Dean Huijsen heads Bournemouth to victory against toothless Tottenham
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham: The Cherries added to victories over Arsenal and Man City with a fully deserved win over Spurs
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Your support makes all the difference.Teenage defender Dean Huijsen became AFC Bournemouth’s youngest Premier League goalscorer by heading his side to a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Vitality Stadium.
Andoni Iraola’s Cherries had upset title hopefuls Arsenal and Manchester City in two of their previous three fixtures on home soil.
Spain Under-21 international Huijsen, aged 19 years and 235 days, secured a further scalp for the south-coast club with a 17th-minute winner as inconsistent Spurs suffered another setback of a patchy season so far.
Bournemouth leapfrogged Ange Postecoglou’s visitors into ninth position following a deserved success which should have been more comfortable.
Ryan Christie struck the woodwork and the impressive hosts failed to capitalise on a host of chances, while toothless Tottenham created little going forward.
Inconsistent Spurs hammered champions Manchester City 4-0 in their previous away fixture but that was their only win in five games in all competitions ahead of the trip to Dorset.
Dominic Solanke was passed fit to face his former club after missing Sunday’s 1-1 draw at home to Fulham due to illness, with captain Son Heung-min dropping to the bench as part of three changes.
The north London club started in the ascendancy and, after the recalled Dejan Kulusevski shot straight at Cherries goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, Solanke fired wastefully over, having been released by stand-in skipper James Maddison.
Bournemouth looked lively on the counter-attack and edged ahead.
Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster initially produced a fine save to deny Evanilson following dithering from Radu Dragusin but, from the resultant inswinging corner taken by Marcus Tavernier, Huijsen, a summer signing from Juventus, arrived unmarked at the back post to nod home.
While Tottenham continued to dominate possession, the Cherries remained the greater threat.
Tavernier had the ball in the net 14 minutes after the opener but was clearly offside, before later seeing a close-range header from Milos Kerkez’s cross clawed away by Forster.
Despite Tottenham’s shortcomings, Postecoglou opted against changes at the break.
His team resumed on the front foot, albeit still looking susceptible on the break, with Justin Kluivert, who hit a hat-trick of penalties in Saturday’s 4-2 win at Wolves, coming close to doubling the Cherries’ lead.
Son replaced Pape Sarr in the 57th minute and immediately increased the tempo of Tottenham’s play.
The South Korea international finished on the rebound two minutes after his introduction following Kulusevski’s initial effort but was denied by an offside flag, before later slipping in Maddison, who curled narrowly wide.
Fellow substitute Pedro Porro tested Kepa with a thumping low drive, prior to Christie striking the base of the left post at the other end.
Tottenham survived a major scare 18 minutes from time when Evanilson’s close-range finish was disallowed for offside after Forster’s risky pass to Kulusevski was intercepted.
Bournemouth should have put the game beyond Spurs, with Tavernier and substitute Dango Ouattara each squandering excellent opportunities by firing over.
The misses ensured plenty of tension during six minutes of added time but mattered little in the end as Spurs could not muster a meaningful attempt to snatch a point.
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