Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Chelsea (6 Nov, 2023) Game Analysis

Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of returning to the top of the Premier League table were dashed in extraordinary fashion as they lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea on Monday in a frenetic London derby which they finished with nine men .

A hat-trick from Nicolas Jackson saw Mauricio Pochettino return triumphantly to Spurs, securing the biggest result of his short tenure at Chelsea, although few could have imagined how it would be achieved on a mind-boggling night in the north London.

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“I feel a lot better, after four years, coming back to say hello to everyone, it’s a gift for us,” Pochettino told reporters. “Very moving but at the same time, memories.

“The game was passionate, competitive. To be honest we needed three points and it was an incredible day for us. It’s Tottenham but it doesn’t make it any more special because of that.”

Previously undefeated Tottenham took the lead after six minutes thanks to Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected shot and minutes later a second goal scored by Son Heung-Min was ruled out for offside.

But in scenes reminiscent of the infamous Battle of the Bridge in 2016, when Chelsea derailed the title hopes of Pochettino’s Tottenham side, the hosts’ night unfolded.

Cristian Romero was sent off after a VAR check for a dangerous tackle which resulted in a penalty scored by Cole Palmer and Spurs, then lost two players to injury.

Destiny Udogie received a second yellow card 10 minutes after the break, leaving the hosts trying to hang on for a point.

Chelsea finally made their numerical advantage count when Jackson put them ahead from close range in the 75th minute – with the goal remaining after another VAR check for offside.

Tottenham saw substitute Eric Dier’s equalizer ruled out for offside and Son saw an effort saved in injury time by Robert Sanchez before Jackson finished with two more efforts in front of the joyous Chelsea fans.

A first league defeat for Australian Ange Postecoglou leaves Spurs in second place with 26 points from 11 games, one behind champions Manchester City. Chelsea’s fourth win of the season moved them up to 10th with 15 points.

Tottenham have enjoyed their best start to a season in the top flight since 1960, with Postecoglou becoming the first manager to go unbeaten in his first 10 Premier League games.

When Pape Matar Sarr fed Kulusevski and the Swede’s shot deflected off Levi Colwill towards Sanchez on the wrong foot and rolled into the net, the stadium rocked.

Chelsea chased the shadows early on and breathed a sigh of relief when Son’s effort was ruled out for offside, but then Tottenham’s world began to collapse around them.

The spark was a testy Romero kick on Colwill which went unpunished before a Raheem Sterling goal which was disallowed for handball after another VAR check.

Minutes later, Chelsea had the ball in the net again as Moises Caicedo fired a low shot inside the post after a frantic run, although once again he was ruled out for offside.

However, the VAR check ended with referee Michael Oliver looking at a pitchside monitor and awarding a penalty before showing Romero a red card for a wild tackle on Argentina teammate Enzo Fernandez in the build-up.

After seven minutes of baffling confusion, Palmer stepped up to score his penalty against the post despite the best efforts of Spurs’ outstanding goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Things got worse for Tottenham when James Maddison rolled his ankle and was unable to continue before Micky Van de Ven’s hamstring gave way as he pursued a counter-attack.

With four of their starters no longer on the field. Spurs survived 12 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, but the wind had taken their sails completely.

The second half was only 10 minutes old when Udogie was sent off for a poorly timed tackle on Sterling.

Chelsea peppered Tottenham’s goal, but the home fans turned up the volume, roaring with every tackle and clearance.

Spurs made two more substitutions on the hour mark, with Sarr and Kulusevski replaced by Rodrigo Bentancur and Oliver Skipp, meaning the hosts were now missing seven of the players who had started the incident-rich derby.

Jackson finally broke Tottenham’s resistance with a pass from Sterling and the Senegalese striker added salt to the home side’s wounds with two more goals at the death.