Antoine Semenyo gave Bournemouth the perfect walk-off gift as he scored the winning goal in the 95th minute – perhaps the last kick for the club – to give his side a 3-2 win over Spurs and increase the pressure on Thomas Frank.
The winger, who plays for Man City, continued to play in this match despite having been under contract for a while, but his crash in the closing stages brought an end to the turbulent match, which was engraved in the stars.
After the match, coach Andoni Iraola confirmed that this would be Semenyo’s last game for the club. “It looks like that,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’m scared to say it because I don’t want to lose him, but I think this will be our last moment together.”
Marcus Tavernier added to Sky: “These things happen in movies and no one deserves it more than him.”
The goal ended Bournemouth’s 11-game winless run – yet another example of ‘Doctor Tottenham’ providing a silver bullet to a team in need of a win.
Frank’s Spurs got off to a perfect start with Matthijs Tell’s deflected shot from the edge of the box. It was Tottenham’s first goal in an exhibition game in six games, one month and one day back.
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Matthijs Tell gives Spurs the perfect start at the Vitality Stadium.
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Matthijs Tell gives Spurs the perfect start at the Vitality Stadium.
But by half-time the heat was back on Frank and Bournemouth took the lead through two expert crosses from Marcus Tavernier.
The first goal was expertly headed home by Evanilsson, making it the forward’s second consecutive home game. That could also apply to Eli Crupi Junior, who fired home from close range after Marcos Senesi capitalized on a hard shot from Tavernier.
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Bournemouth scored the equalizer against Spurs thanks to Evanilsson.
The second half was even better, with drama all around.
Spurs were initially awarded a penalty after Mickey van de Ven fell in the box after two challenges from David Brooks and James Hill, but VAR Jared Gillett forced a review from referee Darren England, who overturned the decision after deciding neither challenge merited a spot-kick.
Richarlison also hit the post with a header from close range, but after the Cherries missed a corner, Spurs found their way back through Joao Parinha, who scored a stunning overhead kick that rivaled Cristian Romero’s strike at Newcastle.
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João Parinha scored the equalizing goal in style!
Van de Ven forced a superb save from Djordje Petrovic and could have given Spurs victory, but the script followed Semenyo’s late winner.
Van de Ven and Parinha speak to Spurs fans full-time
In dramatic scenes at full-time, Spurs players Van de Ven and Parinha addressed angry away fans at the full-time whistle.
Spurs defender Van de Ven headed for his team immediately after the whistle, before being joined by Parinha.
“It’s just the supporters sharing their frustration,” Parinha told Sky Sports.
“Of course I understand and I respect them first of all. As I said earlier, we are fighting for the same thing. Not only the players but also the staff and supporters want to win. In my opinion, we are trying to get the win we deserve in our last game.”
Bournemouth is also where former Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou faced abuse from visiting fans after last season’s defeat on the south coast.
Horrifying statistics of Spurs’ disastrous performance
Tottenham have lost 30 games since the start of the 2024/25 season. During this period, only Wolves have lost more in the Premier League. Spurs have won just two of their last 12 Premier League games, picking up 10 points from a potential 36 in that time. It was the fourth time since the start of 2025 that Tottenham had taken the lead in a Premier League match but were still in the lead at half-time, about as often as it happened to Spurs between 2010 and 2024.
Tottenham have scored just one goal from open play in their last seven games. Matthijs Tell’s first goal for Vitality was his first since December 6, in a 2-0 win over Brentford.
Having won four of their first five games this season, Spurs have only tasted victory in one of their last six, a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on December 28th.
Frank explains why he drank from the Arsenal Cup
Tottenham manager Frank was photographed holding an Arsenal-branded cup ahead of the match against Bournemouth.
Frank has been booed by his own fans in recent weeks, but the latest blunder may not have helped his popularity among Spurs fans.
Thomas Frank was spotted drinking an Arsenal cup before the match
Frank claimed he was holding the Arsenal cup because he accidentally picked it up after Mikel Arteta’s side left it behind during their 3-2 win at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
“I didn’t notice it at all,” Frank said in the postgame press conference.
“It’s fair to say that it’s completely stupid to pick up a cup with Arsenal on it when you haven’t won every football match. There will be people who think I did it, people who think the staff did it…
“They were in the changing room the game before us (Saturday). It’s normal for them to say, ‘Give me an espresso’ before every game.”
“I think it’s a bit sad in football that such questions have to be asked. If I’m worried about drinking another club’s cup, we’re definitely going in the wrong direction. Of course I wouldn’t do that. It would be really stupid.”
Iraora: It’s great that football gave Semenyo this moment.
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports:
“In recent games we’ve been able to get more, but you can’t beat them every time. Today we took shots from the edge and scored.
“It was a great moment for Antoine and I was very happy for him too. Sometimes football gives you these things, but he was at the top. He gave everything and gave everything we wanted until the end.”
“We gave him everything we could. It’s good that football will definitely give him this moment back.”
