Chelsea bounced back to form with a comprehensive 2-0 victory in an eventful and ill-tempered contest at Tottenham – who had Heung-min Son sent off.
The game had the good, the bad and the ugly side of football in spades as Frank Lampard’s side produced probably the performance of their season both tactically and performance-wise, especially the excellent Willian who scored both goals.
The second came from the penalty spot after a bad, and ugly, flying tackle from Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga on Marcos Alonso – but Willian’s calmly-taken effort only came after VAR had intervened as referee Anthony Taylor had somehow given a free-kick the other way.
Thing went from bad to worse for Spurs when VAR was involved again in ensuring Son was sent off for the second time this season, after he petulantly kicked out at Antonio Rudiger.
📺 WOW - a VAR red for Son and @SpursOfficial down to ten men...
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) December 22, 2019
We'll hear plenty about this one!#THFC #TOTCHE #CFCpic.twitter.com/FVxfAComUD
By far the ugliest event of the game came off the pitch, though, with reports of racist chants coming from Spurs fans aimed at Rudiger, with referee Taylor informing both managers of the situation and the public address system giving three warnings during the second half.
Apprentice beats the master
Back on the pitch, and it was a masterclass from Lampard against his old boss Jose Mourinho as Chelsea dominated from the very first whistle, looking more balanced, pressing Spurs high up the pitch and not letting them pass through into midfield.
Mason Mount was electric throughout, Tammy Abraham was a constant danger and Willian pulled strings all game – but while Chelsea were threatening going forward they were even better at the back, with a regimented and disciplined performance for the full 90 minutes.
💪 Superb goal and superb first half from Willian - Spurs not the biggest fans of his so this will have hurt...#TOTCHE #CFC #THFC pic.twitter.com/IvgTY6jg33
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) December 22, 2019
The opener was a prime example of the difference between the two teams, as a sharp and switched-on Willian collected a short corner as Serge Aurier dawdled before cutting in side and whipping a curling drive into the far corner.
Chelsea could have scored more before first-half stoppage time, when Gazzaniga suffered from a huge brain fade and instead of coming to gather a simple bouncing ball, for some reason went with the flying bicycle kick approach as Alonso chased the ball down.
Perhaps surprised by the bizarre nature of the tackle, referee Taylor awarded a free kick to Spurs, but VAR soon put him right and correctly gave Chelsea a penalty, allowing Willian, who famously almost joined Spurs before a late change of heart, to slot home with aplomb.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Chelsea Opta stats
- Chelsea have won three consecutive games against Spurs across all competitions for the first time since January 2008 – current Spurs boss José Mourinho oversaw two of the three wins in that previous run (2-1 in March 2007 and 1-0 in April 2007).
- Tottenham boss José Mourinho suffered his first ever home defeat against a team he had previously managed, having gone unbeaten in the previous 13 across all competitions (W12 D1).
- Willian’s penalty was Chelsea’s 100th Premier League goal against Tottenham – in the history of the competition only Manchester United against Everton (101), Liverpool against Newcastle (101) and Arsenal against Everton (107) have scored more goals against a single opponent.
- Chelsea kept an away clean sheet for the first time under Frank Lampard in the Premier League, while they won without conceding away from home in the competition for the first time since December 2018 (1-0 v Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park).
- Since José Mourinho’s first game in charge of the club, no Premier League team have conceded more goals than Spurs across all competitions (14 – joint-most, along with Arsenal).
- Chelsea winger Willian scored just the second brace of his Premier League career (215th appearance), with his previous one coming back in December 2016 against Stoke City.
- Spurs’ Son Heung-Min was sent off for the third time in the Premier League, making him the first player to be shown three red cards in a calendar year in the competition since Lee Cattermole in 2010.
- Spurs attempted just five shots against Chelsea (inc. blocks) – since 2003-04, they’ve only had fewer in a Premier League home game on two occasions (four against Manchester City in January 2014 and October 2018).
