GARY O’Neil says the way Tottenham battled back to get the better of Cherries was “just the way a game of football goes”, insisting: “Momentum against a top side like that is really difficult to stop.” Cherries impressed, leading 2-0 against their Champions League opponents early in the second half through a brilliant Kieffer Moore brace. But Spurs rallied, getting one back through Ryan Sessegnon, before pushing hard for an equaliser, which came via the head of Ben Davies. And the visitors were not done there, completing a 3-2 victory thanks to a stoppage-time Rodrigo Bentancur strike. Reflecting on the last-gasp defeat,
Gary O’Neil said: “There’s a big gulf between the two sides. That is known by everybody. Did it look like that for large parts of today? No. I thought for a large part of today we managed to close that gap and we managed to be very competitive against a top side. When they bring Lucas Moura, (Ivan) Perisic, Bryan Gil, Bentancur and just keep bringing world-class players off the bench, I think it can be tricky. But we’ve lost a game against Tottenham, which is never a disgrace for us. I think the way we went about it wasn’t a disgrace either. I think we were really, really competitive and the boys can take a lot of credit for that. But obviously until the dust settles, it’s hard for them to see it that way. So really disappointed that they put so much in and get nothing out today. The nature of that is tough to take for them, of course. I’m really disappointed for them, because they gave absolutely everything again.”
Asked if he feels there was anything working well in the first half that was lacking after the break,
Gary O’Neil said: “No, Spurs were better. And the lads get tired. So they just keep bringing on really good players. You will have watched enough football matches to know when you’re winning a game of football and the other team are superior, they will force you back. That’s all it was. There was no change tactically, there was nothing more negative from us. It was just the way a game of football goes where when a team is chasing, they start to take more risk. They start to push things forward. But from open play they didn’t create very much at all. I think they created less than us from open play. There are positives, but just at this moment, my emotions are purely disappointment for the boys. It’s hard, because you see the way the game is going and they are pushing you back and pushing you back. You try and tweak things and you’re trying to get people on the pitch you feel might be able to help. But at that moment, it’s just really, really difficult. Momentum against a top side like that is really difficult to stop. But I think if you back at the first half and even the early stages of the second half, there are some real positives in there for us. But, of course, we need to take points from games. So, disappointed to put as much in as we did and not take anything. Just disappointed with that.”
