Sandro Tonali celebrates his first Tottenham goal. Photo: Lucas Petrou.
Chelsea and Tottenham traded early goals in their friendly in Sydney on Saturday night AEST, thrilling an 80,000+ strong crowd at Accor Stadium.
After tensions grew heated following Conor Gallagher’s tackle on Dario Essugo, Spurs hit the lead after 17 minutes through new signing Sandro Tonali.
Manor Solomon held the ball up high on the right flank for Roberto De Zerbi’s side, waiting for Tonali to arrive. The Italian side-footed the ball with power and caught a somewhat fortunate deflection of Levi Colwill, which wrongfooted Teddy Sharman-Lowe on its way into the net.
It was Tonali’s first goal in Spurs colours.
Sandro Tonali gets his first goal as a @Spursofficial player! 🔥
The Italian’s strike deflects into the bottom corner, earning Tottenham an early lead against their rivals @chelseafc 💪
Watch #CHEvTOT live and exclusive on Paramount+ 📺 pic.twitter.com/cVATIALNUs
— Paramount+ Australia (@ParamountPlusAU) August 1, 2026
However, Spurs’ lead did not last long, with Chelsea hitting back just four minutes later through Brazilian young gun Estevao.
Cole Palmer found Jamie Gittens on the left flank, who propped and delivered a well-directed ball into the box aiming for Estevao. The ball took a fortuitous deflection as the 19-year-old ducked inside his defender to head home from close range and level up the scores.
A sell out crowd in Sydney was treated to some exciting action inside the opening period as both sides looked to push forward and take the ascendency, with a range of big Premier League names deployed from the start.
Xabi Alonso looked far more animated that De Zerbi on the touchline as he willed his side on in their second match under his guidance.