English Premier League: Sunday belonged to North London – Matchday 30

Bournemouth’s pacy counter attacks weren’t enough to see off the quality of Spurs today, as Son Heung-Min had a day to remember. Pochettino won’t be celebrating much though, as Harry Kane limped off with with an ankle injury.

The game kicked off with Spurs dominating possession and Bournemouth camped on the edge of their box. It’s a tactical approach I don’t mind when there is such a gulf in class between two opponents. With the pace that Bournemouth possess up front, they did offer a threat going forward.

One of Bournemouth’s first attacks was so quick, that as Lys Mousset squared the ball for Junior Stanislas, the assistant referee was at least 10 yards out of position. Stanislas just so happened to be onside anyway, but it would have been an interesting debate if he was clearly offside and had scored instead of hitting the crossbar.

The scoreline didn’t reflect Bournemouth’s brave efforts, with the third and fourth goals only coming late on, as Bournemouth poured men forward in search of an equaliser.

Indeed,  that showed as they took a surprise lead after Stanislas made up for missing that early chance by converting an Adam Smith cross that found him unmarked at the far post.

But Spurs showed their superiority with a goal so silky, it looked like a goal scored on a video game. The lovely passing interchanges finished with a through ball to set Aurier clear down the right flank, before he found an inch perfect cross for Dele Alli, arriving ahead of defenders in the box to direct the ball goalwards.

Dele then turned provider as he crossed in to Son, who duly obliged, scoring his first goal of the game.

Soon afterwards, however, came the bad news for Spurs and England fans. Harry Kane hobbled off with suspected ligament damage on the same ankle he has injured previously.

Next: Hammers internal chaos reflects on the pitch

Next: Matchday 30 Saturday roundup

As Bournemouth pushed for an equaliser, it was Spurs’ turn to punish with pacy counter attacks, and the third goal saw Son race into the Cherries’ half with no one but the goalkeeper to beat. Which he did, after rounding Begovic and firing in.

Next: Salah named EPL Player of the Month

Then, in injury time, Serge Aurier claimed a late goal which meant more to him than to the result.

The victory confirmed that Spurs overtake Liverpool in the league, leaving them a point above Liverpool and four below Manchester United in the race for 2nd. It was a good day for both North London clubs, but Son-day will be remembered by one man in particular.