Chelsea celebrate Pedro's equaliser
Goals from Pedro and Victor Moses helped Chelsea complete a comeback win against Tottenham on Saturday, inflicting a first Premier League defeat of the season on Mauricio Pochettino's side.
Christian Eriksen had fired the visitors in front but Chelsea bounced back with strikes either side of the break to return to the top of the table following afternoon wins for Liverpool and Manchester City, while Spurs are down in fifth, one point off the top four.
Here, we round up the talking points from Stamford Bridge…
Chelsea's see off Spurs again
And still Chelsea's remarkable home record against Tottenham goes on. The Blues haven't lost to their London neighbours at Stamford Bridge in 30 meetings in all competitions, a proud streak which stretches back to February 1990.
"Not on my watch" was John Terry's Instagram jibe after Chelsea battled back from 2-0 down to draw in May - but with their injured captain looking on from the sidelines on Saturday, Chelsea - in the first half, at least - looked in danger of seeing that trend come to an end.
Chelsea had won their last six in a row but couldn't get out of their own half for much of the opening period. Kane had a goal ruled out early on, Eriksen cracked in a superb opener for the visitors and there was tension in the stands as Chelsea surrendered possession and Tottenham put on the pressure.
Tale of two halves
| Chelsea first half | Chelsea second half | Stat | Spurs first half | Spurs second half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Goals | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 6 | Shots | 10 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | Corners | 3 | 5 |
| 204 | 184 | Passes | 228 | 230 |
| 77 | 76.1 | Pass accuracy % | 82.5 | 79.1 |
| 47.9 | 44.2 | Posssession % | 52.1 | 55.8 |
But Pedro's goal on the stroke of half-time changed the tide. Chelsea came flying out of the traps for the second half and Moses powered in a second. Marcos Alonso should have made it three when he blasted over from 12 yards but in the end it didn't matter - Chelsea held on for their 26th Premier League win over Spurs. They've had more Premier League wins against Tottenham than against any other team.
Chelsea take their chances, Spurs don't
The result left Pochettino ruing his side's inability to convert more of their numerous chances into goals. "Football is sometimes difficult to explain," he said after the game. "When you play better than your opponent and you lose the game it's difficult to explain. They were clinical in front of the goal and we weren't.
"If you see the stats, they are for us. But football is not only about the stats. It is to score goals and defend the chances they created. They needed less chances than us to score twice. We created more and only scored one. That was the difference."
Pedro curls in Chelsea's equaliser
Those stats, though, highlight his team's trouble in front of goal. Spurs had six shots on target to Chelsea's five, 12 in total to their hosts' nine. Chelsea, however, have forwards in form and making the difference.
Diego Costa has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player this season (10 goals, four assists), while Pedro has been involved in eight goals in his last six appearances (three goals, five assists).
Chelsea title favourites?
Chelsea's seventh Premier League win in a row moved them back to the top of the Premier League and has set up a mouth-watering encounter with third-placed Manchester City live on Sky Sports next Saturday.
Tough to break down yet exciting in attack, Antonio Conte's 3-4-3 system has given Chelsea strength at both ends of the pitch. Will it be enough to return the Premier League trophy to Stamford Bridge?
Antonio Conte has played down Chelsea's title hopes
There's plenty of factors in their favour. With no European football to worry about, Conte has substantial training pitch time with which to convey his ideas. He currently has a settled starting XI, unaffected by injuries, while, when he looks to his bench he is able to call upon experienced and talented players.
The ingredients are there. In his programme notes, the Chelsea manager attempted to quieten title talk. He pointed out November is not yet over and his team "have a lot of work ahead of us". He reiterated his stance after the match, saying: "It's too early to speak about this."
But if he emerges victorious from his first-ever battle with Pep Guardiola, Chelsea will be seen as hot favourites to reclaim the crown.
Do Spurs lack squad depth?
Pochettino appeared satisfied with the efforts of his team after the game. He applauded the way they took the game to Chelsea, particularly in the first half, and how they put their midweek Champions League disappointment behind them to give the league leaders problems.
On another day, Spurs could easily have come away with the win. Yet, as Pochettino searched for solutions from the bench, there was a feeling he is working with fewer options than his Italian counterpart Conte.
Mauricio Pochettino's subs were unable to come up with an equaliser
Moses' winner came from Tottenham's severely weakened left-back region - due to Danny Rose's suspension and Ben Davies' injury - but in response the Argentinean could only turn to 20-year-old Harry Winks, 21-year-old Georges-Kevin N'Koudou and out-of-form Vincent Janssen.
In contrast, Conte introduced Willian, Oscar and experienced Premier League winner Branislav Ivanovic to bolster his side. Cesc Fabregas wasn't even required.
Spurs' lack of options in attack have already been exposed this season by Kane's injury layoff - they scored just eight goals in nine Premier League and Champions League games he missed - but it seems depth of experienced quality remains a problem in other areas, too.
Chelsea finally concede
After a 601-minute long shutout, Thibaut Courtois was finally beaten - and what a strike it was. Eriksen - who had fired off 38 shots without success previously this season - picked the ball up following a driving Dele Alli run and lashed a left-foot shot past Chelsea's Belgian 'keeper from 20 yards.
Christian Eriksen ended Chelsea's run of clean sheets
Spurs had already hit the net with Harry Kane's disallowed finish from close range inside five minutes and Chelsea's previously watertight defence was further tested from an Eric Dier header and a long-range Kane strike which Courtois tipped parried over his bar.
However, they stood firm, particularly late on as Spurs pressed for an equaliser, and now have the joint-meanest defence in the division, along with Pochettino's men.
No comments:
Post a Comment