Bournemouth 0 Tottenham 0: Mauricio Pochettino’s men were held at the Vitality Stadium after an impressive Cherries display

BOURNEMOUTH put in a valiant display after they held Tottenham to a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium.

The visitors came close in the first half on two occasions, Erik Lamela hit the woodwork from distance before Christian Eriksen's long shot took a big deflection but Atur Boruc reacted well to save it.

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But the big talking point five minutes before the interval was Craig Pawson's decision not to send Erik Lamela off for a second bookable offence, after he lunged in from behind to foul Dan Gosling.

The second half was very cagey with both teams failing to open each other up, but although it was a quiet afternoon for the keepers, Pawson found himself whistling for 24 fouls by the end of the game.

The game ended on a sour note when Moussa Sissoko caught Arter with an elbow after the ball had gone out for a throwing, but after players jumped in to protect their teammates, Sissoko luckily got away with just a warning.

Bournemouth came close in the dying moments after Simon Francis whipped in a delightful cross from a set piece, which was dealt with, but delivering another ball but Benik Afobe's header just flew over Hugo Lloris' goal.

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FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS

• Sissoko will most likely get a retrospective three-match ban for violent conduct after elbowing Arter in the face. Ref Pawson consulted the linesman but did not take action – he would have if he’d seen it meaning Sissoko is almost certain to get done by the FA.
• Andrew Surman was taken ill before the game and Dan Gosling took his place ahead of kick-off.
• Jack Wilshere was getting dog’s abuse from Spurs fans as you can imagine. The boys from the Lane kept calling the English midfielder something starting with a W. Not Wilshere.
• This was a very particular test for Wilshere up against Wanyama, one of the top destroyers in the Premier League. You could say honours even for effort but Wanyama’s job is to stop – and Wilshere didn’t do much so…
• Particularly as England boss Gareth Southgate was here to run the rule over 12 English players on the pitch. Wilshere had not completed the full 90 minutes for Bournemouth till yesterday.
• The way Eddie Howe’s men ran Tottenham ragged was impressive. Arter led with his tireless running the way but all the Cherries were up for this.
• So much so that Tottenham lost their rags a bit and had four players booked all for bad challenges in the first half. And in fact Rose was lucky to stay on for a shocking challenge on King from behind.
• And Lamela, already on a booking for a nasty challenge on Smith then stupidly took out Gosling from behind before the interval but the ref let him off. It was unnecessary, hotheaded and silly.
• Arter was by far Bournemouth’s top player and ran a marathon. When Dele Alli came off the Bournemouth fans chanted: “You’re just a s**t Harry Arter”. Harsh.
• We came to see if Tottenham could extend their unbeaten run to 9 games. It’s their longest unbeaten run at the start of a season since 1990 when they went ten unbeaten.

BIG PICTURE

SOCIAL SAYS

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

BOURNEMOUTH: Boruc 7, Smith 7, Francis 8, Cook 7, Daniels 6, Gosling 7, Ibe 6 (Gradel 60, 5), Arter 7, Wilshere 6, King 6 (Fraser 88, 6), Wilson 6 (Afobe 82, 6).

Subs not used: Ake, Federici, Mings, Mousset.

Booked: Gosling, Gradel.

TOTTENHAM: Lloris 7, Walker 6, Dier 6, Vertonghen 7, Rose 6, Wanyama 7, Dembele 7, Lamela 7, Eriksen 6, Alli 6 (Sissoko 72, 6), Son 5 (Janssen 62, 5).

Subs not used: Vorm, Trippier, Wimmer, Winks, Davies.

Booked: Vertonghen, Rose, Dele, Lamela.

WHAT THEY SAID

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said: "I am more proud of the players today than after winning 6-1 last week against Hull.

"We went toe to toe with an outstanding team and it was a game of real quality. We did not deserve to lose it, we had good moments too. We managed to nullify most of their threat."

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said: "If we want to be contenders, we need to win games like these.

"It was a very competitive game, they were ready to compete and it was tough. We managed the whole game, but if you don't score it is difficult to win. We fought loads and it is one point more and a clean sheet."