TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 (2) | CHELSEA 4 (1) |
Date : – Monday 6th November 2023 | Kick off : – 20.00 |
Competition : – Premier League | Venue : – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
Crowd : – 61,726 |
Referee : – Michael Oliver (Durham) | Linesmen : – Mr. Stuart Burt; Mr. Dan Cook |
Fourth official : – Thomas Bramall | |
VAR official : – John Brooks | VAR Assistant : – Dan Robathan |
Weather : – Chilly, dry | |
Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the Park Lane end | |
Playing time : – 90 + 21 minutes |
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | CHELSEA | ||
GOAL-SCORERS | |||
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Kulusevski 05m 23s | ![]() |
Palmer (p) 34m 06s |
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Jackson 74m 04s | ||
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Jackson 90+3m 27s | ||
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Jackson 90+6m 57s | ||
CARDS | |||
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Udogie (foul on Sterling) 18 | ![]() |
Jackson (foul on Sarr) 45+10 |
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Postecoglu (dissent) 41 | ![]() |
Colwill (pushing Sarr) 45+10 |
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Sarr (defending himself against a push by Colwill) 45+10 | ![]() |
Gusto (kicking ball away) 86 |
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Mudryk (foul on Vicario) 89 | ||
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Ugochuckwo (foul on Bissouma) 90+4 | ||
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Romero (foul on Fernandez) 34 | ![]() |
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Udogie (second yellow; foul on Sterling) 55 |
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | CHELSEA | ||
13. | Guglielmo VICARIO | 1. | Robert SANCHEZ |
23. | Pedro PORRO | 24. |
Reece JAMES (c) ( 27. Malo GUSTO ![]() |
37. | Micky van de VEN ( 5. Pierre-Emile HOJBJERG 45+1) | 2. | Axel DIASI |
17. | Cristian ROMERO ![]() |
6. | Thiago SILVA |
38. | Destiny UDOGIE ![]() ![]() |
26. | Levi COLWILL ![]() |
8. | Yves BISSOUMA | 25. | Moises CAICEDO |
29. | Pape Matar SARR ![]() |
8. | Enzo FERNANDEZ ![]() |
21. | Dejan KULUSEVSKI ![]() |
20. | Cole PALMER ![]() |
10. | James MADDISON ( 12. Emerson ROYAL 45+1) | 23. | Conor GALLAGHER |
22. | Brennan JOHNSON ( 15. Eric DIER 34) | 7. | Raheem STERLING ( 16. Lesley UGOCHUKWU 90+1 ![]() |
7. | Heung-Min SON (c) | 15. | Nicholas JACKSON ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Substitutes | Substitutes | ||
20. | Fraser FORSTER | 28. | Djordje PETROVIC |
9. | RICHARLISON | 5. | Benoit BADIASHILE |
18. | Giovani Lo CELSO | 11. | Noni MADUEKE |
11. | Bryan GIL | 29. | Ian MAATSEN |
36. | Delvid WASHNGTON |
= Assist
= Goal scored
= Own goal scored
Manager : – Ange Postecoglou ![]() |
Manager : – Mauricio Pochettino |
Kit Supplier : – Nike | Kit Supplier : – Nike |
Shirt Sponsor : – AIA | Shirt Sponsor : – Infinite Athlete |
Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – cinch | Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – – |
Colours : –![]() |
Colours : –![]() |
Images of kits courtesy of the marvellous Colours of Football website | |
MATCH REPORT |
Spurs lost their unbeaten league record despite a valiant effort against the 12 men in blue of Chelsea. Oh, sorry. That should be the eleven men of Chelsea in blue and one in black, as Michael Oliver and VAR gave a performance worthy of Twattenberk in the Battle of The Bridge, showing a stunning inability to apply the laws of the game equitably.
