Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea: What happened...

Confidence has risen in the Tottenham camp over the past few games, with Spurs on a five match unbeaten streak in all competitions, but today they faced formidable opponents. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have lost only two games in the premier league this season, and for that reason alone they were considered the favourites. This game was probably written off by most before it even started.

The first half started as such. And after seeing an injured Ryan Mason substituted for Mousa Dembele just fifteen minutes into the game, Chelsea opening the scoring after an impressive display from both sides as Diego Costa scored a quintessential poacher goal. This put Spurs on the back foot almost as soon as the game had begun. It wasn’t a surprise that Chelsea opened the scoring, and Mourinho’s men look set to improve their already impressive Premier League record. Unfortunately for Chelsea though, Tottenham’s man of the moment Harry Kane rifled an outstanding shot past Thibaut Courtois; just twelve minutes after Costa’s goal. Tottenham’s equaliser gave them the grounds on which they rebuilt their confidence, and just before half time Nacer Chadli hit both post separately before Danny Rose heroically put himself into a dangerous position in order to put Spurs ahead. The crowd was shocked at this complete turnaround, and as the half time whistle sounded, most could hardly believe what they were seeing as Spurs lead Chelsea two to one.

Source: tottenhamhotspur.com

Chelsea were expected to be able to turn the one goal deficit around, but Tottenham were not ready to give up their lead so easily, and the omnipresent Harry Kane became vital again as he was bought down in the box by Gary Cahill. Controversially perhaps, Andros Townsend stepped up to take the subsequently awarded penalty. He proved doubters of his ability wrong however as he beat Courtois with a superbly placed effort, and put Tottenham in the driving seat in less than ten minuets of the second half starting. But Pochettino’s men weren’t done, as Harry Kane scored the best goal of the night with a superb turn around Ivanovic, and then a beautifully finessed shot to beat both Terry and Courtois for the fourth time.

Chelsea bought one back after a dreadful mistake from Federico Fazio, which saw Eden Hazard score a fantastically controlled volley to beat Hugo Lloris. This unnerved Spurs, and they seemed to momentarily capitulate as Chelsea dominated the amount of chances had for around ten minutes. With the scintillating season Chelsea are having, you wouldn’t have bet against a comeback. But as the last ten minutes approached, Harry Kane fed the ball to Nacer Chadli just inside of the box which allowed him the room to pull off a tremendous effort and to clinch a well-deserved goal after a fantastic performance. As the game drew to a close, the final goal came from Chelsea, as John Terry tucked away a deflected cross, but was met with boos from the Tottenham fans as the humbled Chelsea support knew they were beaten. The chants “We want six!” came from the ambitious Tottenham support, but as the game ended the celebrations began, as the fans rejoiced in a result that was unexpected to say the least.

At full time it was evident that the combination of Kane and Chadli had devastating results throughout, and Tottenham put in their best performance of the season to crush Chelsea at White Hart Lane. And with Tottenham’s unbeaten run now at six games, and with games against Burnley, Palace, Sunderland, and Sheffield up next, there’s no reason as to why Pochettino’s men can’t extend their run to ten games, and even more. This performance will provide even more confidence to players that seem more fearless as each week passes. Promising signs for Pochettino, and as the January transfer window opens, he has the opportunity to evaluate his squad for the second half of the season. And, even in this congested time of year for games, Mauricio Pochettino’s hard-trained squad look better than ever.