Tottenham Hotspur were not with their head coach Antonio Conte but still triumphed 2-0 over struggling Chelsea.
Today’s game should have been written by a computer simulation, saving everyone the trouble.
Harry Kane scored and was the best player on the pitch. There was a lot of needle, most notably when Hakim Ziyech was sent off and then brought back on just before halftime.
Chelsea controlled the ball but produced the square root of nothing.Yet, there was one aspect of the game that no one anticipated: Oliver Skipp’s incredible first goal, which came after just 18 seconds of the second half.
With a 2-0 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur increased their chances of finishing in the top four and prolonged Graham Potter’s wretched run with the Blues. Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane scored in the second half to give Tottenham Hotspur the victory.
During the break, Skipp capitalized on a sloppy clearing by Enzo Fernandez, the record-breaking British transfer to Chelsea, and he struck from more than 20 yards, hitting the net because Kepa Arrizabalaga was unable to get enough of a hand on it.
In the 82nd minute, Kane secured the victory for Tottenham when he pounced at the far post following a corner by Son Heung-min that was turned on by Eric Dier. Chelsea, who have now won just two of their past 15 games across all competitions, struggled to reply.
Despite investing almost $300 million ($358 million) in players in January alone, Chelsea failed to score for the fourth time in five league games.
The victory, the first for the home team versus Chelsea in nine league games, put Spurs in fourth place overall, four points ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle United, who have two games left to play.
“Chelsea have been a difficult opponent for us over the last few years, so it’s a really important win to keep us around fourth. Overall I thought we deserved the win,” ” Kane told the BBC after the match.
A team that won the Champions League in 2021 under former coach Thomas Tuchel currently sits in 10th place, 14 points behind Spurs and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
In an effort to score, Potter, who took over at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea’s US owners fired Tuchel last September, handed striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a rare opportunity to come off the bench and brought on pricey January transfer Mykhailo Mudryrk.
The first-half post-hit by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, though, meant that Spurs could have won by a larger margin.
Cristian Stellini, the Spurs assistant coach filling in for Antonio Conte while he recovers from surgery, said: “Our desire was … win, play a great game and to fight for every ball and we are happy for the fans, the club and of course for us and Antonio who is still at home.”
Stellini told the BBC that Conte would likely return this week.
Just before halftime, Chelsea might have been down to 10 men when winger Hakim Ziyech was given a red card for his involvement in a brawl, but the punishment was reduced to a yellow card after a VAR review.
