Tottenham end Bournemouth hot streak with 3-1 victory

Tottenham Hotspur took three points from Bournemouth at home with a 3-1 victory by Pape Matar Sarr, Son Heung-min and Richarlison on a rainy Sunday, keeping themselves in contention for a top-four spot only one point short of 4th-placed Arsenal and three behind leaders Liverpool who have a game in hand.

"Every week is a battle, and we had to battle today. At the same time, I thought we played some decent stuff as well," said Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.

"We're trying to build something. I'm at pains to keep repeating myself, but we're trying to build a team that plays a bit differently and has some resilience, and you can only gain that through tough times," he added.

Bournemouth's keeper, Neto, made an early mistake when he loosely sent the ball away. Rodrigo Bentancur, who just returned to the lineup after being taken out due to an ACL injury almost a year ago, and Giovani Lo Celso played a quick pass to Sarr as he dispatched a low shot into the net.

Bentancur's return is two months ahead of schedule, but the Spurs are still missing multiple first-team players and a suspended Dejan Kulusevski. Sarr limped off later in the game, casting a heavier shadow on their injury list.

Bournemouth's Solanke had continued to shoot on goal, but he couldn't convert any, as Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario was constantly made to save goals. Spurs captain Son and Richarlison extended their lead in the 71st and 80th minute before Alex Scott netted one in for the visitors. However, it was not enough to extend their unbeaten streak of seven league games, including six wins.

Meanwhile, low-ranked Fulham gave Arsenal, who have slipped from the top of the table to 4th place, a second straight loss after goals from Raúl Jiménez and Bobby De Cordova-Reid denied an early deficit by Bukayo Saka in what Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta referred to as the "worst game of the season."

"Painful and sad day, that's how I would sum it up," he said. "We simply weren't good enough."

"We could not control the direct play. It was so easy for (Fulham) to win that first, second ball and have the opportunity to run, and we conceded (two goals that way)," Arteta added.

"What happened today cannot happen again. Because if you do that, you will never have the chance to be where we want to be."