Having found themselves two goals down within half an hour at Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Tottenham’s Thursday night trip to the South Coast seemed set for failure even before the half-time whistle.
The North London club failed to have a shot on target in the first half, and their hosts went on to strike twice more, as Pervis Estupinan fired home from long range and Joao Pedro beat Guglielmo Vicario from the spot for a second time.
In the final 10 minutes, Alejo Veliz and Ben Davies pulled two goals back, but Spurs spurned several other late chances and an improbable comeback ultimately proved beyond them.
The South Coast side won 3-2 at Tottenham last season, after losing each of their first five Premier League away games there, and some unstoppable form over the past two months means that another victory on Sunday could not be described as an ‘upset’.
Since their first league win of the season in late October, no team have won more top-flight games (seven) or picked up more points (22) than Andoni Iraola’s inspired side, who had previously languished inside the drop zone.
Following successive victories over Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Fulham – the latter coming courtesy of goals from Justin Kluivert, Luis Sinisterra and leading scorer Dominic Solanke on Boxing Day – the Cherries have moved into mid-table, leaving relegation fears far behind.
Indeed, they have won six of their last seven Premier League games – drawing the other against high-flying Aston Villa – while scoring at least twice each time; now Iraola could set a new club record by guiding his team to five consecutive top-flight victories.
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As a result, Ange Postecoglou’s men sit just behind old foes Arsenal, who occupy fourth place in the Premier League standings, with capital-city rivals West Ham United having closed to within three points of the former table-toppers.
Tottenham now return home for the final fixture of an eventful year, playing their first New Year’s Eve game since 2011. They have failed to win their last league outing in each of the past five calendar years, but Postecoglou will aim to end that run against Bournemouth.
Spurs have scored 32 times in 13 previous Premier League meetings with the Cherries, averaging 2.5 goals per game; however, a very different Bournemouth side will arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on this occasion.
