Tottenham 3 Bournemouth 1: Spurs close gap on fourth-placed Arsenal to ONE point with Sarr, Son & Richarlison on target

SON HEUNG-MIN left Tottenham with a parting gift as he helped Spurs end their year on a high before jetting off with South Korea.

The Tottenham captain sealed their victory over Bournemouth, showing just how much of a miss he will be while away at the Asian Cup.

AlamyPape Matar Sarr gave Tottenham the lead in the first-half en route to a routine win[/caption]

ReutersSon Heung-min made it 2-0 to Tottenham with a thumping effort[/caption]

ReutersRicharlison made it 3-0 before Bournemouth grabbed a late consolation[/caption]

Pape Matar Sarr had opened the scoring in the first half but Andoni Iraola’s Cherries, the form side in the Premier League going into the weekend, were by far the better side for large parts of the afternoon.

But amid awful conditions in north London, the south coast side couldn’t quite find the finishing touch Son offers Spurs.

Just as Bournemouth were getting more dangerous the winger stepped in to calm nerves before Richarlison offered hope that all might not be lost while his teammate is away by adding a third.

Alex Scott grabbed one back for Bournemouth, but Spurs were well away by then – some turnaround from the midweek thumping at Brighton.

Ange Postecoglou blamed Thursday’s humbling defeat on his squad’s injury crisis, with nine players out for their trip to the south coast.

But there was a shock return here as Rodrigo Bentancur was a surprise return to the starting XI, more than a month ahead of his expected return date from an ankle injury.

But just as has been the case with Spurs all season, they get one player back and more going missing.

Goalscorer Sarr was due to head off for the Africa Cup of Nations alongside Yves Bissouma, but left the pitch in tears after injury in the first half fearing he may not make it to the Ivory Coast for the tournament.

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ReutersTottenham celebrated as they move into 2024 just a single point of the top four[/caption]

Striker Alejo Veliz also had to be helped off the pitch late on.

Whether he is absent through injury or international duty, Sarr had showed what Spurs will be missing early on with a wonderful drilled finish to punish Bournemouth’s sloppy play from the back.

Keeper Neto looked to thread the needle out from the back but Spurs were too sharp as first Bentancur then Giovani Lo Celso won their challenges to tee up Sarr.

The Senegal midfielder took his time to compose himself before cracking a fine effort into the far corner.

Neto wasn’t learning from his mistakes and moments later sent another rushed clearance straight to the goalscorer, whose cross couldn’t quite reach Richarlison.

Bournemouth looked shaken up at the back and all this came after Dominic Solanke should have given the Cherries the lead when he failed to really test Guglielmo Vicaro with a poor header from Dango Outtara’s cross.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool man has been in red hot form of late, but if earning a move back to a loftier club is his wish for the New Year those are the sort of chances he should make light work of.

Not long after the goal, however, he was troubling Spurs once more with the Cherries on top.

Marcus Tavernier and Lewis Cook were causing problems on the ball, while Solanke was making dangerous runs in behind.

It wasn’t just Solanke threatening, with Justin Kluivert firing just wide after some fine work from Cook and Luis Sinisterra.

Tottenham’s back four of full-backs were struggling to keep track of the red and black shirts flooding their box, pinned back by the visitors’ aggressive back line camped in the Spurs half.

Solanke saw a deflected effort bounce off the top of the bar before Pedro Porro threw himself in front of Kluivert’s powerful strike.

The Bournemouth pressure continued after the break as Solanke tested Vicario with a header from a corner.

But Tottenham blew the chance to take the wind out of their sales as Richarlison sent a sitter wide of the far post having been sent clear through by Son.

The Brazilian was keen to show he was as frustrated as everyone else – punching the ground behind the goal.

Having seen his wonderfully created chance wasted while the Cherries were still creating chances at the other end, Son took matters into his own hands.

The South Korean had started to find joy down the left but couldn’t quite get a finish off, until he was wonderfully set away by Lo Celso.

His fine outside of the boot ball had the No7 in and able to unleash a fine left-footed finish across Neto just ahead of former Spurs man Adam Smith’s sliding challenge.

It is his decisive, clinical touches Tottenham will miss most while he is in Qatar leading his country.

The task of replacing Son’s goals will largely fall on former Everton man Richarlison, who encouragingly continued his rich vein of form to effectively kill off Bournemouth, tapping in a fifth goal in as many games from Brennan Johnson’s low cross.

Sub Scott showed those who had struggled before him how to finish with his first Premier League goal, finishing well from Tavernier’s cut-back.

But the game had been put to bed by then thanks to Bournemouth’s inability to strike when they were on top.

Not that this one cruised to the final whistle.

Bryan Gil struck the bar and Scott had a second ruled out for offside either side of usually loveable Spurs boss Postecoglou earning a booking for a furious row with Cherries coach Shaun Cooper.

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