Goal-shy Tottenham fail to claim pole position
TOTTENHAM missed the chance to go top of the table as Mauricio Pochettino’s men were left hanging on for a goalless draw at Bournemouth.
Spurs could have climbed above Manchester City and Arsenal with a victory in yesterday’s early kick-off, but it was Bournemouth who dominated the game at the Vitality Stadium and could have taken all three points.
Erik Lamela and Moussa Sissoko were both fortunate not to be sent off for Tottenham in a feisty match that yielded six yellow cards, while Jack Wilshere completed 90 minutes at club level for the first time since September 2014.
The best chance fell to Erik Lamela, who struck the woodwork for Pochettino’s side in the first- half after Charlie Daniels had earlier seen his effort turned on to the crossbar by Spurs’ French international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
“I think it was a very competitive game. They were ready to compete,” said Pochettino.
“I think it was tough at the start of the game, but then I think we managed the whole match, but it’s true that if you don’t score it’s difficult to win.
“We fight a lot. I think we need to be pleased in the end because it’s one point more, one clean sheet, but for us to be contenders we should be winning these games.
“We had control, but we didn’t create enough chances to score.”
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe felt the draw was more satisfying than last week’s 6-1 thrashing of Hull.
“I think the 90 minutes pleased me more,” he said. “I thought we were very good when you consider who we were playing against, the quality that they have.
“I think they’ re an outstanding team and we came into the game wanting to go toe to toe with them, we wanted to match them, play with a real high intensity, be brave and see where it got us.
“Because of our intensity, we stopped their normal rhythm and flow, especially first half. I think it’s a really valuable point for us.”
Midfielder Harry Arter felt the result showed how much the Cherries have improved since conceding eight goals in two defeats to Spurs last season.
“They’re an unbelievable side and they work ever so hard,” he said. “One thing that we had to do was match it and for a 0-0 it was a great game to watch and that was purely down to both teams working as hard as they could.
“They haven’t lost in the League season and it’s easy to see why they haven’t, but we had a game- plan. We played them twice last year and they turned us over quite easily both times, so it’s good to see how far we’ve progressed, and we deserved our point.”
Bournemouth might have come into the game with the view that a draw would be a positive result, but by the end it was the visitors who left disappointed.
Eddie Howe will be ruing his side’s wastefulness in front of goal, while Pochettino may be yearning for the return of Harry Kane. Spurs have now scored only once in three matches.