Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0
Stamford Bridge was the setting for a London derby between two teams looking to chase down European football next season. Tottenham were the visitors and could ill-afford to drop points as they try and chase down Aston Villa in fourth spot.
Mudryk used his pace to trouble the visitors down the left and slotted the ball into the path of Jackson. As Vicario came rushing out to meet him, he managed to get a shot away underneath the keeper until van de Ven got back to bail his teammate out.
As the defender cleared the ball, it came straight to Palmer but as he tried to cushion the ball into the empty goal, his effort went high over the crossbar. It was a rare miss by Chelsea’s stand-out player in this difficult first season under Pochettino.
It was an early warning for Postecoglou’s side that The Blues were going to try and take advantage of Spurs’ high defensive line. Many teams have done this since the new manager took over but irrelevant to the number of players they have on the pitch, he sticks to his tactics.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
Madueke cut inside from the right onto his left foot and looked to bend one in the top corner but his shot narrowly missed. The hosts were knocking on the door and a goal to break the deadlock only seemed a matter of time.
Gallagher clipped a free kick into the box, which was met by the head of Chalobah, beating Vicario and sending Stamford Bridge wild. It was nothing more than they deserved having dominated Tottenham in the early stages of the game.
The close control of Cole Palmer was dragging the visitors’ defence all over the place. He passed the ball into Mudryk, who checked onto his right foot and looked to bend one in the top corner. It went narrowly wide from one of the worst Eastern European exports since communism.
Despite creating so little in the first half, Tottenham won a free kick deep in Chelsea territory. As the cross was swung in, it found Romero unmarked at the back post. The defender headed narrowly wide, but in reality, he should have scored and levelled things up for Spurs.
Into the second half and Chelsea won a free kick in a dangerous position. Palmer stood over it and his effort thundered against the underside of the crossbar. Jackson reacted quickest and headed the ball into the far corner with Vicario still on the floor.
There is no love lost between these two sets of fans and the Chelsea supporters were enjoying this one. The visitors failed to create much to trouble Petrovic throughout the game and must have infuriated Postecoglou as they could see their Champions League hopes ebbing away.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
Pochettino’s side held on to claim all three points and give themselves a chance of qualifying for Europe next season. In what has been a poor season for a side used to winning trophies, sealing a place in any European competition next season would be seen as a positive end to their campaign.
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