Chelsea defeated Tottenham 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Thursday evening and picked up a vital three points in their hunt for Champions League football.
The match got off to a chaotic start, and just 50 seconds in, Nicolas Jackson found himself in behind the Tottenham defence and after a sloppy melee between Jackson, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario, the ball hit the post and Spurs narrowly avoided an embarrassing start to the match.
In the opening 30 minutes, Spurs were unable to produce any real clear-cut chances, however, Chelsea had produced a few of them and probably should've found themselves one or two nil up if it wasn't for poor end product and poor decision making from the Chelsea front line. Jadon Sancho saw a lot of the ball and looked dangerous, but when he got into the box, he seemed to panic and lose the ball.
Right before half time, the home side almost broke the deadlock, but Vicario produced a world-class save to deny Sancho's powerful effort from close range. Just a minute after Sancho's close effort, a huge scuffle took place after Cristian Romero bundled Levi Colwill to the ground despite the game not being in play. Despite the incident taking place between Romero and Colwill, all eyes were on Trevoh Chalobah and Rodrigo Bentancur, who had to be held apart by their teammates.
The first half ended goalless with both teams level, but it certainly wasn't an uneventful first 45 minutes.
Just five minutes into the second half, Enzo Fernandez headed the ball into the back of the net to give Chelsea a 1-0 lead. The Argentine's header was relatively simple and all he had to do was head in on target, but all the credit should go to Cole Palmer for the picture-perfect cross he put in. The Englishman looked pretty lively up to this point and it is moments of magic like that which make him such an asset to Chelsea.
Shortly after taking a 1-0 lead, Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead when Moises Caicedo smashed a beautiful volley into the bottom corner, but the Ecuadorian's strike was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.
VAR played yet another part in the match in the 69th minute when Pape Sarr, just five minutes after coming on, had the ball in the back of the net after striking the ball from distance, but the Senegal international saw his strike disallowed due to a foul on Caicedo in the lead up to the goal. It went from bad to worse for Sarr as not only did his goal get chalked off, he was booked for the foul.
The rest of the match was contested in fiery fashion, but nothing significant happened and it ended 1-0 to Chelsea, with the visitors picking up a huge three points.
Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham - Match Statistics
Chelsea
50
11
5
4
2
4
Match Highlights
Chelsea Player Ratings
Trevoh Chalobah and Pedro Neto in conversation
GK: Robert Sanchez - 7.5/10
Didn't have much to do in terms of saves for most of the match but produced a really good save towards the end of the match to deny Son.
RB: Malo Gusto - 6/10
Had lots of energy up and down the right flank throughout the match, but his end product in terms of crosses into the box was poor.
CB: Trevoh Chalobah - 7.5/10
Almost had an assist to his name after just one minute from a dangerous over-the-top ball he fed through to Jackson. Chalobah's passing out of defence was very good and looked calm and assured defensively.
CB: Levi Colwill - 7/10
Good with the ball at his feet and made a few good clearances and blocks. The Englishman cost his side a 2-0 lead after being caught offside in the build-up to Caicedo's disallowed goal.
LB: Marc Cucurella - 7.5/10
Looked like he had a tough night in store for him after going up against Odobert for the first few times, but the Spaniard kept his head in the game and shut him down for the rest of the match and was defensively very good.
CM: Moises Caicedo - 8/10
A formidable, energetic presence in midfield. The Ecuadorian was strong in the tackle, tidy on the ball and didn't stop working hard for the entire match.
CM: Enzo Fernandez - 8/10
Tidy and safe with the ball at his feet and managed to get himself on the scoresheet with a simple but good header.
AM: Cole Palmer - 8.5/10 (Man of the Match)
A thorn in the side of Spurs all evening. Palmer provided a beautiful cross for Fernandez's headed goal and looked almost unstoppable when he broke with the ball and used his pace and skill on the counter.
RW: Pedro Neto - 6.5/10
Put some decent crosses into the box but other than that, Neto didn't have too much significant involvement in the match.
ST: Nicolas Jackson - 7.5/10
Utilized his pace and strength really well and was a nightmare for both Romero and van de Ven to deal with at times.
LW: Jadon Sancho - 5/10
Looked lively with the ball at his feet at times but just couldn't make anything significant happen.
SUB: Noni Madueke - 7/10
Replaced Sancho well and looked to threaten the Spurs defence with his dribbling and pace.
SUB: Reece James - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Tosin Adarabioyo - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Tottenham Player Ratings
James Maddison in action for Tottenham
GK: Guglielmo Vicario - 7/10
Had a really shaky and erratic start to the match but eventually calmed him down and made a few good saves.
RB: Djed Spence - 7/10
Had a really energetic performance both offensively and defensively. Spence defended against Sancho really well and was a threat when breaking forward also.
CB: Cristian Romero - 6/10
Looked the most erratic of the Spurs back line. Romero was caused problems by Jackson's physicality, and at times, he couldn't handle the Senegalese international.
CB: Micky van de Ven - 7/10
Was solid defensively but was caused problems by Jackson at times. The Dutchman was withdrawn close to the end of the match after looking like he had potentially picked up another injury.
LB: Destiny Udogie - 6/10
Caused Chelsea problems, particularly in the first half with his dangerous runs and crosses into the box, but he failed to continue to be as much of a threat in the second half.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 6/10
Didn't produce anything noteworthy during the match. The Uruguayan was safe in possession of the ball but also looked off the pace of the match when pressing and defending.
CM: Lucas Bergvall - 7.5/10
Had some really tidy moments with the ball at his feet and worked really hard for his side. Despite putting in a good performance, the Swede was controversially taken off after 64 minutes.
CM: James Maddison - 5.5/10
Was quite easily dealt with by the Chelsea midfield and back line. Maddison got on the ball quite a bit but didn't make anything happen creatively.
RW: Wilson Odobert - 6/10
Caused some problems for Cucurella at times when he dribbled at him and used his pace but he got more predictable as the match went on and was substituted.
ST: Dominic Solanke - 5/10
Hardly had any involvement in the match, and even though he worked hard, he looked isolated up front on his own all evening.
LW: Heung-Min Son - 6/10
Just like Odobert, Son looked dangerous at times but looked to fade as the match went on and his threat diminished. Even when he got into good positions to shoot, Son looked timid and hesitant to shoot.
SUB: Pape Sarr - 6/10
Aside from having a goal disallowed, Sarr didn't do much after being brought on.
SUB: Brennan Johnson - 6.5/10
Brought lots of energy into the match for his side. The Welshman immediately got into the game and utilised his pace and directness but couldn't produce anything of any note.
SUB: Pedro Porro - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Mathys Tel - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.