Tottenham Hotspur found themselves on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller on Sunday afternoon, going down to a 4-3 defeat at home to Chelsea.
Spurs took a 2-0 lead but – not for the first time this season – were able to take control of the contest. A combination of Tottenham’s collective incompetence and Chelsea’s rediscovered composure saw the visitors explode for four goals.
Son Heung-min’s late strike to complete a ding-dong affair was too little too late for a relegated Spurs side lower half of the table. Chelsea, in stark contrast, have closed the gap on Liverpool to just four points.
How the game developed
From the start, this London derby had a frantic edge. Beyond the absolute chaos that unfolded on the pitch, the crowd was insanely brilliant, launching paper missiles from the stands as soon as a blue shirt came within ten meters of the perimeter of the pitch.
Marc Cucurella couldn’t blame a stray piece of cardboard for falling twice in the build-up to Tottenham’s quick-fire double. Brennan Johnson gobbled up the first loose ball while ChelseaThe team’s left-back was left sniffing the turf, sending a cross into the box for Dominic Solanke to stab home.
Within minutes, Dejan Kulusevski made it 2-0 with another inadvertent assist from Cucurella. The Swede tiptoed across the top of the box, lingering just long enough before curling his shot beyond Robert Sanchez’s powerless tap-in.
Jadon Sancho halved the lead in the opening 17 minutes with a superb strike from the edge of the box, but drama continued to seep out of every orifice in this match.
Tottenham He got the better of a chaotic opening on 45 minutes, but Chelsea roared back after the break. Establishing control of possession in the opposition half, Moises Caicedo won a penalty on the hour mark. After avoid severe punishment For a flurry of his own, the energetic midfielder benefited from Yves Bissouma’s reckless lunge, earning himself a spot-kick which Cole Palmer coolly converted.
A reinvigorated Enzo Fernandez fired Chelsea in front for the first time on Sunday, latching on to Palmer’s deflected shot which fired beyond Fraser Forster.
Spurs continued to push forward at every given opportunity, desperate to rectify another second-half implosion. However, the locals have only opened up on the counter-attack. Pape Sarr was caught chasing one of those breaks when he hacked Palmer in the box for Chelsea’s second penalty of the game. Palmer brushed himself off to kick the spot-kick with a wonderfully cocky puff.
El Son reduced the arrears in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but could not prevent his team from already avoiding their seventh defeat of the league season.
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While Sunday’s seven-goal thriller was a spectacle for neutrals, it was all too familiar for most at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Ahead of kick-off, Ange Postecoglou laid out the sequence of events that have too often defined a Spurs defeat: “Starting well enough but then allowing the opposition to take it, conceding a sloppy goal. .. or not taking advantage of our opportunities.” The same “cycle”, as Postecoglou calls it, was repeated against Chelsea.
The managing director had no other hot swap with supporters on Sunday afternoon, but that same sense of frustration will have permeated through a fan base that may be losing patience with Postecoglou.
Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Postecoglou could be in danger of following that sequence of events – if he hasn’t already – after insisting after the game: “It was good enough to get us ahead in the game so I don’t know why we should change our approach”.
While Cole Palmer will naturally steal the spotlight, Maresca was keen to praise the Chelsea squad. “For me, today the title is for the whole team”, insisted the Italian. However, the coach himself deserves some praise.
After a wild first half that thrilled the neutrals and cut short the lives of both managers, Maresca acted decisively. The change of Moises Caicedo to midfield and the addition of Malo Gusto at right-back gave Chelsea a new sense of control. Up until the 89th minute, the Blues limited Tottenham to just two shots on target in the second half while scoring three goals.
“Not ideal” was the understated way Postecoglou described the forced substitution of Cristian Romero. With 15 minutes to play and Spurs 2-0 up, the World Cup winner limped off to be replaced by Radu Dragusin. Within seconds, Jadon Sancho cut in with his right foot, taking advantage of the space allowed by a retreating Dragusin and drilling home the first of a hectic afternoon for Chelsea.
Micky van de Ven was a surprise starter alongside Romero. The jet-heeled Dutchman was making his first appearance in six weeks and lasted until the 79th minute, but also had to limp off the pitch clutching his hamstring. Coupled with the fitness-related removal of Brennan Johnson, the impact of this Chelsea defeat could reverberate beyond Sunday afternoon.
Maresca was a barrel of laughs at the full-time whistle, joking with Marc Cucurella long after his boot debacle in the first ten minutes. However, the Spaniard’s footwear was not the only factor behind a lackluster sequence that undermined Chelsea’s title bid.
Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has missed almost half his passes (19 of 40) while the ever-uncertain Benoit Badiashile hasn’t offered much more security.
With the game poised at 2-2, Chelsea’s entire backline shut down. Pedro Neto raised his arm to call for offside and turned his back on the play as Son Heung-min faced goal, arguing with the referee as the Tottenham striker fired offside.
Chelsea are second in the table and Liverpool’s closest rivals, but Maresca is well documented dismissal of his team’s title challenge will not change based on Sunday viewing. As the Italian coach noted after the game: “Arsenal, (Man) City and Liverpool probably don’t slide, like Cucurella did.”