4-1 is a joke of a score-line and it might have been a funny one for the followers of the Pensioners, but it was a sick on for Spurs fans, who showed themselves to be more “supporters” than their opposite numbers, who would have been long gone had the game gone against them. The game is about fine margins and with VAR, that is magnified 100 times. 21 minutes of added time mainly because Tottenham were a victim of the Woolwich Wanderers game on Saturday, when the South Londoners were outraged that everything went against them when VAR was involved (apart from Havertz not getting sent off). Therefore, most controversial moments were forensically examined to the nth degree, but surprisingly, some seemed to be glossed over very quickly when they were examining issues involving Chelsea players. It is easy to criticise referees, so here goes. When Pape Matar Sarr ran the ball away after a Chelsea attack broke down in the tenth minute of first half stoppage time, Jackson cynically pulled him back and Spurs were given a free-kick. Sarr had the ball in his hands and Colwill, who frankly should have been booked before this incident, tried to wrestle the ball from him and there was pushing and shoving that saw a number of other players involved. And this is where referees let themselves down by taking the easy option. Jackson was booked for the initial foul and then Oliver booked Sarr and Colwill, when the Chelsea defender was the one making all the aggressive moves and Sarr was only defending himself against the pushing that Colwill was doing. The fact that he was substituted at half-time spoke volumes for what the Chelsea coaching staff imagined would have happened had he stayed on. The whole spectre of VAR hangs over the game these days, with nothing being relayed to the fans about what is going on. With three things involved in Newcash’s goal on Saturday, so were there in the goal that got Chelsea back into the match. An offside, a penalty and a sending off that changed the game in the visitors’ favour. When Caicedo drove the ball in low to Vicario’s right from outside the box, the clock had just ticked over to 27.00. By the time the people who are supposed to be controlling the game, the clock showed 32.06 and the goal was ruled out as Jackson had blocked Guglielmo’s view standing in an offside position, a penalty was given to them and Romero shown a red card. His tackle had won the ball, but like Curtis Jones, his follow-through caught Fernandez on the shin. The old adage of having played the ball first no longer applies these days and unlike Jones, Cristian’s tackle hadn’t gone over the ball. But there were other incidents, like the last minute foul by Mudryk on Vicario. Chasing a long ball through that Vic was always going to get to first, the Ukrainian knew exactly what he was doing in planting his studs into the Spurs keeper’s knee when he came out of his box to clear. No different to Romero’s red card, except he got nowhere near the ball. Late in added time at the end of the match, the ball looped up in the air and Emerson Royal went to head it. Cole Palmer, a player whose attitude fits the Chelsea template very comfortably, barged straight into his back with Emerson in mid-air. Not serious play, but a snide foul that deserved a yellow and this was the typical foul committed by their players from the off that, had Oliver possessed the balls to deal with instead of it being “too early in the game”, could have been avoided. By allowing bad fouls from behind on Son and Maddison by Fernandez (looking worse than Udogie’s second yellow), along with persistent fouling by Gallagher and Sterling in the opening part of the match, it set the mood for what they could get away with. It doesn’t matter when it happens or where in the pitch, a bookable offence is a bookable offence and while this ref is supposed to be one of the best we have, on this showing, that clearly needs to be reviewed … and I don’t mean by VAR. His inconsistency in decision making and lack of control over the game was, as Arteta might put it, “an embarrassment”. Up to the point that Chelsea had the numerical advantage player-wise, they had looked the side who for months have been decidedly less than average. Spurs were one up early on, with Kulusevski’s shot, coming in from the right, deflecting off Colwill’s arse to beat Sanchez and were easing their way around the Chelsea midfield with little resistance. When Chelsea had possession, they didn’t for long, with long passes going through to Vicario or off the side-lines for a throw to Spurs. Porro forced the keeper into a save, with Spurs getting the ball in the net in the 13th minute at the end of a beautiful move. Similar to the move that brought our second goal at Palace, we moved it from right across to the left and Brennan Johnson played the ball across the box for Son to finish past Sanchez from close range, getting in ahead of Diasi. It took a long time for VAR to check, so it must have been close, but it went against Tottenham. Then a VAR check went for Spurs when Chelsea played a ball out of defence and Udogie flew in to win the ball, but caught Sterling and was shown the yellow card. A check for serious foul play upheld the referee’s decision. The next VAR decision came four minutes later when Chelsea broke away, Sterling stumbled through a couple of challenges in the box and forced the ball somehow past Vic at the near post. Those faceless officials in Stockley Park watched the action time and time again before deciding that there was a hand involved and ruled the goal out. Then, in the 27th minute all hell broke loose. Sterling burst into the box and went down as van de Ven approached him, not going anywhere near him, Romero went into a tackle with Fernandez and the ball went loose to Caicedo who scored from 20 yards. Then came the review. The goal ruled out for offside, a foul on Fernandez earning a penalty and the red card reducing Spurs to ten men. The spot kick was converted and it was going to be uphill from there. Dier came on with Johnson sacrificed and the defender made a couple of early interceptions. VAR ruled Sterling offside when he played the ball in for Jackson to score, then a yellow was shown to Ange for some reason, presumably a comment to the fourth official. Things went from bad to worse a minute into added time when Micky ran back to cover a run from Jackson and pulled up clutching his hamstring. At the same time Maddison had gone down in the Chelsea box as he tried to get on the end of a pass from Destiny, but looked as though he twisted an ankle. It meant a double change, with Royal and Hojberg coming on. The stoppages had totted up to 12 extra minutes. Vicario made a good stop diving forward to push out a low ball in from the right wing, having made fine save down