Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham (December 5, 2024) Match analysis

Bournemouth teenager Dean Huijsen scored his first Premier League goal to give his team a deserved 1-0 home win over lackluster Tottenham Hotspur, lifting the south coast club into the top half of the table on Thursday.

The 19-year-old defender remained completely unchallenged in the 17th minute and headed in from Marcus Tavernier’s corner, which was enough to send Bournemouth past a chronically inconsistent Tottenham team.

A lively Bournemouth side had a second-half goal from Evanilson ruled out for offside and missed several other chances to deny the struggling visitors.

Tottenham offered little in the way of attack and were in 10th place in the table with 20 points after their sixth defeat of the season. Bournemouth moved up to ninth place with 21.

When Tottenham beat champions Manchester City 4-0 less than two weeks ago, it seemed as if Ange Postecoglou’s side could use that result as a springboard for the season.

However, since they drew at home to AS Roma in the Europa League and drew against Fulham at the weekend, they have flattered themselves to deceive.

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Thursday’s performance appeared to be another step backwards as they were outscored by a home team that had 21 shots on goal.

Bournemouth would have been kicking themselves if they hadn’t taken the three points, but in the end the effort from Dutch-born Spanish U21 player Huijsen was enough.

Andoni Iraola’s side have now beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham at home this season.

“We know that we make it difficult for the big teams here,” said Huijsen. “This is a really exciting win. Every little boy dreams of playing in the Premier League and I’m so happy to score my first goal.”

Everything could have been different for Tottenham if former Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke had been able to score early instead of sending his shot over the bar.

Shortly afterwards, Tottenham’s vulnerability from set pieces was again highlighted when Tavernier took a corner and Huijsen was given free rein to head past Fraser Forster.

“It has everything to do with our coach, we scored a few set-piece goals through him,” said Huijsen. “It was my job to finish it and I did. It was a goosebumps moment.”