Kepa Arrizabalaga’s mistakes cost Bournemouth in 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur

LONDON – Two misjudgments by Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga cost his side in a match they dominated as they had to settle for a 2-2 English Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur on March 9.

The first chance of the game came with around 17 seconds on the clock, when Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero’s sloppy pass was intercepted by Evanilson, but his shot was well saved by Guglielmo Vicario.

Three minutes later, Bournemouth had another great opportunity when their high press saw Yves Bissouma dispossessed. This time, Vicario had to deny Justin Kluivert with an outstretched foot before stopping an Evanilson header.

Three minutes from the break, the Cherries deservedly opened the scoring thanks to excellent work from Milos Kerkez. The left-back cut out a pass in his own third, galloped forward with purpose before dispatching a lovely deep cross for Marcus Tavernier to slide home.

It should have come as no surprise to Spurs. No side have scored more goals from open-play crosses than Bournemouth (eight) in the Premier League this season, with three of those being provided by Kerkez.

Having seen their side trail at half-time for the sixth time this season, boos rang out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Ange Postecoglou responded by hooking Brennan Johnson and Bissouma for Son Heung-min and Lucas Bergvall respectively.

Six minutes into the half, Bournemouth had the ball in the net after another lovely counter-attack and cross, but Antoine Semenyo was adjudged to be offside in the build-up to Kluivert’s effort.

Two minutes later, Son clipped the outside of the post after he cut in from the right and unleashed a low shot.

But on 65 minutes, Bournemouth went 2-0 up after Kluivert’s neat reverse through ball was picked up by Evanilson, who lifted the ball over Vicario and into the net for his first goal since breaking his foot in January.

That seemed to jolt Spurs into life.

In the two minutes and 27 seconds after Bournemouth’s second, Tottenham first hit the post via Bergvall’s shot from outside the box, before Pape Matar Sarr caught out Arrizabalaga with a shot that went in off the post.

There may be contention as to whether Sarr’s shot from the right flank was intended as a cross, but Arrizabalaga’s positioning will be questioned.

The exciting second half continued with Kluivert hitting the post from a tight angle after another Cherries counter on 73 minutes.

Eleven minutes later, another Arrizabalaga misjudgment gave Spurs a lifeline they scarcely deserved. He rushed out and brought down Son in the box as the South Korean chased after a James Maddison through ball.

Son cheekily dispatched the penalty in the middle of the goal to make it 2-2 and give his side an unlikely draw.

It could give Spurs a shot of confidence ahead of their midweek Europa League last-16, second-leg tie against AZ Alkmaar, with the English side having lost the away leg 1-0.

But Son told Sky Sports: “Thursday (against AZ) was an unacceptable performance from everyone and today in the first half as well being sloppy.

“I would not say it was a hangover, but when your confidence is a little bit down, you do things you would normally not do and make mistakes.”

Meanwhile, the eighth-placed Cherries’ blip continues, with just one win in their last five league matches.

Tavernier told Sky Sports: “We should have put some more chances away but going 2-0 up, we have to see the game out. Everyone is disappointed in there but we can’t dwell on it too much.

“Today we could not take our chances and we need to really work on that.”

Elsewhere in London, fourth-placed Chelsea beat second-from-bottom Leicester City 1-0 thanks to Marc Cucurella’s goal.

However, Cole Palmer’s goal drought extended to nine matches after he missed the first penalty in his senior career, having converted the previous 12 in the league.