By Will Strachan
Pre-match Context
Chelsea vs Tottenham is always a fixture where the stakes feel high, and on this occasion, Premier League survival is on the line for Tottenham.
Spurs find themselves in a scenario which could not be further from their position 10 years ago, as their title hopes were extinguished by Chelsea in the famous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ encounter which saw Leicester City crowned champions.
They make the short journey to southeast London knowing just one point is likely to guarantee survival, due to a two-point gap and vastly superior goal difference to relegation rivals West Ham, who were defeated by Newcastle at the weekend.
Despite the very real fear of relegation, this is a position much better than a couple of weeks ago, with the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi yielding 8 points from his opening 5 matches and lifting Tottenham out of the bottom three.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have endured a difficult season themselves, having already parted ways with two permanent managers in a turbulent season after being crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions under Enzo Maresca last summer.
Monday saw the announcement of Xabi Alonso as manager on a four-year contract, but that project will have to wait until next season, with interim manager Calum McFarlane remaining in charge for the remainder of this campaign.
Stamford Bridge has not been a happy hunting ground for Spurs – their only win there in the entire Premier League era came in April 2018 (3-1) under former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.
De Zerbi named an unchanged side from the one which managed a draw against Leeds.
McFarlane made three changes from his side which fell to FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City just three days prior: a rare start for 20-year-old Josh Acheampong, as well as Andrey Santos and Liam Delap coming in for Levi Colwill, Reece James and the injured Joao Pedro.
The Match
De Zerbi’s side got the game underway, knowing a point would almost certainly be enough to secure Premier League safety.
The opening nine minutes saw little in the way of action, with both sides growing into the game.
The first big chance came just past the 10-minute mark as Tottenham reclaimed the ball and drove forward. Porro whipped in a cross which Tel charged on to and met before his header bounced off the near post and Chelsea dealt with the rebound for a Tottenham corner.
A satisfying start for De Zerbi’s side, who were dictating possession and looking to harm Chelsea in the early stages.
The first significant Chelsea chance came a few minutes later, as Palmer laid off a one-two with Hato before trying to place the ball, which Kinsky palmed out for a Chelsea corner.
Just minutes later, Palmer found himself involved again as he collected a loose ball and drove forward before laying off to Neto, who slipped in Fernandez. Chelsea’s captain took one touch on his left foot to control the ball, before shifting it on to his right and firing in a long-range effort past Kinsky to break the deadlock after 18 minutes.
23-year-old Antonin Kinsky has been the subject of brilliant and torturous moments in-between the sticks for Tottenham over the last few months, and this was another occasion where he’ll be disappointed with the outcome
Any early momentum Tottenham had begun the match with seemed long gone in the minutes following the Blues’ opener, as Chelsea continued to pile the pressure on in the final third.
Stuart Attwell produced the first card of the match just before the half-hour mark, as Cucurella found space once more behind Porro, who scythed him down to claim his 10th booking of the season.
The Chelsea skipper opted to test Kinsky once more despite the tight angle, and sent a whipping shot which clipped the crossbar.
Chelsea’s defence remained far from impenetrable, with Tottenham finding opportunities through Kolo Muani and Tel, although neither were able to trouble the Chelsea goal.
Van de Ven became the second name to be carded, as Delap used his body and a quick turn of pace in tight space really nicely to drive past the Tottenham defender, who reacted by tugging him down.
Just after one minute of added time had been confirmed, Palmer fired an effort from just outside of the edge of the box which narrowly missed Kinsky’s goal, and Stuart Attwell brought to an end a first half of little chances.
Chelsea edged the half-time statistics in expected goals (0.023 to 0.09), shots (5 to 2) and shots on target (2 to 0), although they painted the picture of a rather uneventful first half.
The second half resumed largely where the first had ended, with a scarcity in real chances, the most notable being a Richarlison diving header, albeit the flag was correctly raised anyway.
A third Tottenham player went into the book on the 63rd minute as Udogie‘s slide tackle on Fofana was deemed untimely.
Meanwhile on the south coast of England, Bournemouth had just ended Manchester City’s title hopes with a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium, therefore securing Arsenal‘s first Premier League title since the Invincible’s in 2004.
