Christian Eriksen celebrates putting Spurs in front
Christian Eriksen celebrates putting Spurs in front

Tottenham 1-0 Bournemouth: Spurs end wait for Premier League win at Wembley thanks to Christian Eriksen's goal


Tottenham are finally off the mark at Wembley after Christian Eriksen sealed a narrow win over Bournemouth and his side's first Premier League victory under the arch.

This was still not the imperious Spurs of White Hart Lane last season but Eriksen at least gave their stop-start display a positive finish, his second-half strike securing a morale-boosting 1-0 victory.

While Mauricio Pochettino's men stay third, five points off league leaders Manchester City, Bournemouth remain pointless from what is now four league games on the road. They sit 19th.

Harry Kane has rightly taken the plaudits in recent weeks for his relentless scoring form but on a rare off-day – his first game in six without a goal - it was Eriksen's turn to assume the limelight.

Eriksen has been by far Tottenham's best supporting act during Kane's golden streak and after scoring twice in two games for Denmark over the international break, another here means he now has four in five for club and country.


Story of the odds (Sky Bet)

  • Tottenham to win 1‐0 was 8/1 pre-match
  • Christian Eriksen to score the first goal was a 13/2 chance
  • The biggest winning RequestABet was Tottenham to win, both team to score 'no' and five or more corners for each team at 10/1

Bournemouth certainly had chances of their own but Eddie Howe must add some edge to their creativity if they are to avoid a relegation battle this term. The Cherries have managed only four goals in eight league games so far and are into 6/4 with Sky Bet to go down.

The opening 45 minutes was almost entirely forgettable except for two Bournemouth chances that arrived in quick succession.

First Adam Smith pulled back for Junior Stanislas but the finish was deflected wide of the shoulder of Davinson Sanchez. Then from the resulting corner Toby Alderweireld almost turned the ball into his own net but Hugo Lloris was quick to get down and claw it away to safety.

Otherwise, it looked like the same old Wembley story for Spurs, possession aplenty but tempo lacking and chances few and far between.

Two minutes into the second period, however, Tottenham struck.

Christian Eriksen drives forward for Spurs
Christian Eriksen drives forward for Spurs

Eriksen received a pass inside from Son Heung-min and while Simon Francis slid in to block the Dane's drive forward the ball cannoned kindly, allowing the midfielder to steer into the bottom corner.

Spurs now had a spring in their step and Kane might have had a hat-trick before the hour mark as he saw a headed goal correctly chalked off for offside before Asmir Begovic pulled off two excellent close-range saves.

Jermain Defoe came on to a rapturous reception with 15 minutes to play, the stage seemed set for the striker to upset his former club.

He almost did too, forcing Lloris into a smart save at his near post after fellow substitute Jordon Ibe had played a neat reverse pass.

However, Spurs held on for a much-needed win at their temporary home.

They remained unchanged in the title betting as 14/1 fourth favourites. Pochettino's side are now also 2/5 for a top-four finish.

Post-match reaction

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino: "I think it's important that not only Harry Kane scores goals, today it was Christian.

"Harry is so happy, when he scores he is more than happy but he's so happy first of all because he wants always to win.

"But it's important that different players score goals too."

Pochettino on ending the win wait at Wembley: "I think it's so important to start to feel that you can win here in the Premier League.

"To feel that Wembley is your home.

"I remember more than three years ago, when we arrived I think it was difficult to adapt our game to White Hart Lane, there was a little bit of a problem about the size of the pitch and then we started to feel that we can win and be nearly invincible last season.

"I think we only need time to perform as well and win games here."

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: "I thought we battled away really well, it was always going to be a tough game today.

"We congested the centre of the pitch, we tried to make it difficult for them to penetrate us in that area and probably the one time that they did we conceded from it.

"For the majority of the game, I was delighted with how we implemented the game plan, we just didn't take that chance when it came and obviously the goal's a soft one from our perspective."

Opta facts

  • Tottenham finally recorded a home league win in 2017/18, after drawing two and losing one of their previous three this season.
  • Bournemouth directed just one shot on target in the game, something they last managed in a Premier League match last April, against Spurs.
  • Christian Eriksen has scored three goals in his last five Premier League games, as many as in his previous 24.
  • Harry Kane has failed to score in his first four home Premier League games of the season, despite scoring six goals overall. The only other player to do this was Alan Shearer in 93/94.
  • Kane has now mustered 28 shots in home league games this season without scoring, with 10 of them on target.
  • The Lilywhites have kept four clean sheets in their last five Premier League games after keeping just one in the seven before that.
  • The Cherries have managed just one clean sheet in their last 11 top-flight games.
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