Updated:
Feb 26, 2023
Spurs vs Chelsea is one of Football’s greatest rivalries and today’s game was no exception. Tottenham went into the game still without their head coach Antonio Conte at the touch line instead it would be another game at the helm for Cristian Stellini who was looking to add another win to his undefeated record when leading Tottenham. While Chelsea manager Graham Potter was hoping to do anything to obtain a win having failed to gain a win in his last 4 Premier League matches and continues to be put under pressure from fed-up Chelsea fans as Chelsea spent £323M in the January transfer window and broke the British transfer record by spending £106.8M on Enzo Fernandez. Going into the game Tottenham named an unchanged lineup from their win against West Ham while Chelsea made 6 changes overall after their defeat against Southampton. With Thiago Silva, Reece James, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Hakim Ziyech, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz all coming into the starting lineup. A win for Spurs would put them 4 points above Newcastle who have 2 games in hand. While a win for Chelsea would still see them stuck in 10th position.
The game started and as anticipated it was end to end early on. The atmosphere was immense and the players were up for it as expected. A good spell of football in the 12th minute provided Spurs with a corner that amounted to nothing. While the game was end to end there were no real chances early on. The first real chance came in the 26th minute when a strike from Pierre-Emile Hojberg deflected off of Defender Wesley Fofana and rattled off the post. Chelsea’s first real chance came in the 44th minute a clever run from Raheem Sterling saw him skip past defenders before unleashing a venomous shot that Fraser Forster did well to save. There was some major controversy in the game when an altercation unfolded. A foul on Richarlison by Hakim Ziyech caused a brawl to break out. A shove by Emerson Royal caused Ziyech to lash out and catch Emerson in the face. Yellow cards were shown to Emerson and Havertz for their involvement in the brawl. Meanwhile VAR was still reviewing Ziyech’s part in the brawl and after a long review a red card was shown to Ziyech. However further controversy was to unfold as Referee Stuart Atwell was instructed to look at the monitor and after doing so retracted the red card he had shown to Ziyech and instead showed a Yellow Card. The half time whistle blew and a chaotic first half was brought to end.
The second half started emphatically as a shot by Emerson Royal was cleared away straight to the feet of midfielder Oliver Skipp who unleashed a venomous strike that Keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga got a hand to but couldn’t keep out. The score was 1-0 to Spurs and Oliver Skipp had his first goal for Tottenham. Tottenham continued to mount pressure and control possession. A much needed change came for Chelsea in the 61st minute, Mason Mount on for Hakim Ziyech and Denis Zakaria on for Ruben Loftus-Cheek. A pause was brought to the action in the 71st minute when a technical fault halted the game and Referee Stuart Atwell got some much needed assistance.
The action was quickly resumed however and Tottenham resumed where they left off. Tottenham star Heung-Min Son was introduced in the 78th minute in place of Dejan Kulusevski. And Spurs continued to search for a second goal. Their search proved successful in the 81st minute from a Heung-Min Son corner that found the head of Eric Dier who knocked the ball into the path of Harry Kane who easily dispatched the opportunity and gave Spurs a second goal and a much needed 2 goal cushion. Mykhailo Mudyrk and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were brought on in the 83rd minute in an attempt to salvage something from the game. However both substitutions failed to have an impact. Tottenham made a substitution of their own in the 89th minute bringing on Pedro Porro for Richarlison. The full time whistle blew and it was a vital win for Spurs who played well and were relentless in their approach. The pressure continues to pile on for Chelsea manager Graham Potter after he faces another Premier League defeat.
Tottenham will look to continue their win streak while Chelsea will have to go back to the drawing board and seriously reevaluate their tactics. Overall a good win and good night for Spurs fans.
My Man Of The Match: Harry Kane
