Tottenham 1 Chelsea 4
Ange Postecoglou welcomed Chelsea to North London looking to continue their unbeaten start to the season as Mauricio Pochettino returned to his old club. With the poor start The Blues have made under his management, this was a huge game for the Argentinian.
Tottenham made the perfect start as Kulusevski cut in from the right, looking to get a shot away as Colwill turned his back on him, with the ball striking the defender and wrong footing the Chelsea keeper to make it one-nil to the hosts.
The stadium erupted as it hit the back of the net, already this was looking like it was going to be a huge test for Pochettino’s faltering Chelsea side once again. Spurs seemed well up for this game and were playing the game at a frantic pace.
A great move by Spurs saw Son slot home as the fans leapt from their seats, believing they had gone two-nil up early on in this game. VAR reviewed it, with the Tottenham frontman having just set off a fraction too soon, and it was adjudged offside.
Credit: @premierleague
Udogie then put in a heavy challenge on Sterling as the hosts flew into the challenges. The referee issued a yellow card but on seeing the replay the Tottenham defender had both legs off the ground with his studs showing.
How VAR did not see this as a straight red beggars belief. Sterling saw him coming and pulled out of the tackle, which can be the only reason he stayed on. Had he made contact with the player, it could have easily broken his leg.
It was non-stop action at this stage, Sterling went down the other end and put the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out as his initial shot rebounded back at him and struck his arm. Just prior to the goal there was an issue at the other end of the pitch.
Romero was involved as he kicked out at a Chelsea player from the ground. VAR reviewed it and decided it was not dangerous. It was very similar to the incident that saw Beckham sent off in the World Cup for England against Argentina.
You just could not take your eyes off this game. The visitors came forward once again, Tottenham were defending for their lives, as the ball broke to the edge of the box Caicedo thundered a shot into the bottom corner of the goal.
Immediately a flag was raised for offside. On review Jackson had stepped over the shot and was in an offside decision. VAR then decided to have a look at the build up to the incident and a challenge by Romero on Fernandez.
Credit: @premierleague
They asked the referee to go to the monitor. While the Tottenham defender had won the ball, he followed through to catch his Argentine teammate high up the shin. The referee awarded a penalty and showed Romero a red card for the tackle.
Cole Palmer calmly slotted home although Vicario got two hands to it, the shot hit the inside of the post and went in. With a man advantage, Chelsea were now looking favourites to take this game to Postecoglou’s side.
To add to the manager’s woes Maddison limped off after turning his ankle over and being unable to continue. Moments later, as he was in a foot race with Jackson, Van de Ven pulled up clutching his hamstring and was also forced off the field.
In the second half, the visitors came forward, as Sterling got to the ball moments before Udogie the defender then wiped out the Chelsea player. The referee had no choice but to show him a second yellow card and Tottenham were down to nine men.
Ange Postecoglou had gone from the perfect position, one-nil up at home against their London rivals, to completing self-destructing. Ironically, they now found themselves in the same position Liverpool were in when they visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham, despite their numbers, continued to play a high line. Chelsea looked to breach it with their pace and Sterling ran through and unselfishly squared it to Nicolas Jackson to slot home and give the visitors the lead.
Late on in the game, as Tottenham swung a free kick into the box, Dier arrived at the back post to volley home and draw the hosts level. The stadium erupted as they seemed to achieve mission impossible but VAR was to deny them with the Spurs’ player just offside.
Captain Son Heung-min then picked the ball up, just inside the Chelsea half, and weaved his way towards goal before getting a left footed shot away. Sanchez got down well to make a good save to deny the Tottenham man.
This was now a game of attack versus defence and it seemed just a matter of time before Pochettino’s side broke the high line once again. As Tottenham chased an equaliser, Gallagher crossed from the right to find Jackson who made it three-one.
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