Thomas Frank suffered his first Premier League defeat as Spurs head coach after Bournemouth deservedly won 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A woeful Spurs had just one shot on target, which came in the 68th minute, in a sorry performance that ended Frank’s honeymoon following opening league wins against Burnley and Manchester City. There were boos from the home fans at the full-time whistle.
Spurs could have moved top with a win over Bournemouth, but the visitors looked like the team aiming for the summit with an outstanding performance in north London that saw them have 19 shots, with six on target.
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Their very first effort in the fifth minute put them ahead as centre-back Marcos Senesi picked out an unmarked Evanilson inside the box, and he hit a shot that deflected off Spurs captain Cristian Romero to loop over goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
It was Spurs’ first Premier League goal conceded under Frank, and they should have been 2-0 down before half-time as Evanilson dragged wide quickly after, before Antoine Semenyo headed over from close range.
A dismal first half from Spurs saw the home side fail to have a shot as they sorely lacked creativity that the club hope new £51m signing Xavi Simons will bring, with the attacker watching on after his presentation before kick-off.
The Cherries’ one-way traffic continued early in the second half as Vicario made good saves to deny Semenyo and Evanilson, with Brooks hitting the bar from the latter’s rebound.
Despite changes from Frank, Spurs failed to trouble Bournemouth with substitutes Wilson Odobert blasting over in the 79th minute and Mathys Tel volleying wide in stoppage time.
Andoni Iroala’s side held on to win back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since January, while Frank has plenty to ponder during the upcoming international break.
Frank: I understand boos
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank speaking at this post-match press conference on the boos:
"I prefer them not to boo, but I understand it was not a good performance today and they have high expectations, which is absolutely fair.
"Let's say we performed even better but we could still lose a football match. Today, I don't think we hit the level we should."
On the loss: "I think we clearly didn't perform well today. I think we played against a very good Bournemouth team that we know can make it difficult for any team in the league.
"We knew exactly what they came with, and we trained for it but we just didn't handle it well enough in terms of the balls behind and the second ball, and the duels in the middle of the park - that's the defensive side of it.
"On the offensive side, we struggled to find a good enough solution to get through phase one and two, so we could get up there and put a bit of pressure on them. We only did that in the last 15, where we put good pressure and we could have equalised, but I think over the game it was fair that Bournemouth won."
Iroala: We could've been punished for lack of killer instinct
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola speaking at this post-match press conference on their lack of killer instinct:
"Definitely something that could have punished us at the end. Every chance we were missing, normally in this kind of stadiums, when you start missing chances there is a moment you regret and we were regretting at the end when we were finishing very tired with some players cramping.
"I don't think we deserve to concede in that moment, but it can happen and we've had to close it together. A little bit like the other day against Wolves, we haven't killed the game earlier but we haven't been punished."
On the win: "Very pleased with the performance. At the beginning of the season, you have to trust the performances and I've liked almost everything today about the team.
"I think scoring early makes your game probably easier in the sense of that it gives you some confidence and boost of energy, but we haven't conceded chances against a team that is very good, plays very well, so especially happy for this."
Analysis: Frank brought back down to earth - but Simons provides creative hope
This was a reality check for Thomas Frank.
After the highs of winning at Manchester City, Spurs put in a dreadful display against Bournemouth that has punctured the air of optimism under the Dane.
One fan departing the stadium at full-time shouted 'Same old Spurs', and it was considering they came into this with a chance of moving top and maintaining a perfect start.
Those wins against Burnley and Manchester City proved a false dawn as Spurs looked clueless against an outstanding Bournemouth.
On the day Spurs found out their fixture dates for the Champions League, you would have thought Bournemouth were the team to be facing Villarreal at home on September 16, such was the dominance and slickness in their display.
A toothless Spurs had just five shots against the Cherries, while Frank's side failed to have a single shot in the first half of a Premier League home game since February 2020.
How Frank could have done with his new £51m signing Xavi Simons on Saturday afternoon.
Frank said of Simons at his post-match press conference: "Sometimes you need a player that can do something a little bit out of nothing, go past a player, produce a cross, a shot, a pass, with that extra quality that you need on the day, and that's what I think he can bring."
Spurs will desperately be hoping the Netherlands international can add some sparkle and guile, because the boos will only get louder if Tottenham put in more performances like this.
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