Facing a Bournemouth side struggling to avoid relegation should be an easy three points for teams with Champions League aspirations. If they’re not Tottenham, that is. Saturday the club lost 3-2 to Bournemouth in dramatic fashion, failing to take advantage of a Newcastle United loss earlier in the day to Aston Villa, and whiffing on a golden opportunity to gain ground in a tight race for the top four.
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After sacking Antonio Conte near the end of March, Spurs have only won one game under interim manager Cristian Stellini. And even that game, a 2-1 victory over Brighton required an apology from the Professional Game Match Officials Board because Brighton should’ve been awarded a penalty that could’ve turned the game into a draw or worse for Spurs.
Yet somehow, with all the missteps that the club has gone through, they’re sill in the top four race although, Saturday’s loss could end up being the moment where that ends. With Newcastle United losing to Aston Villa, Spurs had a chance to draw level with the Magpies and Manchester United on points, but the defense let the team down in the worst way…again.
Davidson Sanchez, who was only on the field because of an injury to Clement Lenglet, gifted Dominic Solanke with a chance that he wouldn’t miss to put the Cherries ahead. Sanchez was immediately taken out of the game after that, showing how unacceptable defensive errors of that magnitude are at this point of the season.
Tottenham turned things around as on loan Arnut Danjuma was able to score against his former club in the 88th minute, but the late equalizer didn’t stand. As Spurs pushed for a winner, the Cherries caught them on the counterattack, and Dango Ouattara scored the winner. This is a match that would’ve been bad enough as a draw, especially given the chances, like a free Richarlison header on goal, that Spurs managed to generate that could have given them a dramatic late win. Instesad it goes down as a loss and it’s downright devastating.
Spurs are a team that can still control their own destiny in the top four, with matches against Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool in the coming weeks. There is also a matchup with Unai Emery’s resurgent sixth-place Aston Villa side coming soon too. This is a run that the team could have used the confidence of a dramatic late win to propel them through. Now, based on the three results following the end of the Conte era, it’s hard to see things turning out well.
Always prone to a late season spiral, there’s a reason why the term “Spursy” exists. This team has a chance to defy that narrative if they can take the reigns and qualify for Champions League without a permanent manager but with the early returns, it doesn’t look good.