Chelsea beat rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on Thursday night to move up to eighth in the Premier League table – and damage Spurs’ hopes of a top-four finish.
Trevoh Chalobah put the hosts ahead 24 minutes into the first half. The Chelsea defender rose at the far post and headed the ball beyond the reach of Guglielmo Vicario and into the back of the Tottenham goal.
Tottenham tried to come back, but Chelsea showed resilience throughout the match. And when Nicolas Jackson scored with a header in the 72nd minute, the three points were assured for Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
Here, Athleticism Liam Twomey, Charlie Eccleshare and Thom Harris break down Thursday night’s game.
Did Jackson show the strength of his character?
One bizarre quirk of Nicolas Jackson’s rollercoaster first season at Chelsea is that 36 percent of his Premier League goals have come against Tottenham.
Perhaps this statistic will help endear him to his vocal critics within the Chelsea fan base, who have more often focused on his erratic finishing than his other, less memorable qualities.
Jackson has had some truly horrible misses this season, and in recent weeks his confidence in his ability to convert scoring chances has taken a nosedive. But even on his worst days in front of goal, he adds a lot of positive value to this Chelsea team with and without the ball thanks to his pressing, his hold-up and follow-up play, his speed and his lively movements.
The standout moment of his debut Premier League campaign was the hat-trick he scored against nine-man Spurs in November, and yet the particularly strange circumstances of that match – and his difficulties timing his runs against the remarkably high defensive line ‘Ange Postecoglou – meant that he was in fact diminished in the eyes of some.
And yet the other recurring theme of Jackson’s season is his temper in the face of criticism. He never hides, never stops trying to position himself to score and never stops trying to do the little things to set the table for Chelsea’s attacking play.
It was no surprise when he reacted quickest to Cole Palmer’s brilliant free-kick which rolled back onto the crossbar, and his celebration underlined just how much success at Chelsea means to him. The warm applause he received from all sides of Stamford Bridge as he was substituted in injury time signaled further recognition of that fact.
Liam Twomey
Has defending on set pieces still been a problem for Spurs?
From a Spurs perspective, much of the build-up to this match has focused on whether Ange Postecoglou should do more to address the team’s weakness in defending set pieces.
The head coach was asked about it several times during his pre-match press conference, after conceding two corners in Sunday’s north London derby and having one of the worst defending records in such situations in the Premier League this season.
Postecoglou was optimistic when pressed on the subject, saying he was “not at all” bothered by the criticism, and adding: “I don’t see it as a problem.”
So the way Tottenham defended set pieces at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night was always going to come under scrutiny. Mile Jedinak, the coach who handles Spurs’ defensive kicking, was standing in the technical area every time Tottenham faced a dead ball situation in the first half, and the away anxiety was palpable.
Sure enough, Chelsea broke the deadlock in the 24th minute with a goal from a free kick. Brennan Johnson was blocked by Marc Cucurella and Chalobah headed home unmarked. On the corners, Noni Madueke was tasked with Ben White’s role from Sunday onwards, attempting to hinder and liquidate Guglielmo Vicario. Spurs have at least tasked Pedro Porro with getting between Vicario and the opposing player this time, but it’s clear that teams are targeting this Spurs weakness.
And let’s be clear, this is a weakness. Only four Premier League teams have conceded more from set pieces this season than Tottenham’s 15, and they currently occupy the bottom four positions.
Charlie Eccleshare
Did Chelsea exploit a Tottenham weakness?
All eyes were on the left side of Tottenham’s defense ahead of the match, as Emerson Royal got his opportunity in Destiny Udogie’s distinctive full-back role. And although Chelsea were clearly looking to target that flank – completing 44.7% of their offensive attacks against the Brazilian side – it was on the pitch where the hosts found joy.
