James Maddison on target as stylish Spurs ease to victory at Bournemouth

It is a sight Tottenham hope will become commonplace this season, James Maddison mimicking stepping up to the oche after finding the net. Maddison capped a wonderful team move to open the scoring here, headed towards the nearest corner flag and then revealed his go-to celebration for the first time in the pristine all-white Spurs strip. Son Heung-min and Pape Matar Sarr joined him for another impromptu performance straight down the lens of the pitchside television camera.

A dartboard is usually part of Maddison’s luggage on away trips and his scruffy first-half strike sparked a first away win of this new era under Ange Postecoglou, before Dejan Kulusevski made sure of the points with a deft second-half finish.

Maddison trained on Friday for the first time since leaving Tottenham’s victory over Manchester United last weekend on crutches owing to an ankle complaint but was anything but suppressed here. His influence waned a little in the second half as Bournemouth pushed for an equaliser but his quick feet and thinking helped Spurs win the midfield battle.

Around the hour mark he calmly sidestepped Illia Zabarnyi and then Lewis Cook as he attempted to kickstart another attack. Maddison particularly thrives when the protagonist or, indeed, the pantomime villain. In the first half he pointed to the scoreboard as a handful of home supporters gave him some grief.

If Maddison was influential, so too were Yves Bissouma and Sarr, both of whom were involved in the slick passage of play that helped Spurs seize the lead on 17 minutes. Bissouma dialled up the intensity and burst inside before locating Sarr, who spied Maddison on the move. It was a sumptuous pass and Maddison promptly stroked the ball past Neto in the Bournemouth goal with the slightest touch off his right boot. Postecoglou raised both arms in celebration.

Until that point Postecoglou had been cussing on the touchline. Bournemouth swarmed Spurs from kick-off and when Maddison miscued the ball there was some confusion that led Micky van de Ven to clear the ball for a corner. Bournemouth were intent on making life uncomfortable and there was a flurry of challenges that left Postecoglou baffled. Antoine Semenyo left Destiny Udogie in a heap by the hoardings after a late challenge, Dominic Solanke bumped Cristian Romero as the defender went up for a header and Ryan Christie slid in on Bissouma.

Spurs should have extended their lead in the first half, long before Kulusevski doubled their advantage in the second. Richarlison dropped a header wide from a Maddison corner and also saw a shot blocked by Joe Rothwell after a rapid Spurs counterattack. Udogie was given the freedom of Bournemouth and after reaching the byline played a give-and-go with Son. Ivan Perisic, who replaced Sarr, released Udogie down the left and he fizzed the ball across goal, where Kulusevski was quickest to nip in front of Lloyd Kelly and flick the ball into the far corner. Every outfield Spurs player joined the huddle of celebrations. Postecoglou was unmoved.

It was a timely intervention from Kulusevski given the visitors had begun to lose control. Postecoglou sought experience and replaced Richarlison with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, among a clutch of first-team players for sale, and Sarr with Perisic. Richarlison had another frustrating afternoon, typified by six or seven seconds early in the second half. The Brazilian ended up on his backside after inadvertently standing on the ball attempting to latch on to an infield Pedro Porro pass and instantly earned a booking for petulantly tripping Christie in a bid to vent his anger.

This was, however, undoubtedly another promising outing for Postecoglou and this new-look Spurs. “We’ve got our Tottenham back,” cheered the away supporters in eight minutes of second-half stoppage time.