to his left as Jackson tried to curl an effort around him, the melee around the same forward’s foul on Sarr kicked off and as Udogie went for a ball along our left wing in the Chelsea half, James flung an arm that caught him in the face. VAR quickly decided that there was nothing doing and as the referee was so far behind play, there wasn’t even a booking. Then the respite of half-time came, with some relief in Gareth Bale being interviewed during the break. Chelsea’s change signified their worry about the approach Colwill was taking, with Tottenham facing a tough 45 minutes. Ten minutes later it got even harder when Destiny lost control of the ball and in trying to retrieve it, he caught Sterling. In the context of early fouls in the match it was nothing worse, but having already received a yellow, Oliver decided it needed another, so off he went. From the free-kick, Jackson won a header at goal and Hojbjerg did really well to head the ball off the line and up and over the bar. Vicario was having an outstanding math and when Jackson went through, he stuck out his left foot to keep it out and then Palmer followed up with a shot that Vic had recovered his position to keep that out, with a late flag for offside being raised. Sarr and Kulusevski were replaced by Skipp and Bentancur, as they had put in a lot of effort. With Tottenham playing a high line there was a big reliance on Guglielmo playing as a sweeper-keeper, which he did no quite a few occasions with great tackling efficiency. He also used every part of his body to keep Chelsea out, stopping Cucurella when he was clean through by taking on in the face. When Porro was fouled by the obnoxious hairy Chelsea defender, he was then subjected to abuse from him while putting his hand over his mouth. A coward on a lot of levels. With 15 minutes left, a Sterling break provided a square ball across for Jackson to shoot past Vicario from close range. It looked like Spurs had pulled level three minutes later when Porro’s free-kick from out on the left was headed on by Bentancur and Eric Dier scored a ‘worldie’, crashing home a volley at the far post. More hanging about as VAR worked out who headed the ball first, Bentancur or a defender, to decide Dier was offside. Another free-kick from the same position fizzed across the box and Rodrigo crept in behind the Chelsea defence to throw himself at the ball, but just failed to make contact with it. Vicario needed a lot of attention after Mudryk fouled him so late, it was nearly after midnight, which was about the time this match was going to end. Spurs were still pushing on to the Chelsea goal, with Dier winning a header to a free-kick to put it back into the middle but it dropped to a blue shirt and not one of the fewer white ones. Spurs came even closer when Bissouma won the ball off Ugochukwo (who then brought Biss down) and Skipp played the loose ball forward to Son immediately. Up against Silva and Diasi he ran at them, took the ball to the left of centre and from just inside the box hit a left-footed effort low to Sanchez’ left, but the shot lacked a lot of power which allowed the keeper to get down to it and save. It was the last chance we had, as from that the Pensioners broke forward and this time it was Gallagher who squared for Jackson to score. In the 97th minute Palmer played the ball through for the forward to complete a hat-trick from eight yards out. Even though Sky acted like sheep in giving him the Man of the Match award, it was telling that in the dying embers of the game, Mudryk pulled the ball back for him to have a shot, this time a bit further out and with people in front of him and he skied it high into the North Stand. I have never heard what came from the Spurs crowd in the final 24 minutes of the match. With the team heading for defeat, when the fourth Chelsea goal went in, the Tottenham section of the crowd stood and applauded their team. Now, in previous years, with such a score-line, there would be a chorus of boos and a quick exit by many supporters. That is what Postecoglou has done at the club. A team ethic of hard work and attacking play. A feeling of togetherness that a club like Chelsea and their glory-hunting “fans” will never know or comprehend. In adversity the club has come together and although it was the first set-back, it was n reaction that was out of the ordinary and will see things accepted in a more positive fashion in the future. Three points lost, but Chelsea won’t often get to play nine men, so might find coming matches a little more difficult. Sterling Performance |
MATCH NOTES |
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OTHER RESULTS | |||
Fulham | 0 | Mancashter United | 1 |
Brentford | 3 | West Ham United London | 2 |
Burnley | 0 | Crystal Palace | 2 |
Everton | 1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 |
Luton Town | 1 | Liverpool | 1 |
Mancashter City | 6 | AFC Bournemouth | 1 |
Sheffield United | 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 |
Newcash United | 1 | Woolwich Wanderers | 0 |
Nottingham Forest | 2 | Aston Villa | 0 |
Premier League Table 2023-24
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points | Goal difference | ||
1 | Mancashter City | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 8 | 27 | +20 |
2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 13 | 26 | +10 |
3 | Liverpool | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 24 | +14 |
4 | Woolwich Wanderers | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 24 | +14 |
5 | Aston Villa | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 16 | 22 | +10 |
6 | Newcash United | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 11 | 20 | +16 |
7 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 20 |
18 | +4 |
8 | Mancashter United | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 18 | -4 |
9 | Brentford | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 16 | +5 |
10 | Chelsea | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 15 | +5 |
11 | Crystal Palace | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 15 | -3 |
12 | West Ham United London | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 14 | -2 |
13 | Nottingham Forest | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 13 | -3 |
14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 12 | -5 |
15 | Fulham | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 12 | -8 |
16 | Everton | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 11 | -4 |
17 | Luton Town | 11 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 6 | -11 |
18 | AFC Bournemouth | 11 | 1 | 3 |
7 | 9 | 27 | 6 | -18 |
19 | Burnley | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 4 | -19 |
20 | Sheffield United | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 30 | 4 | -21 |