AFC Bournemouth
Gary O’Neil felt his AFC Bournemouth players gave “absolutely everything again” but admitted errors had proved costly in defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
Interim head coach O’Neil watched the Cherries take a 2-0 lead against the Premier League high-fliers thanks to Kieffer Moore’s finely-taken double.
But after second-half goals from Ryan Sessegnon and Ben Davies had put Spurs on level terms, Rodrigo Bentancur struck in added time to earn Antonio Conte’s team a 3-2 victory.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, O’Neil said: “They put everything in and got nothing out in the end so that is tough to take for them.
“I’m really disappointed for them because I thought they gave absolutely everything again.
“There’s a big gulf between the two sides, but it didn’t look like that for large parts today. For a large part, we managed to close that gap and managed to be very competitive against a top side.
“We were really disappointed with the nature of the goals because there were mistakes in there that were so avoidable and will cost you at this level.
“If they score from a moment of brilliance or something you haven’t covered, then it’s easier to accept. But when they come from something that you’ve worked hard on, it’s disappointing.
“So as hard as the boys worked, as committed as they were and as well as they stuck to the game plan, if you make little slips in key areas from set-plays or whatever, you can be punished especially against world-class opposition.
“When they are bringing on players like Lucas Moura, Ivan Perisic, Bryan Gil and Rodrigo Bentancur, it can be tricky. But we lost a game against Tottenham which is never a disgrace for us.
“The way we went about it wasn’t a disgrace either. We were really competitive and the boys can take a lot of credit from that. But until the dust settles, it’s hard for them to see it that way.”
O’Neil added: “It’s hard because you see the way the game’s going and they are pushing you back and you’re trying to tweak things or trying to get people on the pitch that you feel might be able to help.
“But at that moment, it’s just really difficult. Momentum against a top side like that is really difficult to stop.
“But if you look back at the first half and even the early stages of the second half, there were some real positives in there for us.”
