As Chelsea's second goal hit the back of the net a reality so debilitating seemed to dawn on the Tottenham players that at a stroke it turned them from a confident and coherent team into a nervous collection of stammering individuals.
In his two weeks in charge, Christian Gross's intense enthusiasm and fresh motivational ideas had re-inflated Spurs' self-belief to the point where a team with four straight defeats to their name went to Everton last weekend and won. And for the first 45 minutes on Saturday, the new positive Spurs looked ready to repeat that feat, even equalising just before half-time after Chelsea had taken the lead.
However, once the second goal went in, with a synchronised burst of collective consciousness the Spurs players realised as one that they were really the same awful side who kept losing under Gerry Francis. it was not so much that they had entered a bad dream, as woken up from a good one.
Six-one is the heaviest home defeat suffered by a Spurs side since 1935 and a dangerous way for a new coach on his home debut to announce himself to an already sceptical Tottenham crowd. Quite how Gross can re-motivate his disillusioned squad, never mind the fans, is difficult to conceive.
"The players are open and receptive to what I want to do," he insisted. "I'm confident that they are on my side."
However, perhaps only when Gross brings in new players, unburdened by easily accessible memory banks stuffed with Spurs' recent failures, can a truly fresh start be made at White Hart Lane.
For Chelsea, confidence is so ingrained that it would take more than the first sign of defeat to frighten them. When in difficulty Ruud Gullit's side, like Manchester United and Leeds, possess that vital extra gear to speed away from trouble. Whether the Premiership's second-placed side also have what it takes to overtake United is more debatable.
Going forward they can look irresistible. Gianfranco Zola is back to his bewitching and direct best after a dormant spell, while the watching England coach Glenn Hoddle can only hope that the sharpness, strength and pace demonstrated by Dan Petrescu on the right wing on Saturday is not illustrative of the whole Romania side.
It is at the back where doubts lurk about Chelsea's durability. Had Ed de Goey not pulled off two super saves to deny David Ginola and Dennis Wise headed off the line, Spurs could have notched four by half-time. And where would their confidence have been then?
Mind you, at the other end, Ian Walker produced a couple of significant saves of his own before seeing Chelsea finally take the lead when Tore Andre Flo finished off a well-worked opening by Zola.
Ramon Vega's steaming far-post header levelled things, but then came the killer goal for Tottenham's fragile self-belief when Zola and Petrescu combined cleverly to set up an easy header for Roberto Di Matteo.
Number three followed on 60 minutes and was the pick of the bunch. Frank Leboeuf, often so suspect at the back but worth his weight in goals going forward, launched a high ball from halfway. Petrescu held off Justin Edinburgh and as the ball dropped, stuck out his right foot to flick the ball on the volley over the advancing Walker.
Zola's chip over Scales to Flo produced number four, a mistake by Colin Calderwood allowed Zola to set up Mark Nicholls for number five and Flo completed his hat-trick when Leboeuf intercepted Ginola's pass and set up the Norwegian with a long ball over Tottenham's by now battered back line.
Throughout all this, Ginola had charged around trying to keep the white flag flying, but in the end it was waved in surrender. "We lose together, but we also win together," said Gross afterwards, perhaps with half an eye on the fact that Coventry and Barnsley are Spurs' next opponents.
But who knows. Vega is about to start a three-match ban, Scales will now be out for two weeks with rib and cheek problems, while Sol Campbell, Steffen Iversen, Andy Sinton and Jose Dominguez are all struggling for fitness. Perhaps Gross should start blaming injuries for Spurs' predicament. Or has that been done before?
Tottenham: Walker, Calderwood, Fox, Nielsen (Anderton 60), Ferdinand, Carr, Ginola, Vega, Wilson, Scales (Allen 71), Sinton (Edinburgh 56). Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Mabbutt. Goals: Vega 43.
Chelsea: De Goey, Petrescu, Babayaro (Nicholls 20), Leboeuf, Wise, Duberry, Le Saux, Di Matteo, Flo, Sinclair, Zola. Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Vialli, Hughes, Myers. Booked: Di Matteo. Goals: Flo 40, Di Matteo 48, Petrescu 59, Flo 63, Nicholls 78, Flo 90. Att: 28,476
Referee: D J Gallagher (Banbury).
