[Chelsea](https://chelseanews.com/) were one of the biggest winners of the Premier League weekend, as they took their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to the cleaners with a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
They were buoyed by a much better defensive performance, which was a huge development for the Blues, as the defensive question marks were highlighted as something that could hold the team back this season.
Young Josh Acheampong’s breakout at the center back position has been the big storyline recently for Chelsea, but on Saturday, it was oft-injured central defender Wesley Fofana’s turn to step into the spotlight.
The 24-year-old finally started again for the first time since Sept. 20, and for the first time all season, Fofana had a legitimately great game defensively, shutting down Tottenham entirely.
Fofana didn’t even need to make a tackle. Tottenham had no dribbles completed against the former Leicester City center back, while he robbed them with two interceptions.
It was a masterful exhibition of reading the game from Fofana, who joined Chelsea with a lot of hype a few years ago. If he can step it up and show that he is turning it around at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea may have unearthed a key defensive starter going forward this season under Enzo Maresca.
Joe Soriano is the editor of _The Trivela Effect_ and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like _The Real Champs_ (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage _NFL Spin Zone_ and _Daily DDT,_ covering the NFL and pro wrestling.