Oliver Skipp’s second-half stunner set Tottenham on their way to a 2-0 win over Chelsea – the first time they have beaten their rivals at their new stadium – and heaped yet more pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.
Chelsea had beaten their rivals in all three previous Premier League meetings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without conceding a goal but rarely threatened – producing an XG of just 0.41 – to continue that record as they produced another hugely underwhelming display.
The west Londoners have now won just once in their last 11 matches in all competitions – scoring just four goals in that time – while they have failed to record a victory in any away match since October 16.
Chelsea’s hopes of ending that run looked to have been severely damaged when Hakim Ziyech was sent off in first-half stoppage time for a push into Emerson Royal’s face, but the winger then had the red card rescinded by referee Stuart Attwell after he reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.
But the visitors could not capitalise on that reprieve and they were behind moments into the second half when Skipp thumped the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga to score his first Tottenham goal, before the hosts sealed a crucial victory for their top-four hopes when Harry Kane turned home a corner at the far post eight minutes before full-time.
Incredibly, Chelsea are closer to the bottom three than the top four with Potter’s side 10 points above the relegation zone, while they are now 14 points behind fourth-placed Spurs.
The message coming from Chelsea after last weekend’s embarrassing home defeat to bottom-club Southampton was that Todd Boehly and his fellow owners retained faith in Potter.
But after yet another turgid display – this time against a club many Blues supporters consider to be their primary rival – it is hard to see how that support cannot be severely tested in the coming days.
Team News:
•Tottenham named an unchanged side from the win over West Ham last weekend, with Richarlison again preferred to Heung-Min Son
•Chelsea changed six players from the defeat to Southampton, with Reece James, Thiago Silva, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz starting
Potter has now won just nine of his 26 matches as Chelsea boss since being recruited from Brighton in September, and their defeat in north London means his side are on their longest run without an away win in the Premier League in 22 years.
The Blues were handed an early blow when Raheem Sterling’s appeal for a penalty after a challenge from Skipp fell on deaf ears, and Spurs nearly took the lead when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s shot from the edge of the area was deflected onto the post by Wesley Fofana.
Ziyech was then at the centre of a lengthy and confusing sequence of events, with the Morocco winger dismissed by Attwell following several minutes of deliberating among the officials before the referee then changed his mind after rewatching the incident.
That had been the most dramatic event during a forgettable first half but Skipp ensured the second period would not follow that pattern when he took advantage of Enzo Fernandez’s weak clearance to drill a shot past Kepa – his first goal in 67 games for Spurs.
Chelsea barely even threatened a reply as Spurs comfortably kept their rivals at arm’s length and Kane’s simple finish after being left unmarked in the area capped off an impressive afternoon’s work that leaves the north Londoners in fourth – four points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle. – SkySports
