Davinson Sanchez’s 23-minute horror show might puncture Tottenham’s top-for hopes, but the Spurs fans cheering the Colombia defender’s withdrawal proved the true nadir of this turbulent defeat.
Burkina Faso forward Dango Ouattara kept his head to sink Spurs with a fine added-time finish as Bournemouth prevailed 3-2 at the Tottennham Hotspur Stadium.
Former Cherries man Arnaut Danjuma thought he had snatched Spurs a point with his late blast, only for Gary O’Neill’s visitors to pick off Tottenham when they were hunting a last-gasp winner.
Sanchez had earlier had a hand in Bournemouth’s first two goals, as Spurs surrendered the early total control of a 1-0 lead thanks to Son Heung-min.
Sanchez replaced the injured Clement Lenglet 35 minutes in, and his first major contribution was to hand Pedro Porro a hospital pass.
Porro was immediately picked off Matias Vina, who then started and finished a neat piece of Bournemouth interplay for the visitors’ first goal.
Vina’s dinked finished should have handed Spurs enough of a warning that their opponents had woken from their earlier slumber in the Spring sun.
The half-time break changed nothing for Spurs though, and Sanchez’s day just kept getting worse.
The 26-year-old flicked the ball off Marcus Tavernier’s foot in the Spurs box – only to play the ball straight into Dominic Solanke’s path.
The former Liverpool man gleefully strode on and swept in, to put Bournemouth 2-1 up just ahead of the hour.
The next time Sanchez touched the ball he was booed to the rafters of Spurs’ impressive, cavernous stadium. And the biggest cheer of the day arguably came when he was sacrificed in favour of a formation change as Spurs hunted a turnaround.
However poor Sanchez’s performance, nothing could surely warrant such a brutal reaction from the home fans.
Danjuma’s arrival sparked Spurs into life in the central areas of the field, and his smart leveller was teed up by another replacement in Richarlison.
Spurs felt a winner in the air with six minutes of added time. And they were proven right, just not in any way in the manner they wanted.
Tottenham now face Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool in a three-match run that will clearly define their top-four and Champions League qualification hopes.
That is precisely why victory here was paramount. The changeable nature of this performance also proved precisely why Antonio Conte is no more, the supporters are restless and the choice of eventual new manager will shape everything to come.
