Tottenham Hotspur's turbulent season reached a new low on Saturday afternoon as the Lilywhites slipped to an agonising, 3-2 defeat to a struggling AFC Bournemouth side at N17, with January signing Dango Ouattara netting a 95th-minute winner for the Cherries to boost their hopes of survival.
The north London outfit had looked to have snatched a point prior to that last-gasp effort as their own winter arrival Arnaut Danjuma lashed home with just minutes remaining, with the visitors having led since early in the second-half courtesy of goals from Matias Vina and Dominic Solanke, following an early strike from Son Heung-min.
On a day of overwhelming frustration for Spurs, as their bid to secure a top-four finish was dealt a notable blow, the latter man's performance was one of the few positives to take from the performance as the South Korean sensation bagged his eighth Premier League goal of the season, having looked 'full of confidence again' in the opening stages, in particular, as per football.london's Alasdair Gold.
That sparkling outing from the 30-year-old – in which he looked 'back to his old self' according to 90min's Sean Walsh – also saw the winger register two key passes and win both of his ground duels, ensuring that he ended the defeat with a standout match rating of 7.8, as per Sofascore – the highest of any of his teammates.
The former Bayer Leverkusen man had managed to open the scoring with a sweeping, left-footed finish after a clever pullback from veteran Croatian, Ivan Perisic, with the latter man racking up his seventh top-flight assist of the season so far from his wing-back berth.
That creative impact had come with the former Inter ace looking like a "constant threat" in those early exchanges, according to the Bournemouth Echo's Tom Crocker, with the 34-year-old looking more like the player that Spurs have been wishing for more regularly this season.
How did Perisic perform against Bournemouth?
There is no denying that it has not been smooth sailing for Perisic since his free transfer arrival last summer, with the £180k-per-week gem having looked like a "complete liability" at the back at times, as writer Andrew Gaffney noted following the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.
That being said, however, the 125-cap machine was far more influential this time around having produced 'one of his better Spurs performances' – according to Walsh – at left wing-back, showcasing his creative prowess after providing three key passes in total, while also attempting 19 crosses from the flanks.
That desire to make an impact did see the one-time Bayern Munich man lose possession on 33 occasions from his 85 touches, although the ageing talent was able to pose a real problem for the opposition after completing four of his five attempted dribbles and creating two big chances.
One such moment of quality saw the wide man tee up Richarlison from a corner late on only for the Brazilian to inexplicably fail to convert, with that errant effort having ultimately come back to bite the hosts as Ouattara stuck the killer blow at the death.
That all-round display from Perisic ultimately saw the Split native record an impressive match rating of 7.7, as per Sofascore, with that only bettered by his partner in crime, Son, for the north Londoners.
While an encouraging performance from the veteran – in which he also won eight of his 11 total duels – will be of little consolation to Cristian Stellini and co, it was noteworthy to see the 6 foot 1 ace able to make a nuisance of himself down the left flank.