CHELSEA 1-0 TOTTENHAM: Enzo Fernandez makes the telling contribution as VAR rules out two goals in a match which asked more questions of Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou
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22:03, 03 Apr 2025
Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea celebrates
Enzo Fernandez scored the opening goal(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Ange Postecoglou was left to answer more questions about his future as Tottenham manager after his lacklustre side were beaten by Chelsea for the fourth straight time in a feisty Premier League derby.
Nicolas Jackson nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes when Spurs failed to deal with a long ball and Micky van de Ven's clearance cannoned off the Chelsea striker and onto the post. Guglielmo Vicario made a stunning finger-tip stop to keep out Jadon Sancho just before half-time, but the home side weren't to be denied for long.
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Cole Palmer picked out an unmarked Enzo Fernandez to head home from six yards and the Blues thought they had doubled their lead shortly after when Moises Caicedo smashed in a volley, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.
There was another VAR intervention to come when Pape Sarr's effort was chalked off for a blatant foul on Caicedo in the build-up. Robert Sanchez made a flying stop from Son Heung-min late on as Chelsea climbed back into the top four and Spurs slipped to a 16th Premier League defeat of the season. Here are the talking points.
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Spence gets better of Sancho
Jadon Sancho of Chelsea battles for possession with Djed Spence of Tottenham
Jadon Sancho didn't get much change out of Djed Spence(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
The TV cameras caught a glimpse of Thomas Tuchel back at his old stomping ground to keep an eye on the English players in action. Palmer, James Maddison and Levi Colwill may have been the most obvious reasons behind his scouting mission, but there was a good battle between two Englishmen in the first half.
Jadon Sancho saw a lot of the ball in the first 45 minutes, with Chelsea using diagonal passes to spread the play and get him one-on-one with Djed Spence. The problem was, that once he got it, Sancho didn't know what to do with it, often coming inside into bodies, or delaying his pass until the opportunity disappeared.
Sancho's hesitancy drew moans from the Stamford Bridge crowd, while Enzo Fernandez could be seen screaming at his team-mate when the ball didn't come his way when he was in acres of space. Tuchel's presence aside, Sancho has a lot to play for right now, with a permanent move away from Manchester United on cards. He needs to improve his end product if Chelsea are to part with the cash. Vicario's stunning save before the break didn't help his case.
Blunt Spurs
Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham
Ange Postecoglou was an animated presence on the touchline
Tottenham under Postecoglou used to be gung-ho, end-to-end stuff with goals aplenty. This was anything but. The Spurs coach has said he won't change his philosophy, yet this version of his team appear very different. They were boring and ineffective on the counter-attack.
After a miserable 2-0 defeat at Fulham, Spurs repeated an undesirable trick again after failing to have a single shot on target in the first half. It is the first time this season that they have done so in back-to-back Premier League games. They are closer to the relegation zone than the top four, with a whopping 18 points separating them and Chelsea after this game.
VAR takes centre stage
Moises Caicedo's volley was ruled out by VAR for offside
Moises Caicedo's volley was ruled out by VAR for offside
Officials ruling out a goal for the home side - and a good one at that - are never going to be popular. But the four minutes it took VAR Jarred Gillett to determine that Levi Colwill was in an offside position when Fernandez's free-kick came in here felt ludicrous.
VAR is always going to be a subject that courts controversy. The James Tarkowski fiasco in the Merseyside Derby on Wednesday proves that the humans behind it will make mistakes. But the length of time it takes to make decisions really grates, especially for the match-going fans who don't even have the benefit of the TV viewers, who are walked through what's happening.
More delays were to come when referee Craig Pawson needed multiple viewings of Sarr's obvious foul on Caicedo to rule out Spurs' equaliser.
Pape Sarr fouls Moises Caicedo
Pape Sarr fouled Moises Caicedo before he scored
Blues lean on Palmer
Palmer has been out of sorts in 2025. Chelsea fans have become so used to seeing their playmaker conjure chances out of nowhere that finding out he is indeed human might have come as a shock. He wasn't back to his brilliant best tonight, but the former Manchester City man was still impressive.
It was telling that after 50 minutes of watching Sancho on the left wing, it took Palmer just seconds and one cross to pick out Fernandez in the box for 1-0. It was his first assist since December and his eighth in the Premier League this season, to go with his 14 goals.
Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea goal celebration with Cole Palmer of Chelsea
Enzo Fernandez was teed up by Cole Palmer (Image: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
Ange on the brink?
It suddenly seems such a long time ago when Postecoglou was considered a breathe of fresh air in the Premier League. The Australian's straight talking and commitment to free-flowing attacking football looked like a good fit for Tottenham. And yet it is now falling apart.
A 16th defeat in 30 Premier League games is quite obviously unacceptable - and the excuses he used to turn to are no longer viable. Injuries are no longer an issue. Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke and James Maddison were the front three tonight - and they were still dreadful.
Scenes of Postecoglou cupping his ear to the away fans as they chanted "you don't know what you're doing" after he brought off Lucas Bergvall for Sarr said a lot about the current state of affairs.
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