Bournemouth 2 Tottenham 3: Bentancur hero as Spurs fight from two down to snatch last-gasp win and keep title bid alive
ANTONIO CONTE avoided an embarrassing defeat on the south coast as his Tottenham super-subs produced a stunning comeback.
Kieffer Moore put Bournemouth into a shock 2-0 lead at the Vitality Stadium with a brace either side of the break.
Spurs boss Conte had made six changes for this clash, including dropping Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ivan Perisic to the bench, with a crucial week of their season around the corner.
A trip to France to face Marseille in a Champions League Last 16 showdown clash is followed by the welcoming of Liverpool to north London.
Conte was forced to bring that trio on to help rescue something as Ryan Sessegnon and Ben Davies each scored to ensure they did not suffer a third successive Premier League loss.
And in injury time, Bentancur smashed home the winner after a six-yard box scramble from a poorly defended corner.
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In a game that would have seen more painful ground lost, Spurs maintain their third-place spot and edge to within two points of rivals Arsenal having played two games more.
Nothing should be taken away from the Cherries, who appear to be going from strength to strength under interim Gary O’Neil – a man deserving of this job full-time.
As each game goes by, you wonder what is going through the mind of Scott Parker, their ex-boss who convinced the outside world and his own squad that they were not good enough to compete in this division. How wrong he is turning out to be.
O’Neil really went for it with his team selection, bringing in Moore to partner Solanke up top, the latter recovering from a previous ankle knock to start.
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The pair were involved in everything good the hosts pulled off as Moore headed just over from an early Lewis Cook corner before Marcus Tavernier forced Lloris into a smart stop.
Spurs simply could not get on the ball with their half-hearted press, and when they did they were poor, with Harry Kane dropping deep to play off scraps.
Bournemouth were creating heaps, and got their reward in the 22nd minute with Spurs’ backline a mess. Solanke’s flick around the corner set Tavernier away, who squared for Moore’s first Prem goal since the opening day.
The closest Spurs came was via Marcos Senesi’s header onto his own post before Emerson Royal cleared the ground with a woeful volley. The away end chanted: ‘What the f*****g hell was that?’.
Moura was chucked on at the break for Oliver Skipp to provide some much-needed zip, only for Moore to grab another in the 50th minute.
That could have been the killer blow had to not been for Spurs’ quick response through Sessegnon’s 57th minute deflected effort across goal and into the far corner.
Conte reacted, hauling off Sanchez and Yves Bissouma for Bentancur and Dier, as well as Perisic for Royal.
Perisic’s 73rd minute corner to the far post met an unmarked Ben Davies to head into an empty net, sparking a peppering of Bournemouth’s goal not seen since their 9-0 defeat to Liverpool back in August.
Mark Travers stood firm to keep out Heun-Min Son’s best chance of the match from Dier’s pull-back.
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O’Neil’s men were tiring, and Conte could smell blood, springing into life on the sidelines.
And in the 92nd minute, that comeback was complete thanks to Bentancur’s improvised finish in the box.