Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders punched the ball into his own net before Mathys Tel struck a wonderful second to earn Tottenham a rare but deserved 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in which Cole Palmer was sent off.
Spurs had won only one of their previous 36 league visits to Chelsea, but delivered their best performance yet under Roberto De Zerbi, earning back-to-back wins within six days and easing concerns about a third season in the bottom half of the Premier League.
Xabi Alonso’s decision to play without a recognised striker in the absence of the injured Joao Pedro backfired, with 19-year-old winger Geovany Quenda handed a first start and Morgan Rogers playing through the middle instead of leading the line with the experienced Danny Welbeck.
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Mike Penders punches the ball into his own net
Tottenham had 70 per cent possession in the first half and should have led when Omar Marmoush wasted a big chance from close range. Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky made saves from Cole Palmer, Jordan Henderson and Morgan Rogers, but Alonso clearly needed to change his line-up at half-time.
Instead, he stuck with it, and Tottenham became more dominant, despite losing James Maddison to injury early in the second half, and eventually took the lead when Penders punched Mateus Fernandes’ corner into his own net under pressure from Spurs centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke.
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Cole Palmer was shown a second yellow card and sent off
Chelsea’s evening quickly worsened when Palmer received a second yellow card for standing on Conor Gallagher in a tackle.
Palmer had “lost his head”, according to Sky Sports’ Gary Neville, after earlier escaping a red card for barging into Fernandes’ head when the Spurs midfielder was kneeling on the ground after stopping the Chelsea forward with a handball.
Tottenham could not lose from there with 10 minutes left, but Tel made sure with a brilliant solo goal. He drove in from deep on the left, cut inside, and fired low into the bottom-left corner to cap a statement victory under De Zerbi.
More to follow…
The stats behind Chelsea’s horror show vs Spurs
- Spurs have beaten Chelsea in all competitions at Stamford Bridge while keeping a clean sheet for the first time since December 1986 (also 2-0).
- Chelsea failed to score at home in a Premier League London derby for just the second time in their last 17 such games, after a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace last season.
- Chelsea have conceded eight set-piece goals in the Premier League this season, double any other side.
- Mike Penders became just the second Chelsea goalkeeper to score an own goal in a Premier League match, after Petr Cech against Everton in December 2009.
- Chelsea had just seven attempts against Spurs, their fewest in a Premier League game this season and their fewest at home in the competition since January against Brentford (6).
De Zerbi: Now we are a complete team
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi speaking to Sky Sports:
“It was a big moment for the fans, the club and the players. They deserved this win and prepared very well. We are improving a lot in our mentality, as a group and in our relationships with the players. We are also improving on the pitch.
“Against Aston Villa and Everton, for 30 minutes we were playing very well. Maybe we didn’t score because our finishing wasn’t good enough, and perhaps in the first difficult moment we changed our mentality.
“Now we are a complete team. The players are playing better and we have improved our style.”
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