5 Things Learned: Spurs 1-4 Chelsea | Premier League

Chelsea came from behind to defeat nine-man Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on Monday night in the Premier League.

Mauricio Pochettino’s first visit to his former club ended in success. The Blues stormed to a comfortable win in the end, but Ange Postecoglu’s side put up a very good fight.

The game started in an awful fashion for the visitors. Just five minutes into proceedings Chelsea found themselves a goal down, a Dejan Kulusevski strike deflected off Levi Colwill and trickled into Robert Sanchez’s goal.

It looked as though the hosts had doubled their lead just moments after. Son Heung-min tapped home after a well-worked move but a VAR check saw the goal ruled out.

Yet more VAR drama followed. A nasty challenge from Destiny Udogie saw a red card check but only a yellow was given. Soon after, Chelsea broke forward and Raheem Sterling had the ball in the net before another VAR intervention saw it chalked off.

The first half chaos did not conclude there. Moises Caicedo struck from range but VAR ruled for an offside, however, in the same incident, Cristian Romero’s tackle on Enzo Fernandez was deemed dangerous and saw him sent off. Chelsea were handed a penalty and Cole Palmer slotted past Guglielmo Vicario to tie the contest.

In the second half, the chaos persisted. After a late challenge on Sterling, Udogie received a second yellow card which saw the home side fall down to just nine men.

The north Londoners continued to put up a valiant fight as the half continued, but eventually the pressure told. Sterling broke through the Spurs defence and had Nicolas Jackson for company/ He squared to the Senegalese forward who rolled home into an empty net.

Spurs still did not back down, and in the 79th minute they even tied the game – but VAR stopped the celebrations and Eric Dier’s goal was ruled out.

Chelsea wrapped up the contest beyond in the closing moments. Jackson netting twice to give the Blues a rather flattering 4-1 victory on balance.

Here are five things Absolute Chelsea learned from the London derby clash.

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1) Chelsea fight from behind

After falling a goal down after just five minutes, things were not looking good for Chelsea in this contest – but they fought back.

Had Son been onside in the 12th minute when he looked to have added to Tottenham’s lead, the game could have been very different. Instead the Blues showed great character to come back from behind.

The red card for Romero helped the visitors take control, but even before that Chelsea were in charge. Both Sterling and Caicedo had goals ruled out in the opening 45 and eventually Palmer levelled the game.

It looked as though the winning goal may never come in the second half, but Jackson managed to fire the Blues into the lead in the 75th minute and he converted twice in added time.

2) Blues end Spurs’ unbeaten run

Postecoglou’s Tottenham side had won eight of their first ten coming into this contest – with the other two being draws – but Chelsea managed to put an end to their unbeaten run.

The Blues’ season so far has not been a fun one, but a big win against a side who have been on extremely good form could really help them out. Chelsea will hope to push on from this victory and begin to climb the table.

3) VAR causes chaos

It is fair to say VAR played a big role in this contest. Multiple goals were ruled out, two red cards were awarded, as well as many other checks too.

The video assistant referee has come under extreme scrutiny this season and yet more controversial decisions occurred in this contest.

Both Romero and Udogie were sent off and it was one of the craziest games of the season so far.

4) Chelsea need to keep discipline

While Tottenham were the team who received a red card, the Blues could have easily got into trouble themselves.

Following Romero’s sending off the game became even more fiery. With the man advantage though, it was important that the Chelsea players kept their heads.

As well as a VAR check on James for a potential red card, Colwill nearly got himself sent off too. Pochettino made a smart decision at half-time to substitute the 20-year-old.

5) Blues’ inability to score nearly cost them

Chelsea had at least a man advantage for most of the contest but they nearly failed to pick up all three points.

Most noticeably in the second half, the Blues had little to no composure. Chances were wasted and this brought the home crowd back into the contest.

Fortunately for the visitors, Jackson converted in the 75th minute to give the west Londoners the lead. This came as a huge sigh of relief before the glut of goals finally followed at the death.