Tottenham finally secure first Premier League Wembley win as Christian Eriksen's strike beats Bournemouth

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Tottenham finally broke their Wembley hoodoo, with all the poise and elegance of a man stumbling out of a pub toilet. Christian Eriksen’s goal at the start of the second half was enough to give them their first league win at their new home, even if there were times - especially during the first half - when they looked a very long way from home indeed.

Not a scintillating win, then, nor a thrilling win, not even, at times, a very interesting win. But a win for Tottenham nonetheless, and given the teething problems that have accompanied their first stadium move since 1899, the jaunty bars of “Glory Glory” that accompanied the final whistle were received like a thirsty traveller snatching a Capri Sun.

Put it this way: it was not exactly a performance to scare the two Manchester clubs. While Pep Guardiola’s hungry horses were putting seven past a hapless Stoke, Tottenham were labouring against an entrenched Bournemouth rearguard, unable to get their most creative players on the ball facing towards goal. Their failure to dictate the game in the first half, or kill it in the second, did little to stave off the edgy unease that has characterised their Wembley outings so far. “Is this the Emirates?” the Bournemouth fans taunted during one particularly flat spell.

“It wasn’t a great performance, but it was good enough to win,” said Mauricio Pochettino. “We made some mistakes in our positional game. We had a lot of possession, but you feel that it was difficult to break them down. In the second half, we changed our setup in possession a little bit, started to move the ball quickly.”

Part of the problem, you suspect, is the space. The Wembley pitch is eight per cent larger than White Hart Lane. You might think that would give them more room to stretch the game, to put their combinations together, to express themselves, but in fact it seems to be having the opposite effect. After all, the goal is the same size, the penalty area is the same size, and no matter how big the pitch, everyone knows you have to get the ball there eventually.

And so unlike at White Hart Lane, where the crowd is almost on top of you, and the ball pings back into your area as quickly as you can clear it, Wembley is a place of space and time. Time for Tottenham to build. Time for Tottenham to move the ball. Time for Bournemouth, meanwhile, to set themselves, close down, shift across. If you have enough running in your legs - and virtually all Premier League teams do these days - then with 10 men on the edge of your area, you will still get attacked, but you will almost certainly see the shot coming.

Even Eriksen’s 47th-minute goal had the vague whiff of fortune to it, the ball rebounding to him off the legs off Simon Francis. By that stage, Bournemouth could even have claimed the lead. Junior Stanislas had a shot by the arm of Davinson Sanchez in the 18th minute; from the resulting corner, Hugo Lloris made an inspired reaction save after the ball had cannoned off Eric Dier. Tottenham had dominated to that point, and would continue to dominate. Yet in the space of two minutes, Bournemouth had enjoyed the two best chances of the match.

But Eriksen’s goal, curling the ball low with his left foot after good work by Son Heung-Min, shifted the mood of the game. All of a sudden, the onus was on Bournemouth to create something, and the introduction of Jermain Defoe was perfectly timed to induce Tottenham jitters. Within seconds, he had darted into the right channel and almost snuck the ball in at Lloris’s near post.

Harry Kane, meanwhile, was having a frustrating sort of game. After an anonymous first half, he played an increasing role in the second, albeit without reward. There was a goal correctly ruled out for offside. A couple of good chances fluffed on the counter. A left-footed volley that ended up going out for a throw.

It was important, then, that Tottenham showed they could win without him excelling. “It’s important that not only Harry Kane scores goals,” said Pochettino. “The most important thing is always the collective, the group. The happiness when you win is always the squad’s happiness.”

And Tottenham’s sturdy spine was always able to retain just enough control of the game. Harry Winks was a calming presence in midfield, Toby Alderweireld had a fine game in defence, and even Moussa Sissoko looked sharp when he came on with 15 minutes to go, surging down the right wing and putting in a cross that Dele Alli headed wide.

There were more chances for Tottenham to put a gloss on the scoreline. Eriksen had a fierce shot saved. Dier, of all people, executed an outrageous bit of skill that sent Charlie Daniels for a hot dog, only for his shot to be blocked.

In the closing minutes, Tottenham somehow managed to blow a four-on-one breakaway, with Winks missing an open goal. But one goal, as it turned out, was enough. Enough to get the Wembley monkey off their backs. Enough to keep in touch with the Premier League leaders. Enough for Real Madrid, who they face in the Bernabeu next week? That, you suspect, is another question entirely.