Tottenham Hotspur suffered their first defeat of the Premier League campaign on Saturday, falling 0-1 to Bournemouth at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after a dismal performance from Thomas Frank’s men. Evanilson’s early strike proved decisive as Spurs never found a way back into the game.The so-called ‘pre-international break curse’ continues to haunt Tottenham. Not since October 2023 have they won their final fixture before a break, and this one followed the same script.Heading into the clash, Spurs were joint table toppers after wins over Burnley and Manchester City, but this display was a world away from either of those performances. Bournemouth arrived with aggression, a clear plan, and they bullied Tottenham physically throughout.Thomas Frank named an unchanged XI from the side that dismantled Pep Guardiola’s City last week. Dominic Solanke was left out of the squad entirely, with Manor Solomon taking a place on the bench, though the Israeli winger remained unused.First half: Tottenham 0-1 BournemouthBefore kick-off, new signing Xavi Simons was unveiled to the home crowd, drawing a warm welcome. Sadly for those in attendance, that was the last thing to cheer for quite some time.Tottenham had the first opening when Brennan Johnson slipped Pape Matar Sarr into the box, but his low cross was dealt with comfortably. Bournemouth, however, wasted no time in punishing Spurs.Just four minutes in, Marcos Senesi split the Spurs defence with a clever ball into Evanilson. The Brazilian’s strike deflected off Cristian Romero and looped beyond Guglielmo Vicario to silence the stadium.Evanilson might have doubled his tally only moments later when Antoine Semenyo outpaced Pedro Porro and teed him up on the edge of the box, only for the forward to drag wide.David Brooks then caused havoc. First, he picked out Semenyo with the outside of his boot, but the chance went begging. Then he tried a cheeky free-kick from range, which Vicario pushed away.Micky van de Ven produced a crucial sliding block to deny Marcus Tavernier, while Evanilson continued to wrestle with the Dutch centre back but found no joy against his recovery pace.By half-time, Spurs had produced nothing of note, not a single attempt, finishing the half with an xG of 0.0 compared to Bournemouth’s 0.83.Second half: Tottenham 0-1 BournemouthSurely, Spurs could only improve after such a dire opening half. Frank resisted changes, though, and the pattern remained the same.Two minutes after the restart, Senesi once again found Semenyo, whose thunderous strike forced Vicario into another sharp save. The Cherries’ best chance came around the 50th minute in a sequence of absolute chaos. Evanilson was denied at point-blank range by Vicario, Brooks smacked the rebound off the bar, and there were shouts for a penalty when Mohammed Kudus caught Senesi, but the referee waved play on.It was the freshly substituted Lucas Bergvall who eventually gave the fans something to cheer about in the 69th minute: Spurs’ first shot on target of the game, though his effort was tame.There was a brief scare when Romero went down, and Destiny Udogie was ready to come on. The substitution did happen, but instead Udogie replaced Porro, with Spence shifting across to right-back. That switch pushed Djed Spence to right-back, and suddenly, Kudus saw more of the ball. Still, Spurs struggled to break into the Bournemouth penalty area.On one rare occasion when Spurs did get into the box, Udogie’s deflected cut-back fell for Wilson Odobert to attempt a volley, but he skied the shot.It was only after Bournemouth had dropped deeper, probably after being instructed by Iraola, when Spurs were finally a bit more involved. However, the game was already in stoppage time.Mathys Tel came close with a well-struck volley from a Spence cross, flashing just wide of the far post from distance. But there would be no late rescue act as Spurs slumped to their first defeat of the season, finishing with an xG of just 0.17 to Bournemouth’s 1.45.FT: TOTTENHAM 0-1 BOURNEMOUTHSpurs Web man of the match: Guglielmo VicarioWhat’s next for Spurs?It doesn’t take a tactical genius to identify the problems. Spurs were physically second best across the pitch, bullied in duels, and bereft of creativity. For all Frank’s early success without a traditional number 10, this was the kind of game that screamed out for one. Surely, Xavi Simons, might have been wondering how he could have helped.No one in white demanded the ball and looked like they wanted to create chances. That takes us to the fact that there might have been complacency today, with a few players perhaps assuming their position is safe and secure. Richarlison was incredible when Solanke was on the bench and he had to fight for a starting spot. But in the one game where Spurs didn’t have Solanke as an option, Richarlison dropped a stinker.The only player who can really hold his head high is Guglielmo Vicario, who made 5 crucial saves. Without him, the scoreline could have been a lot uglier.Now comes the 2-week international break (whether we like it or not) before Spurs head to East London to face West Ham on 13 September.The post Tottenham 0-1 Bournemouth Match Report as Thomas Frank suffers first defeat appeared first on Spurs Web.