Antoine Semenyo might have expected Tottenham Hotspur to be the perfect guests at his farewell do, usually generous and rarely drunk on success. It had looked like João Palhinha would be the party pooper, though, after an exquisite overhead kick to level things late on. Not likely. The birthday boy won it with a right-foot parting gift of his own in the 95th minute. What a way to go.
On his last game for the club before his £65million move to Manchester City, Semenyo was afforded a celebratory substitution and standing ovation. Spurs are now just one point above Bournemouth whose only win in three months had been at home to Nottingham Forest. The former Tottenham chief executive Daniel Levy has gone but more demonstrations will be forthcoming if Thomas Frank’s side do not pick up wins and players in the present window. At the end Palhinha and Micky van de Ven confronted fans.
“The supporters were sharing their frustrations,” Palhinha said, which was a nice way of putting it. “We of course understand. We respect them first of all. I just said we are all fighting for the same.” To compound the misery, a photo of Thomas Frank drinking from an Arsenal cup on the touchline did the rounds. “I definitely did not notice,” he said afterwards. “It would be completely stupid of me to take it if I knew.” A leftover from Arsenal’s visit on Saturday, Frank said it was sad that it was an issue, but it is fair to say the scrutiny is intense.
Despite some good moments, the bare fact is Spurs had frittered away an early lead by the break, and although Richarlison headed against a post in the second half, Bournemouth’s own substitute, Enes Unal, was just as wasteful. It summed up the mood when, at 2-1 down, Van de Ven stormed into the area and went crashing to the ground.
Palhinha looked to have earned Spurs a point with a brilliant equaliser in the 78th minute
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Darren England awarded the penalty but VAR came to the right decision as there was no contact until the Dutch rampager had lost control. You might have expected it to end in tears from there, but Spurs did show a modicum of heart. After Palhinha’s showstopper, Van de Ven drew a great save from Djordje Petrovic, but Semenyo is a special player and his strike from the edge of the box was superbly timed in every respect.
“It is tough to sit here with nothing from an overall good performance,” Frank added. As for replacements, he repeated: “We are in the market and working very hard. It’s difficult.”
Kroupi put Bournemouth 2-1 up and is now the highest-scoring teen in Europe’s top five leagues this season
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In the dysfunctional world of Premier League football, with its short attention spans and inflated expectations, Bournemouth remain a refreshing exception. They will never win the title and never be as entitled as others in that category. Despite a downward spiral, nobody can find anything much to protest about. Decent team, dismal form and coveted head coach, they have seen enough bad times to cope without melting down.
That was clear when Semenyo was handed a birthday card by a fan before the match and then cheered whenever he took so much as a long throw-in. “I am very happy for him personally because I think he deserves it after all he has done for us,” Andoni Iraola said. “I’m glad football has given him this moment. He is a big miss for us. He is a player you cannot replace.”
On another bad night for Frank, he was even pictured holding a cup with an Arsenal badge printed on it
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Blissfully direct, Semenyo cuts out the tippy-tappy middlemen and plays as if it’s jumpers for goalposts. We can only hope his joie de vivre is not blunted when he is one of many stars.
Spurs players wore black armbands following the death of Martin Chivers, the club great with 24 England caps. Bill Nicholson once gave him two tickets to go and watch Geoff Hurst play. Different methods back then, although not a bad idea given the dearth of goals of late. “One Martin Chivers,” got a hearty airing although the mood had soured by the end..
It had started so well for the visitors. Xavi Simons stalled just inside the Bournemouth half, but his clever back-heel freed Mathys Tel on the left touchline. He had much to do but James Hill made it a lot easier by standing off him. Tel duly cut back on to his right foot and strook a low drive into the far corner.
A fast start was undone in quick time, the reliable Marcus Tavernier’s curled gem of a cross headed home by Evanilson. Spurs learnt nothing and gave Tavernier more time to deliver another chaos-inducing ball. Semenyo missed it, but Marcos Senesi did not. He stabbed it back across goal and Junior Kroupi’s finish was helped by Guglielmo Vicario failing to stand tall. Alongside Lamine Yamal, the France Under-21 player is the highest-scoring teen in Europe’s top five leagues this season. He will be pivotal in Bournemouth’s post-Semenyo world.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): D Petrovic — A Jiménez (A Aldi 89min), J Hill, M Senesi, A Truffert — L Cook, A Scott — M Tavernier (B Diakite 89), J Kroupi (D Brooks 63), A Semenyo (V Milosavljevic 99) — – Evanilson (E Unal 63). Booked Semenyo, Cook, Jiménez.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): G Vicario — P Porro, C Romero, M van de Ven, D Spence — L Bergvall (W Odobert, 57), J Palhinha, R Bentancur (A Gray 86) — R Kolo Muani (Richarlison 67), M Tel, X Simons. Booked Porro, Van de Van.
Referee: D England.