Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Bournemouth: Cherries boost survival hopes with last-gasp winner

Manager Gary O’Neil said relegation-threatened Bournemouth “took a huge step” towards Premier League survival as substitute Dango Ouattara scored a stoppage-time winner in a stunning finish at Tottenham.

The Cherries looked set to clinch all three points after Dominic Solanke put them in front early in the second half, only for Arnaut Danjuma to come off the bench and equalise against his former club on 88 minutes.

Fellow Spurs substitute Richarlison then sent a free header wide deep into stoppage time and, moments later, the visitors went up the other end and Ouattara netted a dramatic winner.

After winning at relegation rivals Leicester last week to climb out of the bottom three, the Cherries are now six points clear of the drop zone in 14th.

“To come here and win is one thing, to come here and be as dominant as we were is impressive,” said O’Neil, whose side next face relegation rivals West Ham, Southampton and Leeds in the space of seven days.

“We’ll enjoy this one but we try not to get too carried away. There’s a huge week coming next week as well so we’ll make sure the lads are ready.”

Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes after Bournemouth’s coach got stuck in traffic following a crash but the Cherries were fully prepared to fight back after Son swept in Ivan Perisic’s cutback.

Vina, a January loan signing from Roma, equalised after a high press allowed the visitors to win the ball back deep in the hosts’ half, before Solanke dinked in his fifth league goal of the season.

Dutch winger Danjuma fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to set up a rousing finale as Spurs hunted a win which would have moved them level on points with Newcastle and Manchester United.

Bournemouth suffered an agonising late defeat at Arsenal last month, but Burkina Faso forward Ouattara fired home his first Premier League goal to ensure it was a triumphant return to north London.

Spurs remain fifth as chairman Daniel Levy continues to search for Antonio Conte’s successor, with Burnley boss Vincent Kompany the latest to be linked with the job this week.

‘Sanchez story sad for everyone at Spurs’

Tottenham’s bid for Champions League qualification received a boost before kick-off as Newcastle’s winning run was halted at Aston Villa in Saturday’s early game.

And they looked set to take advantage as Son scored in back-to-back games for Tottenham for the first time since last May.

French defender Clement Lenglet delivered a perfect ball over the top of the Bournemouth defence for Perisic who set up Son to open the scoring from eight yards via a slight deflection.

Son and Harry Kane were both denied before the visitors hit back, with Pedro Porro caught in possession for Bournemouth’s first goal and Davinson Sanchez, who came on for an injured Lenglet, inadvertently turning the ball into Solanke’s path for the second.

Interim boss Cristian Stellini said this week that Tottenham must approach their last eight games of the season like eight finals if they are to secure a top-four finish.

With fans repeating their chants of “we want Levy out”, Spurs did not look like a team competing for a place in the top tier of European football until Danjuma’s late equaliser.

And after complaining about his lack of game time under Conte this season, Richarlison spurned a chance to stake his claim as Tottenham slipped to a damaging defeat, especially with games against Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool coming next.

Spurs fans also appeared to boo Sanchez after Bournemouth went 2-1 up and the Colombia defender, 26, was replaced by Danjuma after being on the field for just 23 minutes.

“I’ve never seen this in my career,” captain Hugo Lloris told beIN Sport. “I feel really bad for Davinson. He’s a team-mate, he’s a friend and he’s been fighting for the club for many, many years now.

“The story is sad for the club, the fans and the player. It’s something you don’t want to see in football.”

Rookie boss O’Neil makes right calls

Bournemouth had won four of their past eight games to climb out of the relegation zone and this week O’Neil stressed a similar points tally over the final eight matches would be enough to secure survival.

And despite only arriving at the ground at 14:15, they shrugged off the pre-match disruption and set about trying to secure three vital points in a positive manner.

Fit-again winger Marcus Tavernier made his first start since February and was caught square for Son’s opener as the Cherries played a high defensive line, but he brushed off that setback to test Lloris.

Philip Billing and Solanke then combined to play in Vina, who dinked the ball over the Spurs goalkeeper to equalise, before Solanke provided a similar finish early in the second half.

Tavernier came on for Ouattara last week as O’Neil made a bold tactical change before half-time, but this week it was Ouattara who was brought on and scored the winner, cutting inside to convert after being found by Solanke.

The visitors’ other scorer Vina started because fellow full-back Adam Smith is one booking away from a two-game ban – although O’Neil introduced him to bolster Bournemouth’s backline late on.

The rookie boss is making the right calls at the right time, and the away fans were singing “we are staying up” even before the late drama.

The Cherries have now secured back-to-back victories in the Premier League for the first time since February 2020 – and successive top-flight away wins for the first time since October 2018.

• Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment