Teenage defender Dean Huijsen made history by becoming Bournemouth's youngest Premier League goalscorer, guiding his team to a victory over Tottenham at the Vitality Stadium. Andoni Iraola's Cherries had already stunned title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City in their previous three home matches. The 19-year-old Spanish Under-21 international, aged 19 years and 235 days, scored the decisive goal in the 17th minute, adding another notable win for the club as inconsistent Spurs faced another setback in their uneven season.
Bournemouth climbed to ninth place, surpassing Ange Postecoglou's visiting team, following a well-deserved triumph that could have been more comfortable. Ryan Christie hit the woodwork, and the impressive hosts missed several opportunities, while Tottenham struggled to create chances. Spurs had previously thrashed champions Manchester City 4-0 in their last away game, but that was their only win in five matches across all competitions before their trip to Dorset.
Dominic Solanke was deemed fit to face his former club after missing the 1-1 draw against Fulham due to illness, with captain Son Heung-min dropping to the bench as part of three changes. The north London club started strongly, but Solanke wasted a chance after being set up by stand-in skipper James Maddison. Bournemouth looked dangerous on the counterattack and took the lead.
Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster made a great save to initially deny Evanilson, but from the resulting corner taken by Marcus Tavernier, Huijsen, a summer signing from Juventus, headed home unmarked at the back post. Tavernier thought he had scored 14 minutes later but was clearly offside, and later saw a close-range header saved by Forster. Despite Tottenham's struggles, Postecoglou chose not to make changes at halftime.
Bournemouth resumed strongly, with Justin Kluivert coming close to doubling their lead. Son replaced Pape Sarr in the 57th minute, immediately increasing Tottenham's tempo. The South Korean international had a goal disallowed for offside after Kulusevski's initial effort, and later set up Maddison, whose shot narrowly missed. Substitute Pedro Porro tested Kepa with a powerful low drive, before Christie struck the base of the left post.
Tottenham survived a major scare when Evanilson's close-range finish was disallowed for offside after Forster's risky pass to Kulusevski was intercepted. Bournemouth missed several chances to seal the game, with Tavernier and substitute Dango Ouattara both firing over. The misses kept the tension high during six minutes of injury time, but Spurs could not muster a meaningful attempt to snatch a point.
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