Watching Tottenham Hotspur is a strange experience.

For long periods on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou’s team were second best to visitors Bournemouth and fortunate to trail just 2-0, but Pape Matar Sarr’s cross-shot just after the hour and Son Heung-min’s penalty with six minutes of the 90 to go rescued a point.

Spurs were almost two goals down inside five minutes, and Cristian Romero would have been at fault for both on his return from three months out with a thigh injury. The Argentina defender’s loose passes were capitalised on by Evanilson and Justin Kluivert, who dispossessed Yves Bissouma, but their shots were kept out by smart saves from Guglielmo Vicario.

The home side did grow into the game from there but Andoni Iraola’s team were always on the front foot — and they took the lead three minutes before half-time with one of the assists of the season. Milos Kerkez intercepted Pedro Porro, then charged forward 60 yards before delivering a stunning cross for Marcus Tavernier to convert at the far post.

Early in the second half, Kluivert had a goal ruled out for offside following a lightning-fast break, and half-time substitute Son hit the post at the other end. Sarr wasted a golden chance on the hour when he fired wide and was soon made to pay as Evanilson clipped a finish over Vicario in the 65th minute.

Lucas Bergvall hit the post from range before Sarr’s attempted cross reduced the arrears when it went in off the far post.

Bournemouth were a constant threat on the break but paid the price for failing to take their chances when goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga brought down Son in the box and the Spurs captain converted from the spot to earn a share of the spoils. Somehow.

The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke and Elias Burke analyse the talking points.

What was Romero doing?

Expectations were high for Romero’s return. This was his first appearance since December 8, when he broke down with a quad injury early on against Chelsea in what was his return from a groin problem that had kept him out since early November.

It has been a frustrating three months recovering from an injury head coach Postecoglou described as a “slow burner”, with Tottenham obviously missing not just Romero’s defensive work but his ability on the ball.

But this game was a stark reminder about what to expect from a player after a long lay-off.

Romero was strikingly rusty in the early exchanges, nearly costing Spurs two goals. After just 10 seconds, he passed straight to Evanilson, who was denied by Vicario. And then he put Bissouma in an impossible position, leading to a Kluivert shot which Vicario also saved.

Bournemouth’s pressure from the front was relentless, and Romero was clearly struggling to play through it.

Clearly, if Tottenham are to save their season here on Thursday against AZ Alkmaar — they trail the Dutch club 1-0 on aggregate in a Europa League last-16 tie — they will need Romero back to his best. As well as Micky van de Ven, who replaced Romero in the second half five weeks on from an injury comeback of his own that led to a new spell on the sidelines.

But this match was a reminder it can take returning players time to get that match sharpness back.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

A fractured fanbase on edge

Given the disappointing 1-0 first-leg defeat at AZ in the Europa League on Thursday, it was not going to take much for the home fans’ patience to wear thin against Bournemouth.

Several banners in the South Stand displayed their general discontent with Spurs’ ownership. One, which appeared as Sunday’s kick-off approached, read “Built a Business, Killed a Football Club”.

TIME FOR CHANGE

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The nervous energy around the stadium wasn’t helped when Romero immediately gave the ball away to Evanilson. It took an excellent save from Vicario to prevent the Brazilian opening the scoring before thousands of fans had taken their seats, following public-transport delays in London.

Spurs calmed the atmosphere as they settled into the game, but after Tavernier scored the opener, the frustrations spilt out again. When half-time arrived minutes later, the home team were booed off the pitch.

You could then hear a pin drop as the crowd sat anxiously to open the second half… at least until Evanilson scored Bournemouth’s second. Even excitement after Sarr quickly got a goal back was tempered by Vicario letting the ball slip under his foot and needing to be cleared off the line moments after. The next time the Tottenham goalkeeper got a touch, the crowd greeted his long kick up the pitch with a sarcastic cheer.

With every misplaced pass from that point, and there were more than a few, the sense of nervousness was palpable. After Son converted the penalty to put Spurs back on level terms, the game broke into an end-to-end affair, with the home fans cheering every Tottenham attack and throwing their hands up in despair when they lost the ball.

At full time, those banners came out again. It was a better second-half performance by Spurs than the first, but it will take more than that to get a fractured fanbase back onside.

Elias Burke

Does Maddison need to start?

This game was another reminder that when Tottenham play their best football, James Maddison is usually involved.

They offered very little for the first hour or so without him, after Postecoglou opted to start with a more physical midfield of Rodrigo Bentancur, Bissouma and Sarr. It was only when Maddison came on after 61 minutes that Spurs started to play with any quality.

With his first involvement, he created a chance for Sarr, which was skewed wide. And then it was Maddison’s perfectly-weighted pass through to Son which led to the penalty which the latter converted for the late equaliser.

It goes to show Spurs’ reliance on Maddison. He has not always been at his best this season, and it is no longer a big surprise for him to begin games as a substitute, as he did today. But especially now with Dejan Kulusevski out with a foot injury, Spurs cannot cope without the former Leicester man either.

And it is surely inconceivable he will be on the bench again when AZ visit on Thursday.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

“A chaotic game, for sure. We added to the chaos, a bit. Some of it was self-inflicted, particularly in the first half. With the ball, we were careless with our passing. That allowed the game we played on the terms Bournemouth would like with their transition football. At 2-0 down, it would have been very easy, particularly with the atmosphere as it was, for the boys to let the game get away from us. But credit to them, they found a way to get back in the game, and we got something out of it.

“Not a lot of control from our perspective, which is not ideal for the way we want to play. Obviously we looked nervous and anxious, especially in the first half. But within that context, to come from 2-0 down, the positives of that, the lads showed a really strong mindset to get something out of the game. To be fair, that’s probably what we’ve been missing this year. There’s been a lot of games we’ve lost where games have just petered out. Had we turned more of those single-goal defeats into draws like we did today, we’d be in a better position in the league.”

On Romero’s rusty return: “Not surprised. He hasn’t played for a very long time. He’s hardly played this year, to be fair. Yeah, he will be disappointed with that but, at the same time, what was much more important for me is how he grew into the game. His defensive work, his aerial ability. He was on the end of just about every cross we put in the box from corners, and defensively.”

What next for Tottenham?

Thursday, March 13: AZ (home), Europa League last-16 second leg, 8pm UK, 4pm ET

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(Top photo: Son after scoring from the spot; Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)