Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham
Goals: Nathan Ake (£5.1m)
Assists: Ryan Fraser (£6.3m)
Red Cards: Son Heung-min (£8.8m), Juan Foyth (£5.,0m)
Bonus: Fraser x3, Aké x2, Steve Cook (£4.3m)
The early kick-off saw a dramatic encounter in which Bournemouth ended a run of five home matches without a win whilst inflicting a sixth straight away defeat on nine-man Tottenham.
Nathan Aké (£5.1m) nodded in the last gasp winner supplied inevitably by Ryan Fraser (£6.3m) meaning that Tottenham must now wait until Gameweek 38 to secure their top-four status.
Following an impressive start, Spurs were reduced to nine men thanks to the dismissals of Son Heung-min (£8.8m) and Juan Foyth (£5.0m) either side of half time.
Son’s season ended in the 43rd minute when he was sent off for a violent push on Jefferson Lerma (£4.5m).
Whilst uncharacteristic from Son it will no doubt have riled his 22% ownership that kept patience with the South Korean in spite of just two attacking returns in his last 10 league matches.
It will also cause shockwaves amongst the top 10k as he is currently the fourth most popular player within this group. Prior to this Son had rarely impacted the game having just a solitary attempt off target following a trademark dribble.
Whilst Eric Dier (£4.7m) arguably should also have seen red, Foyth was not so lucky getting his marching orders for a lunge on Jack Simpson (£3.9m). Foyth may only be owned by 0.2% of managers so his negative score was not felt by many, but it certainly nullified Tottenham’s attacking threat for the rest of the match and it was only a question of when Bournemouth could find the breakthrough rather than if.
“I think everyone saw what happened. Everyone can have an opinion. It was on live, 12.30. I think I don’t need to explain too much. I think everyone saw on TV and in the stadium here what happened. That is football. It’s impossible to manage everything. That is cruel because I think after fighting for all the second half with nine players, conceding the goal in the last minute is always cruel but that is football. They are the circumstances that we must accept and we need to move on because now it’s wasting time in analysing too much because we have ahead two games, the semi-final against Ajax and at the weekend against Everton, two finals that depend on us. The most important thing now is to move on.” – Mauricio Pochettino
Spurs made three changes from the team defeated by Ajax. Moussa Sissoko (£4.9m), Dier and Son came in for Jan Vertonghen (£5.9m), Victor Wanyama (£4.9m) and Fernando Llorente (£5.1m).
In his post-match press conference, Pochettino had a positive update on Vertoghen when asked on his availability for Wednesday.
“We’ll see, we hope yes. He was training well yesterday, I think he can be available.” – Mauricio Pochettino
There was one huge surprise in the Bournemouth team sheet with teenage goalkeeper Mark Travers given the nod over Asmir Begovic (£4.3m) and Artur Boruc (£4.1m), the latter named on the bench. It was a move so unexpected he is not even registered on FPL. Prior to the match, Howe expressed his confidence in the teenager and he was full of praise for him after full-time.
“We rate Mark very highly. He has great character, great attitude and huge potential. This is a chance for him to show what he can do.” – Eddie Howe
“It was a great display from (Travers), he’s someone we really do believe in. He’s got great temperament and attitude to the game. He played like it was a training session and that’s a huge compliment. He showed real confidence with his feet. He kicked the ball well, made some saves and impressed with his all-round game management. It’s a nice problem to have and a decision I’ll have to make in the summer, in terms of what to do with all the goalkeepers we have. Mark hasn’t been out on loan this season. Aaron Ramsdale, who we rate highly as well, has been out on loan and done really well. It’s great to have two young, promising goalkeepers in our ranks, and of course we’ve got the two experienced goalkeepers at a top level as well. It’s slightly unusual that Mark hasn’t been out on loan to experience League One or League Two. That was the risk we took, but going on his training and the way he has conducted himself all season, as well as the club that we are – trying to give young players opportunities to develop – we decided to do what we did.” – Eddie Howe
Travers had a debut to remember although it may have been different had Lucas Moura’s (£6.8m) effort from inside his own half landed the other side of the post. The Brazilian, who lined up through the middle looked lively and was twice denied smartly by Travers in an action-packed first half. One of these efforts was deemed a big chance. Moura had three further shots and created one opportunity for his team-mates.
Travers also spectacularly denied Deli Alli (£8.8m) twice and made a more routine save to thwart Christian Eriksen (£9.2m). The Dane has now started 19 consecutive matches in all competitions and avoided rotation once again. However, he wasn’t at his most effective creating only a single chance and registering a single tame effort on target. Tottenham’s ill-discipline probably didn’t help his cause especially given they played half the match with just nine players.
Tottenham did put up a resilient defensive display and owners of Hugo Lloris (£5.4m), Danny Rose (£5.8m), Davinson Sánchez (£5.8m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) will be disappointed that they didn’t manage to cling on to their fourteenth shutout of the campaign. Lloris did console owners with a save point having denied the Cherries on five occasions.
When the goal did finally arrive there was no surprise that is was assisted by Fraser. Coming into this match Fraser had created more big chances (six) than any player in the last six Gameweeks and he was again at his very best against Spurs creating nine chances, three of which were deemed big by Opta. This now takes him to the summit of the assist leader board with 14, equalled only by Raheem Sterling (£11.6m).
Goal-scorer Aké was utilised out of position partnering Lerma at the heart of Bournemouth’s midfield. It was the Dutchman’s fourth strike of the season, a tally bettered amongst defenders by only Shane Duffy (£4.7m).
It was a frustrating afternoon for Callum Wilson (£6.8m) owners as he failed to score and perhaps should have earned a penalty for his team. The England international has now gone four home matches without scoring a trend highlighted earlier in the week by Fantasy Football Scout. He was lively throughout registering six attempts although none of the aforementioned were on target. He was also upended in the box by Dier which probably should have resulted in a spot-kick Bournemouth.
Josh King (£6.4m), who started left midfield could have also earned a penalty when he collided with Lloris when through on goal.
Bournemouth XI (4-4-1-1): Travers; Clyne, Cook, Simpson, Smith; King, Lerma, Ake, Fraser; Ibe (Mousset 76); Wilson
Tottenham XI (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld (Foyth 46), Sanchez, Rose; Dier (Wanyama 46), Sissoko (Davies 82); Eriksen, Alli, Son; Moura.
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