Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Match Review

Spurs’ unbeaten run in the Premier League ends at the hands of the Blues on Monday night.

Coming into their Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night, Ange Postecoglou’s side were the only remaining unbeaten club after Arsenal’s 1 – 0 defeat against Newcastle United on Saturday. Unfortunately, following what was one of the most enthralling and memorable matches in the Premier League’s recent history, they lost their unbeaten run, losing 4 – 1.

This does mean that Tottenham missed out on an opportunity to return to the summit of the table, but they are still in a great position, sitting in second place with 26 points following eight wins, two draws and a single defeat from their opening 11 matches.

Chelsea was the team that managed to end the Lilywhites’ unbeaten run in the Premier League following a memorable match. Tottenham have had some impressive victories so far this season, including their 2 – 0 home win against Manchester United, their 5 – 2 win at Turf Moor against Burnley, and their victory against Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, beating Jurgen Klopp’s side 2 – 1.

Tottenham’s most recent result ahead of their first encounter against Chelsea this season was a 2 – 1 victory against Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Spurs scored through an own goal from Eagles right-back Joel Ward (53’) and a goal later in the second half from Son Heung-Min (66’). Jordan Ayew was the sole goal scorer for the home side (90+4’).

We now move on to all the enthralling action and controversy that unfolded in one of the Premier League’s all-time best matches in North London on Monday evening.

Spurs had the first effort on goal in the match through Son Heung-Min, who forced Chelsea Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez into a brilliant save when the ball had looked destined to find the back of the net from close range (5’).

Everyone of a Tottenham persuasion was not left disappointed about this missed opportunity for long, with Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski scoring to give the home side an early advantage when he found the back of the net after a pass into him from Pape Matar Sarr (6’).

There were almost two goals in as many minutes from Spurs, who came close through right-back Pedro Porro, who forced a fantastic save from Sanchez after trying to beat the Spaniard by finding the bottom right corner (7’).

Lilywhites Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario denied Nicolas Jackson a few minutes later to maintain their early advantage in the game (11’).

Frustration was to come very shortly for Tottenham just moments later when it seemed that Son had doubled their advantage after the South Korean found the net, but his goal was ruled out by VAR (14’)

Raheem Sterling looked to have equalised, but it was also ruled out due to the forward being adjudged to have handled the ball in the build-up to the goal (21’). Moises Caicedo was then denied by VAR himself for offside. Spurs remained in a 1 – 0 lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (28’).

Tottenham did, however, go down to ten men when Cristian Romero fouled Enzo Fernandez in the penalty area (33’). Chelsea were subsequently awarded a penalty, which saw Cole Palmer restore parity in the match from the spot (35’).

At the half-time interval, the two London rivals were level at 1 – 1. It was an enthralling contest that Spurs had dominated so far.

More drama and controversy came early in the second half when Tottenham went down to nine men after Destiny Udogie fouled Raheem Sterling (55’). This meant that Spurs were in an uphill battle to get a point or a win from this contest.

Vicario was called into action a few moments later, and the Italian stopper was able to deny Marc Cucurella from very close range (68’). Unfortunately, Tottenham fell behind shortly after when Nicolas Jackson found the bottom left corner with just fifteen minutes remaining (75’).

Tottenham thought they had restored parity to make it 2 – 2 with ten minutes remaining, only for goal scorer Eric Dier to be denied a goal after being declared offside (79’). It remained 2 – 1 to the visitors.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had a chance to equalise for Spurs in the dying embers of the match. However, Blues ‘keeper Sanchez prevented the Danish midfielder from finding the back of the net from just outside of the Blues’ penalty area (82’).

Rodrigo Bentancur missed the target a few minutes later, with his shot flying narrowly wide of the right post after receiving a great cross from Pedro Porro with less than five minutes to go (86’).

Tottenham’s final chance came through Son Heung-Min in second-half stoppage time when he forced a save from Sanchez from close range. Just seconds later, Nicolas Jackson scored for Chelsea to put the game beyond the reach of Spurs (90+4’).

Jackson completed his hat-trick in the final seconds of the game when he found the bottom right corner following a through ball from ex-Manchester City midfielder Cole Palmer (90+7’).

The full-time whistle then went with Spurs on the wrong end of a 4 – 1 score line.

Tottenham had 38.7% possession compared with Chelsea’s 61.35%, and they also had five shots on target compared with the Blues’ 8.

Following the match, Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach Ange Postecoglou said (via Tottenham’s official website): “It’s a hard game to analyse, but in terms of will and determination it was an outstanding effort by the lads. I thought we started really well, scored a good goal, then we were inches away from scoring a good second, but it was offside.

“Then the game got out of control, there was a lot happening that made the game go a little bit not within the parameters we want to play. It felt like after that there were a lot of disruptions. I thought the players gave everything they could and, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”

Tottenham’s next match will see them make the trip to the West Midlands to face Wolverhampton Wanderers away from home at Molineux on Saturday 11th November. Spurs’ next game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa on Sunday, 26th November 2023 (14:00 Kick-Off).

After a blockbuster game against Champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium (3rd December, 16:30), Spurs will play David Moyes’ West Ham United at home on Thursday, 7th December 2023 in a 20:15 Kick-Off.

There is no better way to watch Tottenham Hotspur play at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than with an Eventmasters Hospitality Package. Book now to avoid disappointment!

Premier League fixtures for the 2023/24 season

Register now for Priority 2023/2024 Spurs Ticket information

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on all things Tottenham Hotspur!