Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0 v Chelsea (1) 1
By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur’s home ground may no longer be called White Hart Lane, but for Chelsea supporters it remains ‘Three Point Lane’ as the Blues continued their overwhelming domination over Spurs of recent years with yet another victory.
João Pedro scored the only goal of the game to bring Chelsea level on points with Tottenham and trailing them just on goal difference, although the visitors would have gone well ahead on that count if they had not squandered numerous other openings.
The 0-1 scoreline does not remotely reflect the unexpectedly one-sided way the match developed, with Spurs being completely crushed by Chelsea’s suffocating pressure out of possession, led by Moisés Caicedo, who was outstanding once more.
The home team managed just one attempt on goal in the whole game, and they did not have a single shot in the second half, with it never looking likely that they would be able to mount any sort of comeback, amid an adject and dispiriting lack of a scoring threat.
“I’ve never been in charge of a team that create that little in one game” admitted a forlorn Thomas Frank after Tottenham recorded their lowest ever xG in a Premier League match with an expected goals figure of only 0.05.
“I think Chelsea were good. We were definitely second best. We performed badly. I think we lacked energy and an intensity. That freshness, we didn’t have that.
“Then I think the high pressure they came with, I don’t think we solved it well enough. Even though we worked on it.”
Frank’s predecessor at Spurs, Ange Postecoglou, lost all four of his Premier League meetings with Chelsea, but was still appreciated for his forward-focused approach by a fanbase who famously value attacking football above all else.
Tottenham’s latest head coach will be worried that, after only three months in charge, the lack of bravery or evident effort from his players was greeted with some jeering at half-time and then loud boos at the final whistle.
It was a huge contrast to exactly two years ago, when Postecoglou’s side was applauded off the pitch despite losing 1-4 to Chelsea, having finished with nine men after two red cards, but still come close to an improbable draw.
Spurs also let in four goals in the same fixture last season, but battled back to a more respectable 3-4 defeat. This time only Guglielmo Vicario’s heroics, including repeatedly in one-on-one situations, prevented conceding that number for the third year in a row.
Vicario seemed to have made a vital intervention on the half-hour, when a poor Pedro Porro pass rebounded off Alejandro Garnacho to leave João Pedro clear in the penalty box for a shot stopped with his legs by the goalkeeper coming quickly off his line.
However, just three minutes later João Pedro made up for that miss by getting the winning goal, after another terrible Tottenham blunder to lose possession in a dangerous area when trying to play out from defence.
Djed Spence, Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven were all at fault, as Caicedo embarrassingly robbed first Spence and then van de Ven, before playing in João Pedro for the finish.
Tottenham Hotspur: (4-2-3-1) Vicario - Porro (Udogie 73), Danso (Romero 60), van de Ven, Spence - Bentancur (Richarlison 60), João Palhinha - Kudus, Pape Sarr, Bergvall (Xavi Simons 7 (Odobert 73)) - Kolo Muani (Johnson 73)
Chelsea: (4-1-4-1) Sánchez - Gusto (Lavia 76), Fofana (Adarabioyo 89), Chalobah, Cucurella - James, Caicedo - Neto (Estêvão 85), Fernández, Garnacho (Gittens 66) - João Pedro