Bournemouth 0 Tottenham 2: Maddison inspires Spurs to win with first goal and brilliantly hits back at X-rated chants
YOU had to admire the ballsiness of the Bournemouth fans picking on James Maddison.
The England star was running this game and had just given Spurs an early lead.
Yet some home supporters here at the Vitality still saw fit to goad the 26-year-old.
First came a chant of “Southgate’s right, you’re f***ing sh***” as he waited to take a corner.
Then, as he had a sip of water during a break in play, an individual in red and black had a rant at Maddison from the stands.
The midfielder just smiled, squirted his water bottle and pointed to the scoreboard.
It was a bold strategy, calling out the playmaker, especially when he was playing so well.
Safe to say it did not work out, as Maddison once again proved how perfect he is for this Ange Postecoglou system.
And why, at just £45million when other midfielders are going for more than double that, he may well be the bargain of the summer.
Dejan Kulusevski wrapped this win up with his first goal of the season after the break, taking Postecoglou’s points tally from his opening three games as Spurs chief to an impressive seven.
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Maddison had been an injury doubt for this game, having hurt his knee in last week’s excellent 2-0 win over Manchester United.
He had performed admirably in that victory too, having grabbed a pair of assists on the opening-day draw at Brentford.
But he shook off any doubts about his fitness to start here in the driving rain coming in off the Channel.
And once again he looked in tip-top condition, causing Andoni Iraola’s side problems every time he got the ball.
Though he should have opened his account for Spurs earlier than he did.
Neto’s horror kickout hit Maddison who, after exchanging passes with Son Heung-min, had the goal at his mercy but could not beat the Cherries keeper.
The ball deflected up into the air but Richarlison could not turn home the rebound, summing up his luck in front of goal so far.
Yet shortly after, on 17 minutes, Maddison did find the back of the net to complete a well-worked move involving Postecoglou’s exciting, new midfield three.
Yves Bissouma, who was excellent again, gave the ball to Manchester United-slayer Pape Sarr.
The young Frenchman sent an inch-perfect pass through to Maddison, who had timed his run well, and the Three Lions man turned it home.
It extended his terrific run of form away from home in the Premier League, with this his 18th goal involvement in his last 20 fixtures on the road, with that figure equally split between goals and assists.
That statistic only served to make Bournemouth fans’ taunts even more silly.
And though it is true that Southgate has taken a long time to be convinced by Maddison, he is a big part of his plans now.
He will only become more of a permanent fixture in the national squad with the way he is playing under new boss Postecoglou too.
It was nothing but love from the travelling Spurs supporters though, who sang songs of praise for their new No10 as well as their manager.
Maddison could have had a couple of assists before the break when teeing up Richarlison, but the luckless Brazilian could not take either chance.
The first saw him cleverly nutmeg Lloyd Kelly and round the goalkeeper, but the ball was intercepted and then cleared away just as he was about to pull the trigger.
The ex-Everton man, who netted just one Premier League goal last term, then headed into the side netting from Maddison corner.
Postecoglou was then raging with Richarlison as he failed to control a pass from goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, and Bournemouth threatened a late leveller just before the break.
Vicario had to be at full stretch to repel Ryan Christie fizzer from distance.
Then, after Spurs had carelessly lost possession, Philip Billing – who now prefers to be called just Philip due to personal reasons – fired narrowly wide with the last kick of the half.
Spurs’ nervy spell continued for a short period after the interval too.
Antoine Semenyo curled a shot into the side netting.
While Richarlison suddenly could not string a pass together, and was struggling to control the ball too.
At one point he lost possession with no one around him, and then petulantly hacked down Illia Zabarnyi straight after, for which he was rightly booked.
Postecoglou had seen enough and hooked him on the hour.
But unlike last week against United, there was no angry reaction from the Brazilian on the subs’ bench.
Son pushed up top and within three minutes, it was 2-0.
The impressive Destiny Udogie set it up, playing a one-two with Son, before cutting back for Kulusevski to steer home.
Sub Ivan Perisic was perhaps lucky not to be sent off when shoving Max Aarons away in the face, but VAR looked at it and backed up ref Tim Robinson’s lenient on-field decision.
But Bournemouth, watched on by owner Bill Foley, could have no complaints about the result as the rain poured down and thunder and lightning even broke out.
It could have been more as Maddison drilled wide, before coming off to a chorus of boos from the home crowd and cheers from the travelling support.
The ex-Leicester man had said on telly before the game that “When Ange Postecoglou talks, you believe what he’s saying. It’s non-negotiable. You have to play his football”.
Maddison is playing the Aussie’s style to a T and causing opposing teams all kinds of problems, no matter what their fans shout at him.
How the match unfolded…
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