Spurs ruthlessly ended Maurizio Sarri's 18-game unbeaten start as Chelsea manager with an impressive 3-1 win at Wembley.
 |
| Eriksen's free-kick was nodded in by Alli for the opener |
Chelsea briefly threatened a second-half recovery, but it never materialised. A stunning solo goal from Heung-min Son (54), embarrassing David Luiz in the process, put the London derby beyond Sarri's men despite Olivier Giroud's late header (85).
Spurs' win takes them above Chelsea into third, and five points off Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Player ratings
Tottenham: Lloris (7), Aurier (6), Alderweireld (7), Foyth (6), Davies (8), Sissoko (7), Dier (7), Eriksen (9), Alli (8), Son (8), Kane (8).
Subs: Lamela (6), Winks (n/a).
Chelsea: Kepa (7), Azpilicueta (5), Rudiger (4), Luiz (3), Alonso (5), Jorginho (4), Kante (5), Kovacic (4), Willian (6), Morata (5), Hazard (6).
Subs: Pedro (6), Barkley (7), Giroud (7).
Man of the match: Christian Eriksen
Sarri had mentioned before the match his concern about Chelsea's poor performances in the opening 15 minutes of games, and the Blues' start would have done little to allay his fears.
Tottenham flew out of the blocks and scored with eight minutes gone when Alli met Christian Eriksen's free-kick at the near post with a glancing header which Kepa's palmed save should have kept out.
Son should have made it two almost immediately when his one-two with Eriksen was played back into his path with a beautiful lofted through-ball from the midfielder, but he blasted over when clean through.
Chelsea had some strong claims for a penalty moments later when Hazard was shoved by Foyth inside Spurs' penalty area, but Martin Atkinson waved play on.
Team news
Tottenham named four new faces from the 1-0 win over Palace a fortnight ago. Christian Eriksen and Heung-min Son returned, with Eric Dier in for Victor Wanyama and Serge Aurier for the injured Kieran Trippier.
Maurizio Sarri opted against making any Chelsea changes on the back of their unbeaten start.
Their frustration would not be helped by Spurs' second, forged when Kane spotted a gap inside Kepa's near post from 25 yards. The goalkeeper, perhaps unsighted by Luiz's decision to move out of the way of the shot, did not even move as it flew past him.
Then nine minutes into the second half, Son picked up a lovely Alli pass down the outside on the halfway line before outpacing Jorginho on the right flank. He bamboozled Luiz with a simple turn inside and fired at Kepa's far post to complete a sensational solo goal.
What would VAR have changed?
Had Martin Atkinson had the luxury of VAR, he would likely have given Chelsea a penalty when Hazard was brought down by Foyth with the score 1-0 at the time.
Had that been given, and Chelsea levelled up Alli's opener, it would have been a very different game.
Alli and Kane then passed up opportunities to humiliate Chelsea further by missing presentable opportunities before Giroud grabbed himself a first league goal of the season - but little fanfare to go with it - by heading in Cesar Azpilicueta's cross late on.
Chelsea will harbour more concern for the condition of star man Hazard, who ended a largely quiet game by coming off the worse from a tackle late on and spent the final minutes limping around Wembley.
Man of the match - Christian Eriksen
There were a number of players who would have had a good call to be named as the best on the pitch, and they all wore Tottenham shirts.
But Eriksen's seven key passes, a league high across the season to date, and two of them resulting in assists, left him standing out from the crowd.
Tottenham have missed the rhythm his spectacular passing radar gives them, as well as his set-piece delivery. They could have easily scored more from dead balls than just the Alli header from his early free-kick, and his return pass for Son's miss was stunning.
Match facts
Tottenham have won three of their last four Premier League games against Chelsea (L1), as many as they had in their previous 20 against them in the competition (W3 D9 L8).
Chelsea suffered their first league defeat of the season, last losing on the final day of the 2017-18 campaign (0-3 vs Newcastle).
Tottenham have won consecutive league games against Chelsea for the first time since August 1987.
Since Mauricio Pochettino has been in charge, Tottenham have won more Premier League London derby matches than any other side (22).
Tottenham's Dele Alli has scored more goals against Chelsea in all competitions than he has against any other side (6).
Tottenham striker Harry Kane has scored 25 goals in Premier League London derbies, putting him joint-sixth in the all-time list in the competition (level with Robin van Persie).
Son Heung-min's strike was his 50th goal for Tottenham in all competitions, in what was his 154th appearance for the club.
Chelsea's Olivier Giroud became only the second player in Premier League history to score 20 goals as a substitute (Jermain Defoe 24).
What's next?
Both sides are back in European action in midweek, with Spurs hosting Inter Milan on Wednesday in a must-win Champions League match at 8pm.
Chelsea have already wrapped up qualification from their Europa League group, but can seal top spot against PAOK on Thursday at the same time.
.jpg)
0 Comments