Tottenham’s misery was compounded as Kolo Muani gave away a sloppy pass on the halfway line, which Palmer picked up before laying to Neto who whipped in a cross which Fernandez delicately brought down for Santos to tap home for his first Premier League goal.
A really neatly worked Chelsea goal, but it was made all too easy by a Tottenham mistake once more.
De Zerbi wasted no time in making changes following the second goal, with a triple substitution which saw James Maddison, Pape Sarr & Djed Spence replace Randal Kolo Muani, Joao Palhinha & Destiny Udogie.
Minutes after, Gallagher was unable to trouble Sanchez with a half chance following a cross with pace from Sarr. It mattered not though, as Spurs found a lifeline just minutes later.
Cucurella failed to deal convincingly with an aerial ball and Tottenham picked up the loose ball and moved it to the right wing. Porro is involved as the ball is cut back to Sarr, who back heels the ball into the path of Richarlison for the Brazilian to smash past Sanchez from close range and set up a massive final stint of the match.
Chelsea boss McFarlane replied with his own first substitution as Trevoh Chalobah replaced Josh Acheampong.
Hato became the first Chelsea man in Stuart Attwell’s book on the 79-minute mark for wasting time via a Chelsea free-kick.
A second Chelsea substitution followed as Mamadou Sarr entered the pitch for Wesley Fofana.
Tottenham came dangerously close to equalising in the 83rd minute via Maddison, as the Englishman latched on to a clever Richarlison pass deep into the box before Hato made a superb block just in time.
The subsequent corner saw a scuffle in the box, with Cucurella and Van de Ven tumbling down before the set-piece had even been taken. Cucurella was booked for the disruption before Sanchez just about caught the eventual corner ball.
Delap was next into the book seconds later as he chased down a lofted through-ball and was deemed to slam into Spence.
A triple change on the 89th minute saw Dario Essugo, Shumaira Mheuka & Alejandro Garnacho replace Cole Palmer, Liam Delap & Pedro Neto for the Blues as they looked to survive 7 minutes of additional time.
Yellow card number seven of the match was brandished to Essuego minutes after his arrival for pulling down a charging Van de Ven.
With time ticking, a foul from Caicedo on the edge of the box presented James Maddison with a free-kick in a dangerous position given his track record, but he fired the effort over the Chelsea crossbar.
With the clock seconds away from passing the allocated additional time, Porro laid a ball down the right flank to Tel, who had bodies in the box but once more failed to show quality in a decisive moment as his release was simply gathered by Sanchez.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham
| FT Statistics | Chelsea | Tottenham |
| Expected Goals | 0.63 | 1.72 |
| Possession | 44% | 56% |
| Total Shots | 9 | 9 |
| Shots On Target | 4 | 3 |
| Big Chances | 1 | 5 |
| Corners | 3 | 4 |
That brought the final chance of the game, as Stuart Attwell’s whistle signalled full-time, with Chelsea claiming what could turn out to be a crucial three points in their battle for European football next season.
Enzo Fernandez shined for Chelsea and played his part in the win with two direct goal involvements. Meanwhile, the arrival of James Maddison in the final stretch of the game added a creative spark for Tottenham but overall they were too wasteful and paid the costly price for errors once more.
They neglect the opportunity for a comfortable end to their campaign, with relegation still a very real possibility going into a vital clash with Everton on Sunday.
| Position | Club | Played | +/- | Points |
| 17th | Tottenham | 37 | -10 | 38 |
| 18th | West Ham | 37 | -22 | 36 |
De Zerbi: “We stay inside of the game until the second goal. We lost a stupid ball, we conceded a second goal, but before we conceded [the] second goal we created a big, big, big chance with Richarlison.”
James Maddison also spoke post-match: “We’ve just got to give everything for this club, for the badge, for our fans. It’s unacceptable and a little bit embarrassing that we’re in this position at Tottenham Hotspur, but it’s the reality unfortunately and it’s up to us to get out of it.”
The result leaves everything on the line for Tottenham and West Ham, who can both still be relegated on the final day of the Premier League season, as all 10 matches kick-off simultaneously at 16:00 BST on Sunday 24th May.
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