Mauricio Pochettino Despite emerging from the chaos with a 4-1 victory over the nine men of Spurs, the Blues were far from convincing
Victory over Tottenham Hotspur should always be sweet for Chelsea and their followers, but Monday night’s unlikely 4-1 triumph over their high-flying foes somehow leaves a bitter taste. This was the definition of a scoreline not telling the whole story. While the two managers dominated the pre-match narrative, this was a tale of red cards, VAR drama and self-destructiveness.
Tottenham’s implosion – reduced to nine men before the hour mark as Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were dismissed either side of half-time – only seemed to bring the worst out of Mauricio Pochettino’s side on the Argentine’s return to north London.
They got there in the end as Nicolas Jackson capitalised on Ange Postecoglou’s insistence on an inexplicably high line with a late hat-trick, but Chelsea’s toil against their depleted rivals made this feel like something of a hollow victory. With more stern tests on the horizon, the performance must actually be seen as a concern.
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GettyInexplicable head-loss
Many of Chelsea’s initial problems with seizing their numerical advantage stemmed from almost being drawn into Tottenham’s storm of ill discipline.
In first-half stoppage time, both Levi Colwill and Reece James found themselves in hot water, moments after Romero had been given his marching orders for a wild lunge and Cole Palmer had brought the Blues level from the spot.
Colwill became engaged in a completely unnecessary shoving match with Pape Sarr, while his captain James escaped punishment after catching Udogie with a stray elbow. Pochettino wisely opted to withdraw a fired-up Colwill at the break, but on another day Chelsea could have easily thrown their advantage away.
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