Somewhat uncharacteristically, Tottenham delivered a more than comfortable 2-0 win over London rivals Chelsea as we further strengthened our top-four aspirations.
Albeit having played two games more, Sunday’s victory puts Spurs four points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle; moreover, we sit nine and 14 points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea respectively putting us in the driving seat for Champions League football next season (Premier League).
Following Son’s relegation to the bench and subsequent goal in his substitute appearance last weekend, fans we eager to see if he would regain his place over Richarlison or if the Brazilian would get the nod.
Antonio Conte ultimately favoured the latter, which in truth was a good decision as Richarlison put in a stellar performance.
Playing one key pass, taking two shots, winning five tackles (SofaScore), and just generally making a nuisance of himself for Reece James and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, although Richarlison is still waiting on his first Premier League goal, he put in yet another impressive performance against the side he made his debut against back in August.
From a Spurs point of view, the game started surprisingly open, as both sides had chances to attack with Joao Felix and Hakim Ziyech getting early shots off – although neither troubled Fraser Forster (Understat).
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The first half was a largely uneventful affair, with the first real talking point coming on the eve of the break.
With minutes to go in the half, Zieych made a rash challenge on Richarlison with both sets of players then pushing and shoving one another with Zieych clearly slapping Emerson Royal in the face following the Brazilian charging into him from behind.
In between the tackle and “brawl”, referee Stewart Atwell produced a yellow card – presumably to book Zieych for the initial foul, with VAR then intrusting the Atwell the Moroccan should instead be sent off.
However, following another check, VAR then ruled he shouldn’t be dismissed, with Atwell instead opting only to book the Chelsea forward, essentially meaning either one of the tackle or slap, which were both clear bookable offences, went unpunished.
Ultimately, the slap would have been a soft red, but the overall frustration for fans is in the application of VAR, as Zieych appeared to be booked, slapped Royal, got sent off, then had his dismissal rescinded in a chaotic five minutes that brought the first half to an end.
But regardless, it took Spurs less than 30 seconds to open the scoring in the second half, with Emerson and Skipp capitalising on a slow start from the visitors.
Tottenham attacked quickly from the off, with Kulusevski teeing Emerson up for what was in truth a tame shot on target, but the Blues’ subsequent poor clearance saw Skipp beat Felix to the ball before rifling a shot into the goal to give Spurs the lead.
Given his form since coming back into the side, Skipp certainly deserved his first goal for his boyhood club, putting in an outstanding performance against one of Spurs’ fierce rivals.
Moreover, Emerson Royal also put in yet another stellar showing, winning a mammoth seven tackles and making three clearances as he and Kulusevski formed a strong partnership on the right.
There’s no doubt Royal has improved since Pedro Porro’s arrival, having successfully kept the Spaniard out of the side since his disappointing debut against Leicester City; but the Brazilian is still far from the complete package.
Not one of three of the Brazilian’s attempted crosses found a Spurs shirt, but interestingly, he often inverted to join Hojbjerg and Skipp in the midfield – a tactical tweak that helped Spurs in midfield where we have too often been dominated and a key factor in us winning the game.
Whilst Chelsea responded well after the goal, Forster made a few good saves, most notably dispossessing Kai Havertz to stop him from tapping into an open goal, however, we defended well and allowed the visitors little in terms of clear chances.
And in truth, we always felt fully in control, with Kane’s goal all but sealing the points for Spurs as the Englishman tapped in from close range following Dier’s flick-on from Son’s corner.
From there, in a refreshing twist for Spurs fans, it never felt the three points – or even the clean sheet, was under any real threat, as we cruised to our first win over Chelsea in eight attempts (Transfermarkt).
As a team, Sunday could well rival the Man City game as our performance of the season, as we dominated Chelsea in every area of the pitch, limiting the Blues to just 0.26xG – their lowest in any league game all season.
Forster, Romero, Skipp, and Emerson were all standout performers for Spurs, whilst Kane put in a characteristically mature performance, dropping deep to link play and scoring his customary goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A win over our long-term rivals should spur us on for a good run of form as we face Sheffield United (FA Cup), Wolves (EPL), and AC Milan (CL) in our next three games; all fixtures that could significantly impact our season.
But for now, a fourth win out of four for Cristian Stellini leaves Spurs fans with a lot to celebrate this weekend as we’ve taken a big step to secure Champions League football again next season.
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