Tottenham Hotspur had lost 11 of its last 12 matches vs. Chelsea in all competitions. They’ve won twice at Stamford Bridge in 40 years, and not at all since 2018. It’s almost as much of a truism as you get in soccer — Tottenham Hotspur just doesn’t win at Stamford Bridge.
Until they do.
Tottenham ran circles around Chelsea from the opening kick, dominating possession and cannily bypassing their midfield, went ahead thanks to a hilarious second half own goal from Chelsea’s backup keeper Mike Penders,
saw Cole Palmer get sent off after picking up his second yellow of the match, and then doubled their lead through a Mathys Tel strike to send Spurs’ away fans into delirium.
Tottenham Hotspur never win at Stamford Bridge. But they did today. The final score was 0-2.
Here are my match reactions.
Match Reactions
- 15 minutes in, Chelsea was already benefitting from some home cookin’ via the refs. Lots of heavy challenges and shoulder bumps from the likes of Caicedo that went uncalled.
- Tottenham really struggled with Chelsea’s press in the first half hour. It was hard for Spurs to get out of their own half much of the time.
- Antonin Kinsky had the most (derogatory/laudatory) match I’ve seen from him in a long time. A couple of hospital-ball passes out from the back, and some truly impressive saves to prevent Chelsea goals.
- The Tonali-Fernandes-Maddison midfield improves Spurs so much, between Tonali’s long switches of play, Fernandes’ controlled recycling of the ball, and Maddison linking play to the attack. They were dominating possession for large stretches of this match.
- A half with no extra time? I’m not sure I’ve seen that in a very long time!
- Absolutely gutted for James Maddison. Not clear what his injury was, but I’m guessing hamstring or soft tissue. Hopefully it’s a precautionary thing and he won’t be out for long, but heading straight down the tunnel after walking under his own power isn’t great.
- Distinctly unimpressed with Kudus in this match. Yes, he held the ball up well, but that entire Gray-Tonali-Kudus right side was pretty much a black hole. His crossing was atrocious.
- By contrast, I think this was one of Andy Robertson’s best matches for us. He had a good interplay with Tel (who also looked bright and worked his tail off) and his passing/crossing was on point.
- I would’ve liked to have kept Marmoush on the pitch and moved him right with Solanke coming on for Kudus, but I guess you can’t have everything.
- Van de Ven deserved his yellow for his sliding challenge, but I have no idea why Cole Palmer wasn’t sent off for shoving down Fernandes. That was coward officiating, but I guess shoves are no longer red card worthy as we saw with Luke Shaw two weeks ago. (That said, Fernandes probably should’ve also gotten a card for handling the ball after going down, and Palmer should’ve been off because he blatantly dove in the box earlier with no call.) Proper Battle of the Bridge, innit?
- I LOVE LOVE LOVE GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY WOOOOOOOOOOOO
- I have seen Spurs concede unfairly or stupidly at Stamford Bridge so many times that I absolutely can’t believe the narrative flip of a weird-ass missed punch own goal by Chelsea’s backup keeper actually happened.
- SUCK IT COLE PALMER LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! That was a deserved sending off, considering it was his third yellow-worthy play.
- This match went from terrifying to hilarious in record time and I love it. The only thing that would’ve made it better is if Mykhailo Mudryk played and scored… for us.
- This was one of Tel’s best ever games for us, in my opinion. He worked his butt off, covered every blade of grass, looked extremely bright, and deserved his goal. He’s gone through so much over the past couple of years, and I’ve certainly given him his fair share of stick during that time, but credit where due — he was fantastic.
- Tottenham wins at Stamford Bridge should count as triple points, imo. What a match. What a win! COYS!
