Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Chelsea: 3 takeaways

Tottenham defeated Chelsea 3-1 at the Wembley yesterday to move into the 3rd position in the Premier League table. Tottenham now have 30 points from 13 matches whereas Chelsea dropped to 4th position with 28 points from the same number of matches. Delle Alli and Harry Kane scored for Tottenham to put them 2-0 ahead before the half time.

Son Heung-Min increased the deficit with a brilliant solo effort in the second half before Olivier Giroud pulled one back for Chelsea in the 85th minute. Chelsea would, however, consider themselves unlucky as they were not given a penalty after Eden Hazard was fouled inside the Tottenham box in the first half.

Chelsea dominated possession with more than 60% of it, but Tottenham were more incisive and clinical in their approach. They had 9 shots on target while Chelsea could only manage 2. Maurizio Sarri’s side looked inept at times and it would be very surprising if they manage to win the league from here. Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham side, on the other hand, looked very lively and effective and could pose a serious challenge to Man City and Liverpool for the league title.

We would take a look at 3 talking points from the match:

#1 Tottenham defended in large numbers and counter-attacked brilliantly:

Moussa Sissoko

For the majority of the match, Tottenham had 4-5 players inside their own penalty ox while defending the Chelsea attacks. They always had numerical superiority over Chelsea inside their own half and hardly allowed the Chelsea players any space. Moussa Sissoko had a great match in the Spurs midfield and made a number of strong challenges and interceptions.

Moreover, players like Christian Eriksen curbed their attacking instincts to some extent and dropped down to their own half to stop attacks and originate moves. Both the 2nd and 3rd goals scored by Tottenham came through such brilliant counter-attacking moves.

Harry Kane and Son, respectively, were provided with quick passes from inside Tottenham’s own half and both of them finished brilliantly. Son scored his 50th goal in his 153rd match for the Spurs.

Toby Alderweireld and Juan Foyth, the Tottenham Centre-backs, were also very solid and right-back Serge Aurier had a wonderful game. They contained Eden Hazard very effectively and none of the other Chelsea players could pose a serious threat. Eric Dier was also great as a defensive midfielder and helped Sissoko in wresting the initiative in the midfield.

#2 Tottenham’s front 3 tormented Chelsea’s defence

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea FC - Premier League

Tottenham played a front 3 consisting of Kane, Alli and Son, who tormented the Chelsea defenders and also defended deep after losing possession. After Dele Alli scored the first goal from a free-kick, Spurs started playing with a 4-5-1 formation with both Kane and Alli dropping deep and helping their side win possession.

Son was the lone forward who stayed upfront and worked hard before he scored a goal with an excellent solo run in the 54th minute. Son’s speedy runs troubled David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger, the Chelsea centre-backs, who are not very fast themselves.

Harry Kane also played his role to perfection. He was a roving centre-forward who kept moving to the wings at times. He also scored a wonderful goal with a shot from outside the Chelsea penalty box and it was proof of his ball-control and extra-ordinary finishing abilities. He got the ball and took the shot very quickly, thereby giving his marker no chance to react. This was his 151st goals in 230 matches for the Spurs.

#3 Chelsea lacked a good passer in midfield and should have made the substitutions earlier

Olivier Giroud

Chelsea were too one-dimensional in their approach during the first half an hour of the match as they kept playing long balls to Alvaro Morata, their lone striker. Morata had to take on both the Spurs centre-backs all by himself and could hardly trouble them. Hazard had to repeatedly fall back to collect the ball and create moves.

Willian was largely ineffective in the right flank and should have been taken off earlier. Cezar Azpilicueta, the Chelsea right-back, hardly made any overlapping runs in the first half and Marcos Alonso was marginally better in the opposite flank.

Matteo Kovacic was also unimpressive and could not make any notable contribution in the Chelsea midfield. N’Golo Kante was everywhere for Chelsea, but he is not a good passer and Chelsea needed one yesterday to play balls to Hazard and Morata.

Kante, who is a defensive midfielder, is being made to play in a more advanced role for Chelsea and might not be the ideal player to play as a central midfielder. Morata too, should have been taken off earlier as Giroud posed a bigger threat to the Tottenham defence with his physical strength.

Barkley and Pedro’s introduction in the second half injected some life into Chelsea and they started making some incisive moves. They also scored a goal to make the scoreline somewhat respectable for themselves.