maddison to get even better.
Postecoglou has overseen an impressive seven-point haul from a possible nine since he took over and admitted he could now enjoy his 58th birthday on Sunday.
"Yeah, I'm 58. We always put birthday celebrations on hold depending on the result but I'm sure my wife is scrambling to arrange something for tomorrow," the Australian smiled.
"It'll be nice. Short turnaround to Fulham so still got to go into work tomorrow but it'll be nice to spend some time with the family and now another click closer to that 60 mark."
Asked about Maddison's performance, Postecoglou said: "There wasn't anyone happier than me when we got him. I was delighted. I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but I'm overjoyed at the footballer I've got. The way he's embraced the whole club, where he's at in his life.
"He really wants to be the person. He's that creative force for us. He works hard, he wins the ball back, presses. It's not like he just comes to life when we've got the ball. He's had a disrupted week. He only had one session with us, but for him to put on a performance like that is credit to him.
"And I think there's more to come when he gets more understanding with our forward players and they get more understanding with him. He's going to keep improving. If we got him in the bargain bin, that's great for us."
The only negative for Tottenham was another game without a goal for Richarlison, who was replaced on the hour mark.
"He just needs to work hard, keep contributing to the team and contributing to us being successful and overcoming the challenges we have," Postecoglou said. "Richy will work hard. He's a good footballer and he'll get his goals."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola said: "I was disappointed probably with the end of the game after the 2-0.
"I think until 2-0 the team was playing really well and it looked like in this moment we had chances to score the 1-1, but from there we probably lacked a little bit of intensity and they were more comfortable on the ball.
"In the first half we put them in really difficult positions. I think Yves Bissouma and James Maddison were in difficult positions, but they are good and they were winning duals even with a man on their back and protecting the ball very well.
"Probably we didn't regain so many balls because for me they could sustain a very good press."
Bournemouth's focus now switches to the Carabao Cup as they visit Swansea in the second round on Tuesday evening at 7.45pm. The Cherries then travel to Brentford for their next Premier League game on Saturday at 3pm.
Tottenham also turn their attention to round two of the Carabao Cup as they make the trip to London rivals Fulham on Tuesday night at 7.45pm. Spurs then go to Burnley for their next Premier League game on Saturday at 3pm.
