Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1113313
34 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2019 SPORTS FOOTBALL Nine-man Spurs miss chance to seal top- four place with defeat by Bournemouth TOTTENHAM had two players sent off as they missed the chance to guarantee Champions League foot- ball next season after Nathan Ake scored an injury-time winner for Bournemouth. It was far from ideal preparation for Mauricio Pochettino's side, who face Ajax in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednes- day in Amsterdam, having lost the first leg 1-0. Son Heung-min was dismissed for pushing Jefferson Lerma at the end of a frantic first half, in which Eric Dier was lucky not to have been sent off and Bournemouth could con- ceivably have had two penalties. Then, just over two minutes after coming on at half-time, Juan Foyth was also shown a straight red card as he slid studs-up into Jack Simpson. Spurs have now won just once in their past four league games and stay third on 70 points, four points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, who have two games remaining. Champions League qualification is still in Tottenham's hands, and they need to beat Everton in their fi- nal league game on 12 May to make sure of a top-four spot. Foyth was sent off just two minutes and 13 seconds after being sent on, the quickest a substitute has been dismissed in a Premier League game since Steven Gerrard against Manchester United in March 2015