Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 4
After everything that had gone before, it was only natural that there would be a degree of hesitation; doubts and questions. Was there something wrong with Nicolas Jackson’s goal that finally put Chelsea in front against nine-man Tottenham?
We had already seen four goals ruled out by the officials, with the video assistant particularly prominent – one for Spurs, three for Chelsea, although one of those was overtaken by the award of a penalty from which Cole Palmer made it 1-1.
Now we had to wonder whether maybe Raheem Sterling had strayed offside before he crossed for Jackson. Or perhaps there was something else amiss. Because, frankly, it was that kind of night – when the game appeared to be played as much in front of the replay screens in Stockley Park.
Mercifully for Mauricio Pochettino, who was just about able to enjoy his return to Spurs with Chelsea, we got the all-clear. Pochettino was on his way to the first statement win of his Chelsea tenure; Ange Postecoglou to his first Premier League defeat with Spurs, although that told only a part of the story.
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Let’s do this by the numbers. Spurs’ red cards were for Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie while they lost two more players to injuries – Micky van de Ven and James Maddison. But the detail that made them really howl was when the substitute, Eric Dier, had a goal disallowed for offside in the 78th minute after yet another VAR intervention.
What a story that would have been. Spurs fought until the end, with another substitute, Rodrigo Bentancur, and later Son Heung-min blowing glorious chances to equalise. Enter Jackson to twist the knife, converting from a Conor Gallagher cross and wrapping up a hat-trick at the very end when he ran through what was left of Spurs’ backline.
Pochettino had transcended the occasion at the outset, all eyes on him after he stepped inside the ground he used to call home; the one he helped to design. How would the home crowd react when he took his place in the technical area? Would they boo? The answer was that it was impossible to tell. It was simply too noisy.
The story moved on pretty quickly. In the early stages, it was all about Spurs’ breathtaking tempo. Pochettino could be seen shaking his head on the touchline in the eighth minute, presumably wondering where his midfield had gone. Spurs were ahead by then and it was incredible to see how much space Pape Sarr had to collect from Maddison and play in Dejan Kulusevski, whose shot deflected wickedly off Levi Colwill to wrong-foot Robert Sánchez.
Spurs were flying. And then, over the remainder of a wild first half, they were brought thumping back down to earth. It was difficult to process at times, especially with all of the VAR interventions. It felt as if there were two games being played – one here, the other at Stockley Park.
By the time the 12th and final minute of first-half stoppage time had been played, Spurs had lost their lead and both of their first-choice centre backs – Romero to a red card, Van de Ven to a nasty-looking hamstring pull. Oh, and Maddison had been forced off, too, having felt something twang in a muscle.
Spurs might have been two up in the 13th minute, moments after Guglielmo Vicario had saved brilliantly from Jackson. It was Brennan Johnson who crossed low for Son to touch home only the Spurs captain had gone fractionally too early. The VAR lines would get him.
The game might have turned when Udogie jumped in on Sterling with both feet off the ground in the 18th minute. It was reckless but he dodged a red card as he avoided making contact. Or when Sterling got a break off Pedro Porro to finish; the break, though, had come off Sterling’s hand. VAR chalked off another one.
It did turn after a triple VAR check. Chelsea had stabilised and they thought they had equalised when Moisés Caicedo threaded a low shot from distance. Yet the ball had flicked in off Jackson, who was in an offside position. It was then back to the first phase of the move and a penalty check for Van de Ven on Sterling. There was not enough in it. But there certainly was on the next phase and the next challenge – Romero following through hard and dangerously on his Argentina team-mate Enzo Fernández.
Off went Romero and in went the equaliser, even if Vicario might have saved Palmer’s penalty, getting his hands to it only to push it into the corner. Palmer and others in blue shushed the South Stand.
What else before Gareth Bale appeared as the on-field interval guest? Jackson had the ball in the net on 38 minutes only for Sterling to be zapped for offside in the build-up; Postecoglou was booked after losing his cool with the officials and Reece James survived a VAR check for an elbow on Udogie.
Everybody needed the interval, Spurs especially. Postecoglou had to discuss his new system, with Emerson Royal and Eric Dier in central defence, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in midfield. He would have to think some more when Udogie was dismissed. Already carrying the dark orange card from the Sterling incident, he stretched into a tackle on the same opponent and was spent when Sterling touched the ball away first.
The game was there for Pochettino to seize. Postecoglou reorganised with Højbjerg into central defence, Emerson to left back; Rodrigo Bentancur and Oliver Skipp came on in midfield. It was 4-3-1 and yet still Spurs held a daringly high last line. Chelsea surely had to make a through-ball count?
Jackson fluffed a header from point-blank range, Vicario somehow smuggling the ball up and over the crossbar and, when the substitute Marc Cucurella ran clean through, he had to finish. Instead he checked inside and saw Vicario save bravely. – Guardian