Formed in 3-2-5, Chelsea pushed Marc Cucurella into midfield. He caught the eye of Brennan Johnson, while Conor Gallagher pushed forward and pinned Yves Bissouma – leaving winger Mykhailo Mudryk constantly one-on-one with Pedro Porro. The Ukrainian may be overexcited, but his four shots, three chances created and two taken care of during a thrilling first half made the problem clear for the Tottenham full-back.
Postecoglou’s side are likely to suffer large overloads – we saw that against Fulham in March. Fulham were extremely direct after winning the ball to throw full-backs and wingers at Porro and Udogie. Chelsea achieved their numerical superiority by relying more on possession, but Mudryk’s passes for Nicolas Jackson and Cucurella’s underlying runs in the first half illustrated the space that can be left behind when Porro is exposed .
Liverpool are next – Spurs can expect a similar challenge.
Thomas Harris
Has Cucurella’s role change changed his situation at Chelsea?
Only nine months have passed since Marc Cucurella was booed and jeered by sections of Stamford Bridge during Chelsea’s victory over AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup, but it felt like an eternity ago as his name echoed in a jubilant chorus around The Shed End against Tottenham.
Cucurella suffered for much of his Chelsea career, first because of his inflated transfer fee, then as an unwitting symbol of Graham Potter’s unpopular tenure, and more recently because many fans concluded that he just wasn’t good enough to deserve a job. place on this team.
Recruited by Thomas Tuchel to play primarily on the left of three central defenders, even Cucurella’s position has been a question without an easy answer. Pochettino has deployed him at left-back and right-back this season, with extremely mixed results – but the Chelsea head coach’s latest tactical ploy has yielded promising early returns.
Cucurella’s recast as an inverted full-back who becomes a number 6, when Chelsea are in possession, helped turn the tide against Aston Villa on Saturday, and it presented Spurs with problems they struggled to resolve at Stamford Bridge .
Cucurella played his part in precise passing sequences next to Moises Caicedo, moving the ball forward quickly and wisely, whilst recovering quite quickly towards the left-back when Tottenham attacked. He put up strong resistance to Brennan Johnson and later to Dejan Kulusevski.
Not content with screening the defense, he even managed to screen Johnson subtly enough to avoid committing a foul before Trevoh Chalobah’s opener, and his position in midfield allowed him to win the free kick that led to Nicolas Jackson header in the match. second.
Cucurella will never convince everyone at Chelsea – he still looks frantic all the time on the pitch – but Pochettino seems to have found a way to make him useful to this team.
Liam Twomey
Were Spurs better without James Maddison?
The previous 23 times Maddison had been available for a Premier League match he had started. But after an indifferent run of form, Postecoglou decided to bench him for this match and move Dejan Kulusevski into his advanced midfielder role.
Despite the change, Spurs didn’t look any more dynamic in midfield. Kulusevski didn’t create much and Maddison was sent on just after the hour mark. Giovani Lo Celso, another attacking midfielder, was then sent on in the closing stages, but he too couldn’t open Chelsea’s defense.
It’s an area of the pitch that, despite numerous tweaks and modifications in recent weeks, continues to pose problems for Postecoglou and his team.
Charlie Eccleshare
What did Pochettino say?
We’ll bring you that after his speech at the post-match press conference.
What did Postecoglou say?
We’ll bring you that after his speech at the post-match press conference.
What future for Chelsea?
Sunday May 5: West Ham (M), Premier League, 2 p.m. BST, 9 a.m. ET
East meets West in this London derby, as Chelsea look to avenge their 3-1 defeat in September’s reverse fixture. They have won the last three matches between the clubs at Stamford Bridge and have lost just one of the last 10 there.
What future for Tottenham?
Sunday May 5: Liverpool (A), Premier League, 4:30 p.m. BST, 11:30 a.m. ET
Spurs are attempting their first home-and-away double against Liverpool since 2010-11, having won 2-1 at home in a September match which the visitors finished with nine men. Last season’s encounter at Anfield was also eventful, with Tottenham coming back from three goals down to seemingly snatch a draw in stoppage time, only to concede again within seconds.
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(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)