Chelsea roared back from conceding two early goals to secure yet another memorable away win at Tottenham and make it four Premier League victories on the bounce.
Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski had our hosts 2-0 up inside the opening 11 minutes, but the Blues didn’t panic during a fast and furious first half.
Jadon Sancho quickly halved the arrears with a fine long-range effort, and only Fraser Forster stopped us levelling matters up, Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto among those denied.
While Spurs were not without chances of their own, we still looked the more likely to get the game’s fourth goal. It arrived from a pinpoint Palmer penalty on 61 minutes.
Enzo Fernandez then completed the comeback as he continued his rich vein of form in front of goal, before another Palmer spot-kick – this time a Panenka – had the away end in dreamland.
A very late Son Heung-Min consolation was about as good as it got for Tottenham after the break. Enzo Maresca and his players’ celebrations at full-time underlined the significance of this London derby win, and in particular the team’s goalscoring threat and ability to recover from adversity.
Seven changes once more
Just as at Southampton on Wednesday, the head coach made seven changes to his starting XI, with plenty of our Premier League regulars returning. Robert Sanchez was back in goal, and Benoit Badiashile joined Levi Colwill in the heart of defence.
Moises Caicedo operated in the inverted right-back role he took up against Villa, while Neto, Sancho and Nicolas Jackson freshened up our attack. Romeo Lavia accompanied Enzo in midfield.
Slips prove costly
Both teams had already looked lively going forward by the time Tottenham took a fifth-minute lead. Marc Cucurella slipped, allowing Brennan Johnson to roam forward down the right and cross for Solanke, who beat Colwill to turn it on the slide.
History repeated itself six minutes later. Cucurella slipped on the sodden turf as he went to pass the ball and it was worked to Kulusevski, who drifted across our 18-yard-line and snuck his shot through a crowd and inside Sanchez’s left-hand post.
Cristian Romero, a pre-match doubt for Tottenham, was forced off on the quarter-hour, replaced by Radu Dragusin. With the hosts’ backline still adjusting, Sancho halved the deficit in style.
A Sancho special
He received a pass from Cucurella wide on the left touchline, drove inside Pedro Perro and blasted a 20-yard strike past Fraser Forster and in off the post.
We nearly made it 2-2 instantly, but Palmer missed his kick after good work from Jackson and the enterprising Enzo.
There was no let-up in the goalmouth action as both teams effectively turned the ball over inside the opposition half. Son shot not far over and then Forster made two excellent saves in quick succession, first getting down low to parry a fierce Palmer drive, and then keeping out Neto’s follow-up with an outstretched boot.
The chances kept coming. On 35 minutes, Pape Matar Sarr headed a corner against the top of the crossbar and over. We were caught playing out again and were grateful Solanke, a few yards out, couldn’t get a clean contact on Son’s pass.
Pushing hard
We finished a high-octane first half the stronger. Jackson was twice released and twice thwarted by a sliding Dragusin challenge as he got his shot away, but all the evidence pointed to the fact the scoring was not done.
For the second 45 minutes, Lavia made way for Malo Gusto. The Belgian had taken a blow to the face on the stroke of half-time. Caicedo moved into midfield, with Cucurella Maresca's choice to step forward and bolster our numbers going forward.
Only another superb Forster stopped us drawing level a couple of minutes after the restart. Cucurella and Sancho deftly combined inside the box, with the latter’s strike clawed away by Tottenham’s keeper at point-blank range. We couldn’t quite force home the loose ball.
At the end of a prolonged spell of possession, Enzo whipped a 20-yarder just wide with Forster worried, before the keeper got two hands to Gusto’s sweet strike.
Patience pays
The Chelsea fans in that corner of the stadium sensed a goal was coming, and it duly arrived on the hour!
Sancho silkily slipped a pass into the box for Caicedo to run on to, and he reached it a fraction before the sliding Yves Bissouma. Penalty Chelsea, which Palmer fired into the left-hand corner, Forster diving the other way.
Midway through the second half, there was almost a moment of high controversy. The ball was played forward to Destiny Udogie, clearly offside. The assistant raised his flag, spotted by Neto who stopped running. Udogie also halted his run, and Son raced into the empty space but couldn’t beat Sanchez one-on-one. It would have been an interesting decision for VAR had the South Korean scored.
It preceded a brief spell of Tottenham pressure, Micky van de Ven heading wide from a free-kick, before the Blues completed the turnaround.
Palmer danced his way into the box with the home side’s defence terrified to tackle him, and though his shot was blocked it fell invitingly to Enzo, who powered the bouncing ball past Forster with his left. 3-2!
We quickly hunted a fourth. A magical Palmer flick from Gusto’s aerial pass freed Neto, who moved it on Sancho. Porro got across to block his shot, but we weren’t to be denied another.
Again it was a quick break from back to front that created the opening, and although we didn’t initially make the most of the empty space, Palmer was needlessly brought down by Sarr as headed away from goal.
This time Palmer opted for a Panenka. It was immaculately executed! Once more those in blue could revel in the moment in front of the travelling faithful. Palmer's 12th converted penalty out of 12 makes him the Premier League player to have taken the most spot-kicks and not missed, while he also matches Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's flawless record for us in blue.
A late Son consolation from close range couldn't dampen another excellent day's work, with supporters, players and coaching staff revelling in a huge three points as the rest of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium emptied out.
What it means…
After Arsenal’s draw at Fulham earlier in the day, Chelsea move two points clear of the Gunners in second place in the Premier League table.
A booking for Neto late on will rule him out of our next game, against Brentford.
What’s next…
Before then, the Blues will now prepare for our long trip to Kazakhstan to play Astana in Almaty on Thursday. After that European expedition we host the Bees in the Premier League a week today.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Sanchez; Caicedo, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella (Veiga 90+1); Lavia (Gusto h/t), Fernandez (c); Neto (Madueke 86), Palmer (Joao Felix 90+1), Sancho; Jackson (Nkunku 76)
Unused subs: Jorgensen, Disasi, Tosin, Dewsbury-Hall
Scorers Sancho 18, Palmer 61 (pen), 84 (pen), Fernandez 73
Booked Lavia 21, Neto 85, Sanchez 90+8
Tottenham (4-3-3):Forster; Porro, Romero (Dragusin 15), Van de Ven (Gray 79), Udogie; Johnson (Werner 53), Sarr, Bissouma (Bergvall 79); Kulusevski (Maddison 79), Solanke, Son
Unused subs Austin, Reguilon, Spence, Lankshear
Scorers Solanke 5, Kulusevski 11, Son 90+6
Booked Sarr 30, Bissouma 59
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Crowd: 61,184