Who saw that result coming? Given Spurs’ record at Stamford Bridge over the last forty years with one win in 2018 I think almost everyone thought that a Chelsea win or at worst a draw was the most likely result today, however right from the very first whistle De Zerbi’s side were the far better team and took complete control of the game in the first half knocking the ball about Stamford Bridge unlike any Spurs side I’ve seen against Chelsea in the past few years. With all that considered it was still goalless at half-time with Spurs missing some great chances through Marmoush and Tel but they did look the far more likely side to score with Chelsea only really getting chances through Spurs mistakes playing out from the back, you thought Xabi Alonso’ side would improve in the second half but Spurs continued pushing for the opener and eventually got it in the 77th minute as Mateus Fernandes’ corner was inadvertently punched into his own net by Mike Penders on his first Premier League start for Chelsea. As the tensions rose between the two teams with Chelsea players clearly getting frustrated with their performance we got a red card just three minutes after the goal as a Cole Palmer stamp on Connor Gallagher would see the referee issue the Englishman a second yellow card and bring Chelsea down to 10-men, he’ll miss the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool on Wednesday. As if things couldn’t get any better for Spurs they doubled the lead in the 87th minute as Mathys Tel robbed Acheampong of the ball before going on a 40-50 yard run with the ball before eventually firing into the Chelsea net to kill the game for Spurs, a memorable night for Spurs who seem to finally be clicking under Roberto De Zerbi.
Spurs’ patience with De Zerbi finally paying off. In my pieces on the Spurs games at the start of the season I said that despite the poor results I do think they will come good and if you don’t believe me you can read the Spurs vs Newcastle piece from last month that said those exact words, with that aside this is obviously Spurs’ best result of the season so far but I don’t even think it’s their best performance. They absolutely dominated this Chelsea side from start to finish and that’s mostly down to De Zerbi finally starting Tonali-Fernandes-Maddison in midfield who were all brilliant today and made Chelsea’s midfield look average out there, defensively I thought Spurs were very good today bar a few mistakes playing out from the back which is part of parcel of De Zerbi’s philosophy but up against one of the best attacks in the league I thought the likes of Van Hecke, Van de Ven, Gray and Robertson did really well out there. Obviously offensively there’s still problems in this side but how promising was it to see Mathys Tel score an absolute wonder-goal to seal the game, he’s undoubtedly had his problems at Spurs so far but if anyone is to finally get the best out of him it’s Roberto De Zerbi. Let’s not forget he’s still only 21-years old so he has plenty of time to still grow into his potential, I thought Mohammed Kudus was excellent on the right-wing for Spurs and it’s no coincidence that his reintroduction into the side has seen an upturn in their form. Unfortunately they still have no proper striker as Omar Marmoush yet again displayed today but if they can keep that current midfield and defence intact then I think the goals will come, overall it was a superb performance all round from Spurs who have a really exciting season ahead. How high do you think they can finish?
That’s a really bad result and performance for Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea. Prior to the game it was obviously a shock to see that Joao Pedro was not in the squad missing the game through injury but even more shocking than that was that Danny Welbeck wasn’t the one that came into the starting 11, Alonso opted to play with no striker and started Geovany Quenda instead who was terrible on the night. Not that he was the only one as I don’t think there was any Chelsea players that can come out of this game with their head held high, the game was won in midfield and that’s were Xabi Alonso got things badly wrong today opting to start Jordan Henderson yet again in there who has done well in there in recent weeks but simply cannot be a long-term solution alongside Caicedo. What was even more surprising was that Alonso didn’t even change it at half-time and left Henderson and Caicedo by themselves for 90 minutes which was crazy, you then have to rely on your attack to deliver when they did get the ball but they did anything but today with Morgan Rogers, Geovany Quenda and Cole Palmer all stinking Stamford Bridge out, Palmer was lucky not to be sent off earlier for a challenge on Mateus Fernandes and cut a really frustrated figure out there even before he got that first yellow card. Defensively Chelsea have been suspect all season and that continued today in a game they easily could have conceded three or four in had Spurs’ attackers been more clinical, especially in the first half. It’s the first game I think Chelsea fans will be concerned about Xabi Alonso and the way he went about setting up the side for the game, they’ll hope it’s not something they see again this season.
What’s the goal for Spurs this season? Before the season started when I was doing my previews I said that I thought Spurs should at least be pushing for the Champions League places given their are five spaces and they are only playing one game a week, obviously that looked miles off it in the first two months of the season but right now I see no reason why they can’t at least be in and around there. If City do get a points deduction then I only really see Arsenal and Liverpool that are certified for Champions League positions, if Chelsea are as well then Spurs have to be as well with the way they played today. I know everybody loves to laugh at Spurs and everybody was talking about relegation again this season but when you actually look at it there’s no reason why they can’t they be up there with the likes of Aston Villa, Brighton, Chelsea etc this season? Obviously they need to limit the injuries to important players like Maddison, Tonali, Van de Ven, Kudus etc but if they can get the likes of Savinho, Mudryk, Udogie and Bergvaal back then they have plenty of options to come in and compete for a starting spot. They badly need Marmoush and/or Solanke to step into that striker spot and start firing in goals and if that does happen I think Spurs will get a Champions League spot this season, I’m not being reactionary either.
What’s up next for these two sides? Spurs are back in action next Saturday at home to Crystal Palace which you’d think would be a win given the Eagles recent form, Chelsea are in Carabao Cup action on Wednesday against Liverpool at Anfield before coming back to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to play Man United. As for me I’ll be back tomorrow with Man United vs Bournemouth and Barcelona vs Real Madrid, definitely more looking forward to El Clasico compared to whatever the hell Michael Carrick is cooking up for tomorrow. It’s gonna be diabolical.
5 Things we learned from Spurs’ shocking win over Chelsea
Next
Next