Semenyo's professionalism pays off, but Iraola must retool forward line

As the dust settles on the remarkable scenes at the end of Wednesday's game with Tottenham, it is time for Bournemouth to recall the past, celebrate the present – but also look ahead to the future.

Cherries supporters who were there for the dark days in the lower reaches of League Two in 2008 may recall ex-England midfielder Darren Anderton, in his final game before retirement, conjuring up a wonder goal in the dying minutes to hand Bournemouth a priceless win over fellow strugglers Chester City.

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The 4,154 hardy souls who were there that day would have been dwarfed by the 11,212 at Vitality Stadium on Wednesday and many more watching live across the UK and abroad.

But it was another fairytale Roy of the Rovers finish, or more accurately Antoine of the Cherries, as Antoine Semenyo signed off his Bournemouth career with a superb 95th-minute strike to beat Spurs 3-2 and end a run of 11 games without a win.

With players at other clubs having allegedly threatened to go on strike to force through summer moves, or refused to play and risk injury, Semenyo's professionalism in continuing to give his all for the Cherries while the entire football world knew of his imminent move to Manchester City was hailed by ex-Scotland captain Rachel Corsie on BBC Radio 5 Live as "a model example of how to conduct yourself".

Boss Andoni Iraola praised "one of the best players I have ever coached", having inherited a back-up striker signed from Bristol City and pulled a masterstroke in switching him to a wide attacking role.

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However, the Spaniard must now perform another act of alchemy to retool Bournemouth's forward line, with Semenyo on his way and Justin Kluivert requiring knee surgery.

Iraola has spoken about the difficulty of fitting both Evanilson and Eli Junior Kroupi into his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, but both were on target against Tottenham with Kroupi playing in the number 10 role usually occupied by Kluivert, while he has also featured out wide for France Under-21s.

Teenager Kroupi averages a goal every 82 minutes this season – putting him top of the Premier League charts by that metric, ahead of Erling Haaland (91 minutes) – and has been described by ex-England striker Daniel Sturridge on X as "already one of the best finishers in the Premier League", and is fast showing the sort of form which may make it impossible for Iraola to leave him out.