Another year, another blow to Tottenham Hotspur against Chelsea, this time with the side dropping a 2-0 lead, losing both center backs and sputtering after a brilliant start to lose 4-3 on Sunday.
Getting the news that both Cristian Romeo and Micky van de Ven were back into the Starting XI after missing a good chunk of the recent fixtures, the team came out hot with Spurs’ high line causing poor passes out of the back from Chelsea.
Grabbing the game’s first goal five minutes in, Spurs broke by way of a slip from Marc Cucurella, and Brennan Johnson pounced on the loose ball and broke way down the right wing. Taking a few dribbles down the wing, Johnson sent in an early ball for Dominic Solanke to cut in front of Levi Cowell and flick his foot out for the opening goal. Being a Chelsea product — where he only made one senior appearance — Solanke let out a big smile.
Minutes later, after a defensive stance outside the box, Romero grimaced as he had been returning from a toe injury. Playing with his thigh seven minutes into the game, Romero lasted less than 15 minutes, but before he came off, Spurs capitalized again on a Cucurella slip.
Winning the ball deep in Chelsea’s half after the mistake, Porro fed Dejan Kulusevksi the ball inside the box. Turning towards the middle of the box and dribbling on his favored left foot, Kulusevski took a shot through the legs of Romeo Lavia to sneak a shot into the near post for the game’s second goal.
With Romero coming off and Radu Dragusin coming on, Chelsea got a one back as Jadon Sancho took on Porro and made his way into the goal’s frame to go far past the slow reactionary save attempt by Fraser Forster.
Still holding onto a 2-1 lead, Spurs had chances to extend the lead with Heung-min Son missing a curling attempt and Solanke missing a flick attempt that was squared for him inside the six yard box.
Failing to put teams away for good when the momentum is on its side, Tottenham held on for dear life in the first half as Forster had to parry several shots out with Chelsea lurking for the tying goal before the break.
In the second half, Chelsea came out and forced the Spurs to be sloppy on the ball and in passing lanes, as the first 15 minutes were all for Chelsea.
Putting in the work, Chelsea eventually had a chance to tie the match after Moisés Caicedo earned a penalty after an errant challenge attempt from Yves Bissouma gave the Blues life. Bissouma will miss the next Premier League match on the 15th at Southampton.
Cole Palmer stepped up to the ball and equalized with a calm run up and strike to force the remaining half hour to be all chaos.
Spurs had a chance in the 68th minute as Solanke tried to play a quick one-two, but his pass seemed to signal an offsides run from Destiny Udogie. Running up on the ball and letting it go as the blistering Son came on it with a Chelsea defense frozen and waiting for the whistle, Son took a few dribbles and seemed destined to regain the lead. Having Timo Werner on the far side of the post waiting, Son took the curling shot and sent it just wide of the frame — something rarely seen from the man who has been a killer on curlers his entire career.
Sensing the chance to grab the game for good as Spurs couldn’t get that lead back, Palmer took on two and sent a ball across the frame of the box for a half volley strike from Enzo Fernandez to grab the lead for Chelsea.
Down 3-2 and stumbling again against Chelsea, more bad news came as van de Ven went down on the pitch and had trainers stretching out his hamstring. Being cautious with the center back, who just returned from said injury, Ange Postecoglou made a triple change, with Archie Gray becoming Dragusin’s center back partner.
Chelsea sensed the blood and added to its leads as Palmer won a penalty from a poor foul from Pape Sarr and Panenka’d Forster for a 4-2 lead.
As fans started to exit the stadium, and six minutes were shown in added time, Spurs added a consolation goal. James Maddison hugged the touchline off a corner kick and squared a ball for Son to get the goal.
Note:
It was another frustrating watch as Spurs showed a brilliant start, trampled by failure to put the game away for good. Time and time again, the inconsistency from the squad leaves questions about what is going on. In the congested month of December, getting close to European positions is crucial.