For the first time in three years, Tottenham have managed to beat Chelsea. Unfortunately, it came in the form of a friendly. Sandro Tonali scored his first Spurs goal before 10-man Tottenham snatched a dramatic last-second winner.
Not only did we correctly call the 2-1 scoreline, but we also anticipated that, despite its friendly status, both sides would approach the contest with the intensity of a competitive fixture, which proved to be exactly the case in front of a sold-out Accor Stadium in Sydney.
Roberto De Zerbi fielded a strong Tottenham XI as expected, handing Andy Robertson his first Spurs start after his late cameo against Sydney FC, while £52m summer signing Jan Paul van Hecke also made his first appearance in a Tottenham shirt.
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso followed a similar approach too, with the handful of senior players who had travelled to Australia all named in the starting XI.
First half: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham
With far more clumsy challenges than you would normally expect in a pre-season friendly, the game quickly developed into an exciting encounter, highlighted by Conor Gallagher picking up a yellow card inside the opening 10 minutes.
Tottenham made the breakthrough with the first shot on target of the match when Sandro Tonali met Manor Solomon’s cut-back with a first-time strike from outside the area, which took a deflection on its way into the back of the net to hand the Italian his first Spurs goal.
However, the lead lasted only four minutes as Chelsea responded immediately through Estevao, who headed home after Jamie Gittens’ deflected delivery into the Tottenham box caught out Andy Robertson, with the Scot unable to deal with the danger.
Both sides continued to threaten before the break, with Mathys Tel and Joao Pedro each going close, while Estevao thought he had grabbed his second of the evening after being teed up by Pedro, only for the offside flag to correctly rule the goal out.
Second half: Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham
Unofficial debutant Jan Paul van Hecke made way at half-time for Kevin Danso, but the Austrian’s evening lasted just three minutes as he was sent off after allowing Archie Gray’s pass to run beyond him before bringing down Joao Pedro, who was clean through on goal.
Chelsea immediately began to pile on the pressure against the 10 men, but Antonin Kinsky stood firm with three outstanding saves to deny Estevao and Joao Pedro in what became a brilliant goalkeeping display from the Czech.
Academy substitute Rio Kyerematen almost earned his moment when he turned brilliantly on the halfway line before driving forward and firing a spectacular 25-yard effort against the top of the crossbar. Unfortunately, his evening was cut short soon afterwards as he was forced off through injury.
With only seconds remaining before the match looked destined for a penalty shootout, Tottenham launched one final attack as Jamie Donley drilled a low effort against the base of the right-hand post, allowing Richarlison to react quickest and bury the rebound to hand Spurs a dramatic 90th-minute winner.
SpursWeb man of the match: Antonin Kinsky
What’s next for Spurs?
Claiming a last-second victory over one of your fiercest rivals while playing with 10 men will undoubtedly provide another huge confidence boost for Tottenham, who have now won all four of their pre-season friendlies under Roberto De Zerbi.
The Australia and New Zealand tour has now come to an end, with the squad set for a week’s rest as they return to London, where several players, including Marcos Senesi, are expected to join up with the group ahead of a behind-closed-doors friendly against Getafe at Hotspur Way next Saturday.
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