By Joshua Coase
It was a day to forget at the Vitality Stadium for AFC Bournemouth after they slipped to a second successive 5-1 defeat.
The day started so well for the home side after Matt Ritchie’s opening goal, but quickly turned sour after two goals within 8 minutes put Spurs in control.
A series of mistakes from Cherries goalkeeper Artur Boruc inflicted more damage as Spurs extended their lead to 3-1 after 30 minutes and were out of sight 20 minutes into the second half, leading 5-1.
As far as Spurs striker Harry Kane was concerned it was certainly a day to remember, bagging himself a hat trick, that despite having only scored once beforehand in the league this season.
This was only the second competitive meeting between the two clubs, the first coming back in an FA Cup tie in 1957 - which AFC Bournemouth won 3-1.
Getting a positive result against this Spurs side was never going to be easy as the club were unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season (Won 3, Drawn 5).
The North London club may have slumped to a 2-1 defeat in the Europa League on Thursday night away at Belgian side Anderlecht, but that only appeared to have affected them in the opening 5 minutes.
During this period AFC Bournemouth came flying out of the blocks, giving the fans a start they dared to dream of.
Ritchie rifled home with a low strike at the near post, scoring the fastest goal in the Premier League this season, taking just 49 seconds.
The home side’s dominant spell was abruptly halted after Boruc came out to try and close down Kane, instead only managing to bring him down to concede the penalty.
Kane made no mistake from the spot and Spurs were gifted a way back into the game, significantly changing the atmosphere inside the stadium.
After 15 minutes Spurs had completed the turnaround, courtesy of a composed finished from midfielder Moussa Dembele.
AFC Bournemouth marked up to guard against an Christian Eriksen cross into the box, only to be left bemused after failing to close down Danny Rose who received Eriksen’s square pass and struck at goal.
The resulting block and deflection on the edge of the area saw the ball break kindly to Dembele, who wriggled free of the defenders to put Spurs 2-1 up.
Cherries looked to bounce back through Ritchie turning provider to whip in an inviting cross for Josh King to attack, only for the striker to agonisingly fail to make contact with the ball.
30 minutes in and Erik Lamela gratefully profited from a poor parry from Boruc, slotting home to extend Tottenham’s lead.
It became clear that the next goal would be crucial in shaping the outcome of the match, with Eddie Howe’s men knowing that they needed a goal before halftime.
It looked as if they may have done just that in stoppage time at the end of the first half, only for Toby Alderweireld to clear Ritchie’s goal bound strike and for Josh King to agonisingly hit the post.
Any hopes of a second half comeback were all but ended after just 56 minutes as Eriksen was allowed too much time and space once again, producing a wonderful delivery to find Kane running in to put the ball in at the far post with his outstretched leg.
Just seven minutes later and Kane had completed his hat trick, with the goal looking somewhat similar to Spurs third, a poor save from Boruc resulting in the ball finding its way to straight to the England striker, who put in the rebound to make it 5, Spurs biggest margin of victory this season.
Another week and the same story for AFC Bournemouth, Howe and his team will need to regroup as they know the importance and the cost of dropped points at home.
While Wednesday’s trip to Anfield may not be at the forefront of the players’ minds, a midweek fixture may prove to be good for the squad to focus and regroup quickly, rather than dwelling on this defeat for a whole week ahead of next Sunday’s derby against Southampton.