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Huijsen’s header moves AFC Bournemouth above Spurs.
Nineteen-year-old defender scores first Premier League goal as Cherries earn 1-0 win to go ninth
AFC Bournemouth moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the Vitality Stadium.
Dean Huijsen scored the decisive goal in the 17th minute when the Spurs defence allowed the 19-year-old defender to head in unmarked from a Marcus Tavernier corner.
The hosts had the chance to put the match to bed in the second half as Ryan Christie was denied by the woodwork and an Evanilson goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
Spurs were unable to make meaningful inroads throughout the first half and despite their performance picking up after the break, the visitors failed to find a way back and fell to their sixth league defeat of the season.
Bournemouth leapfrogged their opponents into ninth place on 21 points, while Spurs dropped to 10th, one point behind the Cherries.
| Position | Club | Played | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |  Brighton |
14 | +3 | 23 |
| 6 |  Fulham |
14 | +2 | 22 |
| 7 |  Nott’m Forest |
14 | 0 | 22 |
| 8 |  Aston Villa |
14 | -1 | 22 |
| 9 | Bournemouth |
14 | +2 | 21 |
| 10 | Spurs |
14 | +13 | 20 |
How the match unfolded
Dominic Solanke had an early opportunity to hurt his former club as he capitalised on a mistake from Huijsen, only for the youngster to recover with a timely block.
Solanke’s Bournemouth replacement Evanilson had an even better chance when his close-range effort was parried behind by Fraser Forster for a corner.
Yet the hosts went ahead from the resultant set-piece, with Huijsen planting home a header to become Bournemouth’s youngest Premier League goalscorer.
Tavernier almost turned from provider to scorer just after the half-hour mark, but saw a goal ruled out for offside before Forster kept out a close-range header from the midfielder on the cusp of half-time.
Spurs substitute Son Heung-min had a goal disallowed for offside after the break but they had Forster to thank again when he kept out Justin Kluivert’s attempt, and the frame of the goal then came to Spurs’ rescue from Christie’s effort.
Evanilson thought he had doubled Bournemouth’s lead when he tucked into an open goal after Tyler Adams capitalised on a blunder from Forster, but the former Porto striker was ahead of the play. Spurs, however, failed to make that slice of luck count.
Spurs blow hot and cold
With a derby against Chelsea to come on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou rested Son, Pedro Porro and Timo Werner, though Spurs looked more like the side lacking a ruthless edge that were held 1-1 by Fulham last week than the extremely clinical one that dispatched Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium, with a tame Dejan Kulusevski effort the only time Kepa Arrizabalaga was called into action before the interval.
Son was finally introduced 12 minutes into the second half with Spurs on the ascendancy, and he had the ball in the back of the net with his first touch, only for it to be ruled out for a clear offside before James Maddison fired wide from close range and Porro’s shot from outside the box was saved by Kepa.
Despite that, the Spanish goalkeeper had a much more comfortable evening in the Bournemouth goal than his Spurs counterpart as the visiting side failed to bypass a well-organised home defence.
Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure at full time, and has probably been left with more questions than answers.
Huijsen headlines vibrant Bournemouth display
It was another hugely impressive display from Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth, who came into the game high on confidence following a 4-2 thrashing of Wolves in their last game.
Huijsen, who came into the starting XI to replace Marcos Senesi, not only scored the winner but was also imperious at the centre of defence.
After a shaky start when he allowed Solanke in with a chance, the Spain Under-21 international, making only his third start of the season, dealt with everything thrown at him by Spurs.
Meanwhile, in attack, Kluivert, the hat-trick hero from the Wolves win, looked dangerous while the lively Christie, Tavernier and Evanilson had chances to double the Cherries lead – as did substitute Dango Ouattara, who fired over in the 83rd minute. He will likely feel he could have done better.
Huijsen, though, will rightly take the headlines, as Bournemouth added Spurs to their list of big Premier League scalps this season, having already claimed home wins over Arsenal and Man City.
Club reports
Bournemouth report | Spurs report
What the managers said
Andoni Iraola: “I think we had very clear chances to kill the game and didn’t take them. Luckily for us we could finish the job.”
Ange Postecoglou: “We started well and conceded a really poor goal. It’s a difficult place to come when giving the opposition the opportunity to play in the manner they want.
“It’s disappointing. It’s something we’ve done consistently and we always pay the price for it.”
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Bournemouth have won four of their last five Premier League matches at the Vitality Stadium (L1), as many as in their previous 12 such fixtures in the competition (D4 L4).
Spurs have lost seven of their last 11 Premier League away encounters (W3 D1), while they haven’t won on the road when conceding first in the competition since a 5-2 win at Burnley in September 2023 (D2 L8 since).
Bournemouth have won successive Premier League matches for the first time since April, while both their clean sheets in the league this campaign have come in home wins, also beating Arsenal 2-0 in October.
Only Arsenal (eight) and Aston Villa (seven) have scored more Premier League goals assisted via crosses this season than Bournemouth (six), while only Wolves (seven) and Everton (six) have conceded more such goals in the competition this season than Spurs (five).
(EPL)