Another date at Stamford Bridge and another defeat for Tottenham Hotspur as the club goes 1-11-20 in its last 32 visits to its London rivals, dropping Thursday’s fixture 2-0.
Only being shutout twice all season, Spurs came under a lot of pressure early from a Chelsea side that was riddled with injuries but the Starting XI they put forth found a way to put the nail in the coffin on another disastrous day for Spurs.
Chelsea had a big chance early as Pape Sarr gave the ball away and Nicolas Jackson ran onto the ball and had a chance with Guglielmo Vicario coming off his line to challenge the shot. Able to get the shot under Vicario but seeing it knocked away slightly, Micky van de Ven cleared the ball away from a potential goal to keep it 0-0 after five minutes of play.
Forced to hold their own on the defensive side yet again this season with the midfield struggling to string progress passes together, Chelsea put switching balls all across the pitch and left Spurs susceptible in the back with Emerson Royal the one being targeted as the left-back down the stretch of the season.
Chelsea put together the first goal of the night on a set piece — something that will continue to be a major concern for Spurs until fully addressed — as Connor Gallagher sent a perfect ball towards the back of the 12-yard box for Trevoh Chalobah to flick the ball to the far post for a 1-0 lead.
With the first half just being poor from Spurs on the offensive slot, the cameras caught Ange Postecoglou ripping into his team to stop passing backward and to bring more pressure into the midfield.
In the second half, Spurs came into the game when the changes of James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Pierre Emile Hojbjerg came into the game. Trying to make quick impacts in the game, the three put more pressure in the final third but once more the team could not break through to get a goal.
Feeling as if things were about to break in favor of Spurs, Chelsea put the final blow to the contest as Cole Palmer took his free kick. Hitting his left-footed set piece over the wall and high off the bar, the ball bounced right back into the middle of the box for Jackson to run freely to the ball for a header as Son Heung-Min and Hojbjerg got in each other’s way for a potential goal-line clearance.
Losing their third consecutive Premier League match, the Champions League spots could all be confirmed if Spurs lose to Liverpool as the gap will be too much to catch Aston Villa.
With the season being up and down in big stretches all year long, it is a thing to note that changes overall will be good to see with some highs to embark on and lows to throw away.