Chelsea’s Antipodean trip concluded in frustration on Saturday night as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from a numerical disadvantage to claim a 2-1 victory in the Sydney Super Cup at Accor Stadium. Richarlison, who came on at the interval, scored from close range in the last minute to give Xabi Alonso his first loss, in a friendly, as Chelsea manager.
There was a definite acrimony about the contest not usually found in midsummer exhibitions with full-blooded challenges everywhere and former Blue Conor Gallagher booked inside ten minutes. Sandro Tonali opened the scoring in the 17th minute when his shot from the edge of the penalty box took a deflection off Levi Colwill before beating goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe. Chelsea responded quickly and commendably, with Estevao Willian sneaking past Andrew Robertson to nod in a Jamie Gittens cross.
Four minutes into the second period, the momentum of the encounter changed. Substitute Kevin Danso let Archie Gray’s pass go through his legs before bringing down marauding Joao Pedro, and referee Alex King produced a straight red card for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. Chelsea then laid siege to the Tottenham rear guard, but Antonin Kinsky denied them all they could throw at him with a succession of fine saves.
The defeat ends a six-match winning run against their London rivals, a streak that includes a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge on 19 May that left Spurs fighting to stave off relegation.
Chelsea boss Alonso’s comments on chastening Sydney farewell and Tottenham loss
The Spaniard, who had begun his stewardship with an entertaining 6-4 win over Western Sydney Wanderers, had based his selection in this game on minutes played. A number of senior professionals, including Cole Palmer and Wesley Fofana, had completed their stints, and after 80 minutes played, nearly the entire team had been through a wholesale reshuffle.
The raft of late changes perhaps diluted Chelsea’s authority during the closing exchanges and the concession was a chastening postscript to an otherwise instructive evening. Alonso, though, wasn’t reading too much into the scoreline, as he said:
“It was an intense competitive game, for sure. We wanted to win and to lose is not something we like, but it’s a pre-season game and we have missed a few chances. In the first half, it was very competitive, really even, and in the second half we were close to scoring that [winning goal]. But it was a good pre-season game, great crowd and atmosphere, and we were unlucky to concede that late goal to lose.”
The head coach then waxed lyrical about the electric acoustics generated inside Accor Stadium and said he was thankful for a welcome that has coloured Chelsea’s entire week in New South Wales. Now the focus decisively shifts to Hong Kong, where Juventus provide a much sterner test of his developing tactical blueprint ahead of the Premier League season.