Editor’s Note: As I am attending both this and the Chelsea match to cover in person, we’ll be departing from our usual preseason takeaways format for both, with a full match report and further match features from on the ground to follow in the coming days.
Tottenham Hotspur took on Chelsea in front of a near-capacity crowd of 80,363 at Accor Stadium on Saturday night, as they concluded their Antipodean tour with a stunning late win, down ten men but coming out 2-1 victors over their London rivals thanks to goals from Sandro Tonali and Richarlison.
Roberto De Zerbi named possibly his strongest side of the tour, with Jan Paul van Hecke and Dominic Solanke seeing their first minutes of the tour, with a first Spurs start for Andy Robertson. Chelsea’s lineup was somewhat more balanced, with the experience of the likes of Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer up front supported by the greener selections of Jorrel Hato and Dario Essugo.
It was a messy start to the match, with heavy touches and misplaced passes in abundance as both sides tried to settle into the match. An early set piece provided the first opportunity for Chelsea, with Hato rising highest but unable to flick a free kick goalwards. There was no love lost between the two sides either, with a level of physicality perhaps exacerbated by the lack of technique and a referee unwilling to blow the whistle as players from both sides began to make their presence felt. Things nearly boiled over when Conor Gallagher slid in late with both feet on Essugo in what could only be described as a full-blooded challenge, with the referee awarding a deserved yellow.
It was perhaps against the run of play that Spurs soon opened the scoring. Manor Solomon attacked the right edge of Chelsea’s 18-yard box, before holding up the ball and smartly laying it back to new record signing Sandro Tonali. Tonali struck it first time at the top of the box, with a deflection off Colwill sending Teddy Sharman-Lowe the wrong way in goal.
Spurs’ joy was short-lived, however, with Chelsea soon evening things up on the scoresheet. Lucas Bergvall was active in the press, almost turning the ball over outside the Chelsea box, but instead Romeo Lavia was able to evade the attentions of both the Swede and Gallagher, with the ball eventually making its way to Jamie Gittens on the left. He cut inside and whipped in a cross, with the ball taking a deflection off Ben Davies, and Andy Robertson made a poor read, completely losing both his man and the flight of the ball as Estevao ghosted off his shoulder and headed the ball back across Antonin Kinsky.
After a momentary break as Wesley Fofana received treatment for an injury, the match settled into less of a frenzy and more of a controlled outing, as Spurs began to dominate possession while Chelsea looked to counter. Both sides at times were almost the architects of their own demise, with poor passes creating chances for the opposition. One such pass inside by Robertson was latched onto by Joao Pedro, who looked through on goal, but could only scuff a shot wide under the attentions of Davies.
Mathys Tel began to find himself more involved as well, as a similarly misplaced pass from Hato presented an opportunity to strike, but with the attempt skied. Tel continued to trouble the left side of the Chelsea defense, beating Palestra on a couple of occasions with one particularly direct run resulting in a shot at close range as Spurs began to lift the intensity.
Spurs really should have ended the half in the lead. Tel played in Ben Davies who made an aggressive underlapping run from deep. The Welshman played the ball square which Dominic Solanke really should have gambled on; instead, Davies’ ball across the face of goal remained unmet and unconverted. The half then concluded with a penalty shout as Robertson played in a cross to Gallagher, who was absolutely clattered by Fofana. The referee was unmoved, and the half finished one apiece.
Richarlison and Kevin Danso were brought on for Solanke and van Hecke at the half, as De Zerbi looked to manage minutes, but Danso’s first outing of preseason came to a premature end as he was shown a red card just a few minutes into the second half. A routine back-pass from Archie Gray took a bobble and beat Danso, with the Austrian then reaching across Pedro as the Brazilian went to ground. The contact was slight, but enough for the referee to brandish red, despite the match being a friendly.
Chelsea began to make their numbers advantage count and would have gone ahead but for some heroics in goal by Kinsky. Pedro, who tormented the Spurs defense, broke free down the left and cut back to Estevao, who looked all but certain to score before a Kinsky glove deflected the point-blank shot onto the bar. Estevao soon forced another save from the Czech custodian after Tonali dribbled into the middle of four Chelsea players, losing possession and allowing Estevao to run free into the box.
More substitutions followed, as the match began to lose its rhythm as both managers began to prioritize protecting players from injury. Gallagher made way for Malachi Hardy, while Chelsea called on the services of Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli and Aaron Anselmino for Lavia and Hato.
Kinsky, meanwhile, did not get any less busy, making another phenomenal save after a brain explosion from Robertson saw the Scotsman attempt to chest the ball back to the Spurs goalkeeper, instead succeeding only in deflecting it down to Pedro. Again, he looked destined to score, but his shot at close range was thwarted by Kinsky.
From there, both sides made a number of substitutions, Spurs gradually but Chelsea en masse as more of both teams’ talented youngsters made appearances. One of those for Spurs nearly provided a breakthrough, after Rio Kyerematen made a brilliant turn and run, driving forward from around the halfway line and unleashing a dipping effort amongst cries from the fans to shoot from about 25 yards out. Sherman-Lowe was stranded but instead of the shot nestling in the top right corner, it clanged off the crossbar and the scores remained even.
Spurs began to drop deeper and deeper into their own area as Chelsea attacked in waves. The Lilywhites buckled, but did not break, and a late knock to Kyerematen brought a hold to proceedings as he was removed for Tyler Tingey. It looked like the match would finish as a draw, with penalties expected, until a moment of magic from Spurs turned the tide. Jamie Donley broke free from the defense and unleashed a shot from outside the box with his weaker right foot, the skimming low effort striking the inside of Sherman-Lowe’s upright has he dove. The ball rebounded into the penalty area where Richarlison was hunting, tapping the ball home and sending Spurs fans into raptures with a 2-1 win.
Reactions
Wowzers, what a finish!
I had to do a lot of work hurriedly rewriting sections of this piece… thanks Richy. What a match to be my first between Premier League opposition!
Man, what a farce that red card was. Sure, it’s the right call, but showing that just defeats the purpose of a preseason fixture. I guess De Zerbi learned something though from the efforts of ten men!
Speaking of which, the players can hold their heads high. They competed bravely a man down in an incredibly impressive performance.
Rio Kyerematen: what a run! And Antonin Kinsky: boy, what a turnaround from that night. He was huge tonight.
The bad: Robertson and Solanke were really poor… but it was an early outing for them in their preparations. Let’s forgive the rust.
Sandro Tonali was quite unimpressive though. A number of poor touches and bad decisions resulted in chances for Chelsea, but his shot was well taken (even though it was via a deflection). He will offer Spurs a bit more of a goal return from midfield, though, which the team does sorely need.
Sorry this was so late - it was a bit of a journey down to the press room in this stadium so I couldn’t quite get it done in time!
COYS!