Forget the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ — Chelsea and Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in May 2016 — this was Monday night madness in north London.
There were no less than four disallowed goals in a raucous first half — which ended with 12 minutes of stoppage time — that saw Tottenham reduced to 10 men after Cristian Romero was sent off for a foul on Enzo Fernandez.
Dejan Kulusevski put Spurs ahead with a deflected goal in the sixth minute and Cole Palmer — eventually, after VAR had ruled out a Raheem Sterling strike for handball — equalised from the penalty spot after that Romero challenge.
The second half started in equally dramatic fashion with Destiny Udogie, who was fortunate to only be booked for a first-half challenge on Sterling, sent off for another foul on the Chelsea winger.
With Tottenham down to nine men, it took Chelsea until the 75th minute to go ahead through Nicolas Jackson (after a lengthy VAR check of course). Substitute Eric Dier struck back within seconds for Spurs, only to see his sumptuous strike ruled off for offside, before Jackson scored two more to seal a hat-trick in stoppage time.
Oh, and did we mention former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino returned to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in charge of Chelsea?
The Athletic’s Stuart James, Mark Carey, Tim Spiers and Liam Twomey answer the key questions…
That was chaos! Did VAR help or hinder this match?
Not a night to go for a coffee break in the VAR room. A wild first half saw four goals disallowed and four red-card reviews, all of which contributed to more than 57 minutes of football being played before Michael Oliver blew the whistle for half-time.
Essentially, this is what you imagine murderball, Marcelo Bielsa’s favourite training game, looks like — albeit with a referee and VAR spoiling things by not allowing it to descend into a total free-for-all.
Thirteen minutes of first-half madness
- 22 mins — VAR check for red card against Romero for kicking out. No card given.
- 24 mins — Sterling equaliser disallowed for handball.
- 28 mins — Moses Caicedo equaliser ruled out for offside.
- 31 mins — VAR check for penalty: Romero challenge on Fernandez.
- 34 mins — Penalty awarded and red card shown to Romero.
- 35 mins — Penalty scored by Palmer.
Ultimately, VAR probably got the big calls right, although some will question whether Udogie was lucky to escape a red card for his two-footed lunge. As it happens, that was just delaying the inevitable – the Spurs left-back was sent off in the second half.
On another day, in another game, all those interventions would have ruined the first half, but what Spurs and Chelsea served up here was far too much fun to allow Stockley Park to take the headlines. Plus, we all needed a moment or two to catch our breath.
Stuart James
Spurs’ high line: bravery or folly?
When Spurs had 11 men on the field, their high defensive line was brave.
With the speed of Sterling and Jackson running in behind, they were already taking risks. However, maintaining such a high line after going down to 10 men was just asking for trouble.
Playing with a high defensive line is designed to squeeze the pitch, and relies upon midfielders and forwards to close the space for the opposition man on the ball to cut off any threatening pass at source.
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A game of risk and reward: The art of playing a high line
However, if that pressure on the ball is not there, the sensible thing to do is drop deeper and be in a stronger position when the ball is played over the top. With no pressure on the ball, with 10 men on the field, Spurs maintained their high line. That’s when bravery blurs into naivety.
Getting into a footrace with two of the fastest forwards in the Premier League is never a good idea. Micky van de Ven’s recovery pace has been a cheat code for Spurs’ high line in the early part of the season, regularly hoovering up threatening balls played in behind. But after pulling up with a hamstring injury in the first half, it was just one footrace too many for him — and it arguably could have been avoided.
Playing a high line with nine men? Forget it.
Mark Carey
Why didn’t Chelsea run away with this earlier?
You can make the argument that this vital win exposed the naivety in Chelsea’s young team even more than some of their most dispiriting defeats this season.
Having shown real grit to avoid being blown away by Tottenham in a frantic first 20 minutes and ultimately level the score with Palmer’s ice-cool penalty, Pochettino’s side seemed to withdraw into themselves the more the circumstances of the match tilted the advantage in their favour.
Tottenham’s unwavering commitment to a startlingly high defensive line with 10 and then nine men was so unusual and unexpected that Chelsea did not seem to know how to deal with it. Instead, they appeared affected by a vociferous home crowd, who grew louder and louder to roar the home side through the growing adversity they faced.
The biggest reason why they did not score earlier was that Jackson — despite scoring a hat-trick — was atrocious with the timing of his runs, consistently going too early and then calling for passes from offside positions. Chelsea eventually stopped looking for him, which made Tottenham’s high defensive line much more viable and less risky.
Once ahead, they also managed their lead remarkably badly, giving the ball away and committing silly fouls that allowed Spurs to pile on late pressure with free kicks.
Chelsea got the win they desperately needed, but Pochettino’s expression in the final minutes underlined that this team has a lot of work to do.
Liam Twomey
What does this mean for Spurs?
The consequences may be felt for some time, what with Van de Ven suffering what could be a serious hamstring injury, James Maddison going off injured and Romero and Udogie earning suspensions with their red cards. All four have played sizeable roles in Spurs’ magnificent start to the campaign — a back four of, say, Pedro Porro, Dier, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal at Wolves on Saturday, and potentially without Maddison in midfield, makes Spurs instantly look significantly weaker.
But Spurs’ performance means they will continue to win admirers across the footballing landscape. Even with nine men, their line was higher than a hippy on the fourth day of a festival: Vicario played as an auxiliary sweeper and for some time Chelsea looked clueless how to beat it.
Despite having just four of their outfield starters still on the pitch after 63 minutes (!), Spurs persevered with their brave, high-risk approach. At 2-1 down they almost improbably equalised through Dier who was just offside and then Rodrigo Bentancur should have scored.
No wonder their fans were on their feet applauding their team’s efforts, even after Chelsea’s third and fourth goals went in. This was a monumental effort from Spurs although they will rue the recklessness of Romero and Udogie.
Tim Spiers
What next for Tottenham?
Saturday November 11: Wolverhampton Wanderers (A), Premier League, 12.30pm GMT (7.30am ET)
What next for Chelsea?
Sunday November 12: Manchester City (H), Premier League, 4.30pm GMT (11.30am ET)
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(Top photo: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
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