Gutsy nine men sunk in stoppage time at Bournemouth

The valiant efforts of our nine men were undone in stoppage time as Nathan Ake headed in from a corner to give Bournemouth a 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.

Looking for a victory to secure a top-four finish, we were denied a handful of times in the first period by the Cherries' debutant goalkeeper Mark Travers, but proceedings took a sinister turn with both Heung-Min Son and substitute Juan Foyth shown straight red cards either side of half-time - the latter just over two minutes after coming on.

Victor Wanyama dropped into defence to ensure the hosts were still playing against a back four and for virtually the whole second half, our severely depleted side intelligently kept them at bay. But when Ryan Fraser swung in a corner in the 91st minute, spare man Ake ran through from the back of the pack in the area to secure Bournemouth's first-ever Premier League win against us and ensure - barring our rivals dropping points later in the weekend - the race for Champions League qualification will go down to the final day.

We'd dominated for the majority of the first half but found 19-year-old Travers in confident form between the sticks. Lucas almost caught him out early on with a driven attempt from the half-way line after spotting him off his line, but the ball flew just wide and, from there, the keeper shone, denying Dele and Lucas before thwarting the latter again one-on-one from the left angle in the 25th minute. Travers also swiped away Dele's header from Danny Rose's cross as we attacked with frequency, although Hugo Lloris had to innovate to deny Joshua King at the other end after the Bournemouth forward crept in behind Toby Alderweireld from a long ball over the top.

Bournemouth fans felt Eric Dier had been fortunate to escape a second yellow card on a couple of occasions, including for a challenge on Callum Wilson in our penalty box, but with a minute of normal time to go before the break we saw the unexpected sight of a red card brandished to forward Son after an incident involving Jefferson Lerma.

Mauricio Pochettino introduced Wanyama and Foyth for Dier and Alderweireld - both of whom were on yellow cards - for the second half but less than three minutes after the action had got underway, Foyth was heading off again after being penalised for a challenge on Jack Simpson.

We reorganised again and, impressively, ensured Bournemouth didn't have any space in our defensive third for the remainder of the contest. With Wanyama in the back four alongside Davinson Sanchez and Moussa Sissoko just in front of them, we even managed to work the ball forward to lone striker Lucas a couple of times, with the Brazilian forward doing well to keep hold of possession and drive us up the pitch.

Lloris had a few routine saves to make from Fraser, Jordon Ibe and substitute Lys Mousset - the latter with a header straight at him - but after closing ranks to deny Mousset and Ake in the 89th minute, all our hard work was undone as the game entered added time as Ake burst in to nod home Fraser's corner. We did still manage to force a corner of our own, but it simply wasn't our day on the south coast as we now turn our full focus towards the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Ajax on Wednesday, followed by a final-day visit of Everton to the new stadium with so much on the line.

Key moment

Son's dismissal in the 44th minute changed the complexion of the game. We'd been pushing forward and creating chances but when the forward saw red, it was always going to be an uphill battle. Our task was then made all the more difficult by Foyth's sending-off shortly after half-time.

Mauricio's view

Manager Mauricio spoke about the commitment of our players following the two sendings-off.

"In that moment we made the effort to be all together," he said. "I think we defended well and we tried to go forward but it was difficult. With two (players) less it's not easy and we're disappointed because in the end we conceded. It was a little bit unlucky after the circumstances that happened.

"The first 40 minutes until the red card for Son were so good and playing the second half with two players less, still the man of the match was their keeper. It says that we were very good and if we had gone into the changing room 3-0 (up) at the end of the first half that would have been more than fair. But that is the problem when you don't score."

Reaction on Spurs TV

Match data

Goal: AFC Bournemouth - Ake 90+1.

Yellow cards: AFC Bournemouth - Lerma 90+4; Spurs - Dier 11, Alderweireld 23, Sissoko 40, Wanyama 90+3, Dele 90+3.

Red cards: Spurs - Son 44, Foyth 48.

Referee: Craig Pawson.

Venue: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.

Weather: Sunny, fresh breeze, 11 degrees.

Attendance: 10,630.