The euphoria of Manchester City seems like a long time ago for Ange Postecoglou.
Twelve days since the four goals at the home of the champions have presented him with problems and setbacks at every turn, like an Advent calendar from hell.
Injuries and illnesses piled up and three matches in eight days failed to bring him a victory.
We got equalizers at home against Roma and Fulham and his depleted side earned nothing at Bournemouth, who climbed above them in the table.
Fans in the away leg booed the Spurs boss after the final whistle and his team looked flat and tired and suffered another injury, with Ben Davies limping in the second half after pulling a hamstring.
They were also fortunate not to concede more than the one goal scored in the first half by teenage centre-back Dean Huijsen.
Marcus Tavernier and Dango Outtara missed the target with brilliant chances to make it 2-0 in the closing minutes. Fraser Forster held firm and saved from Enes Unal and substitute Lucas Bergvall blocked from Tyler Adams.
That brilliant 4-0 win at City is the highlight for Postecoglou.
It is the only win in six games in all competitions, with in-form Chelsea visiting on Sunday with an extra day of rest in the tank and a much stronger squad to choose from.
Spurs were seven short through injury and suspension, but Dominic Solanke was back after illness to start against the club he left in the summer and Archie Gray shook off the dead leg he suffered in Sunday's draw against Fulham picked up and made his first Premier League start.
Gray came in to give Pedro Porro a breather, but ended up in central defense.
However, Tottenham started well enough. Dejan Kulusevski had the first try of the match, shooting straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga after good work from James Maddison, who made a positive start, finding time and space in midfield as the visitors settled down quickest and dominated the opening stages.
Maddison released Solanke, who overfired under pressure from Huijsen, the 19-year-old defender who replaced Marcos Senesi and who became Bournemouth's youngest Premier League goalscorer when he opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
Forster made a block at his near post to deny Evanilson as Bournemouth's first real attack of the match ended with a ricochet in the penalty area that fell kindly for the Brazilian through Radu Dragusin and Destiny Udogie.
From the corner that followed, Huijsen broke free with a simple run around the back of the crowd, arriving unnoticed to plant a solid downward header past Forster from Tavernier's expert dead-ball throw.
Tottenham's vulnerability through set pieces became a theme last season. It generated a lot of criticism, much to Postecoglou's annoyance. Overall they have been solid this season, but they conceded a late equalizer against Roma last week in the second phase from a corner.
This, and it seemed to take away some of their confidence. Suddenly the sharp passing patterns seemed harder to stitch together, Bournemouth became more assertive on the ball and the match became more even.
Tavernier had the ball in the net but had strayed a yard offside before Evanilson's pass and Forster made a crucial save just before half-time.
Milos Kerkez overlapping on the left found Tavernier and his glancing header looked destined for the net as the Spurs keeper, making his third straight appearance since Guglielmo Vicario broke an ankle, reacted quickly to save low with his left hand.
Postecoglou resisted the urge to make changes at half-time and the pattern remained the same. Spurs took risks going forward and Bournemouth were always dangerous in turnovers, breaking through at pace into wide open areas.
Kluivert sprinted away from Udogie as they counter-attacked from a Spurs corner, but could not find a way past Forster from an angle, and a square pass to Evanilson might have been the better option.
Son provided a brief boost when he came on, fully aiming to replace Pape Matar Sarr. And Tottenham had better balance when Johnson switched back to the right as part of the reshuffle.
Son found the net within seconds and tapped in a rebound as Kepa saved from Kulusevski, but the flag went straight up and it was the right call.
Davies was forced off in his 300th Premier League appearance with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, leaving Spurs three centre-backs short. Gray moved up next to Dragusin and Porro came on and tested Kepa with a nice strike, but there were chances at both ends as the game opened up.
Maddison came close, Forster saved from Evanilson and Ryan Christie clipped the outside of a post.
Forster redeemed himself with a save after a careless pass was stolen by Adams. Evanilson put the rebound into the net, but was offside and was denied by VAR intervention. In the end it didn't matter.
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