Martin Keown has praised Rodrigo Bentancur, Eric Dier and Ivan Perisic for how they ‘completely transformed’ Tottenham Hotspur’s afternoon on the South Coast on Saturday.
All three players were benched by Antonio Conte ahead of their crucial Champions League tie against Marseille on Tuesday night.
It proved to be a costly error because Bournemouth were 2-0 up inside an hour and Conte was staring at his team suffering a possible third straight loss in the Premier League.
But Eric Dier’s introduction at the back pushed the team forward, Ivan Perisic supplied the assist for Ben Davies’ equaliser, whilst Bentancur scored the stoppage-time winner.
In the end, it was a sigh of relief for the north London club, who remain in the top-four places after 13 Premier League games.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown spoke about Tottenham starting slow and how the team starts to perform when Conte takes the shackles off, as he told Final Score.
“He tried to rest a few, didn’t he?” said Keown. “Bentancur, Dier and Perisic coming off the bench. They completely transformed Tottenham and that’s the manager managing it.
“They always have to be a goal behind. They were two behind in this one to wake up and the handbrake is on.
“Once he says ‘right, let’s go for it’. Like he did in midweek in the Champions League, then they are a different animal.”
TWO BIG GAMES COMING UP
Tottenham only need a point against Marseille and then they would have booked their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
If they lose in France and Sporting draw against Frankfurt in the other fixture, then they will still progress.
Either way, life would have been a lot simpler if Harry Kane’s stoppage-winner wasn’t offside last week, but if they do progress, then it will give them a lot of energy heading into their game against Liverpool on Sunday.
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