Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 0 Chelsea 3

19 September 2021

5 Min Read

19 September 2021

Haran Naresh reports from The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs were swept aside by Chelsea. Cristian Romero battles Kai Havertz for the ball (photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/ Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images) Tottenham Hotspur suffered a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat to London rivals Chelsea. After an even first-half, Chelsea ran riot in the […]By Haran Naresh

Haran Naresh reports from The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs were swept aside by Chelsea.

Cristian Romero battles Kai Havertz for the ball (photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/ Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur suffered a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat to London rivals Chelsea.

After an even first-half, Chelsea ran riot in the second, with goals coming from Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger.

Chelsea created an opening straight from kick off. Antonio Rudiger played a ball over the top to Kai Havertz, who drove into the penalty area before going over but his appeals for a penalty were waved away by the referee.

At the other end Son Heung-min sent a cross into the box which Thiago Silva could only clear straight to Lo Celso but the midfielder didn’t seem to expect the ball to come his way and sliced his shot wide.

In the 11th minute Rudiger put a ball into the box for Cesar Azpilicueta, who headed down to Havertz but the forward completely missed the ball.

Chelsea had a big chance on the counter in the 15th minute. Dele Alli gave the ball away and Mason Mount drove clear. He advanced towards the penalty area and laid the ball off to Romelu Lukaku, who returned a pass to the Englishman and he scuffed his effort.

Son was deployed in a central position with Harry Kane playing in an unfamiliar role on the left. This tactical switch caused Chelsea issues. The South Korea international dropped into a pocket of space and released Sergio Reguilon and the left-back surged into the area but under-hit his cross and the chance went begging.

With 26 minutes on the clock Lukaku laid the ball off to Andreas Christiansen and he curled an effort narrowly wide.

Tottenham missed an excellent chance when Lo Celso played Son through on goal but Arrizabalaga came out quickly to block the shot.

After a frenetic start to the game, both teams settled into a leisurely pace towards the end of the first 45 minutes.

Two minutes into the second half Silva delivered a long ball to Alonso, who did brilliantly to meet the ball on the stretch and hit an effort which Lloris was forced to save.

Shortly afterwards, Alonso fired in a cross which was sent behind for a corner.

Chelsea took the lead from the resulting set-piece. Alonso’s delivery was met by Silva, who rose brilliantly above Alli and Dier to head into the far corner.

The goal deflated the home side, who found it increasingly harder to keep the ball.

With 53 minutes gone, Havertz received the ball out wide and found Azpilicueta, who squared to Alonso and the left wing-back sent a goal-bound effort but Dier got back to make a block.

Chelsea’s pressure told and they doubled their lead in the 57th minute. Substitute N’Golo Kante hit a shot from 30 yards which took a big deflection off Dier and hit the post before rolling into the net.

Tottenham’s attacks were almost non-existent at this point but they fashioned a decent opportunity when a one-two between Kane and Son resulted in the Englishman forcing a save out of Arrizabalaga.

In the 76th minute Silva almost scored again from a corner, this time heading across goal and Lloris pushed the ball over.

Spurs were flagging at this stage, with Lukaku beating Dier with ease and sliding the ball to Timo Werner, who could only hit the ball straight at Lloris from close range.

In the 81st minute Chelsea had several shots blocked in a goal-mouth scramble.

The away side added a third in stoppage time. Werner picked out Rudiger in the box and the defender guided a low shot into the net.

Spurs had a bright first-half display but the way in which they disintegrated in the second will be a cause for concern for Nuno Espirito Santo.

This has been a disastrous week for Tottenham. They have suffered 3-0 hammerings in successive Premier League games whilst they were fortunate to escape with a draw at Rennes in the Europa Conference League. Eight goals conceded in three games is alarming and the pressure will be intensified on manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo speaking in his post-match press conference: “I think the change of the game was a set-piece, after that it became really hard for us to get back into the game. The goal we conceded, we started chasing a result and with the quality of players Chelsea have they create problems.”

“We are going to analyse, there is lots of things we have to look at, but the first impression is the way we conceded really punished us after all the energy we put into the first half.”

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