For 95 minutes, Antoine Semenyo had done nothing other than receive a yellow card for his 26th birthday. Then came the farewell moment he had dreamed of.
Delivered the ball on the edge of the Tottenham penalty area, he struck the sweetest of shots past a helpless Guglielmo Vicario to end Bournemouth’s longest barren run of their Premier League era and sign off in the most perfect fashion. With a move to Manchester City imminent, he can depart the south coast with the blessing of everyone at the club where he has developed into one of English football’s most dangerous players. After 11 winless games, Bournemouth again know what it feels like to win.
For Spurs, the misery continues. They led early through Mathys Tel and then equalised courtesy of João Palhinha’s beauty. But Thomas Frank’s problems run deep after just two wins from the last 12 league outings.
The fear among those of a Spurs persuasion – born from all too frequent experience – was that their side would sit back and seek to protect what they had after Tel had given them an early lead. Such concerns had proven unwarranted by the interval, by which time they had not only let their lead slip, but fallen behind.
Making his 50th Premier League appearance, Evanilson scored Bournemouth’s opener, nodding home a lovely cross from Marcus Tavernier when afforded far too much time and space down the right to identify his target inside the Tottenham box.
