Chelsea’s impressive start to life under head coach Enzo Maresca continued with a thrilling comeback win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Trailing by two goals within the opening 11 minutes, the Blues were excellent value for the three points that put them clear in second place in the Premier League. For Spurs, by contrast, it was a third league match without a win, as they slipped to 11th in the table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
19 | +28 | 46 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
20 | +21 | 40 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
20 | +10 | 40 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
20 | +15 | 36 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
20 | +12 | 35 |
When it came to slipping, Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella made a costly start to the encounter. The Spain international had to change his boots after slipping in the build-up to both Spurs goals. Crucially for the visitors, though, they hit back quickly thanks to a Jadon Sancho strike from outside the box.
Two poor challenges from Spurs then gave Cole Palmer chances from the penalty spot – first to equalise, then to add a fourth goal, the latter with an ice-cool Panenka. In between, Enzo Fernandez had lashed home to put Chelsea ahead, while Son Heung-min’s finish in stoppage time was too little, too late for Ange Postecoglou’s team.
How the managers saw it
“Both penalties were poor on our behalf,” said Postecoglou. “They're self-inflicted and unnecessary challenges. We've given them two goals away for no reason and given ourselves a mountain to climb, which proved too hard.”
“There was no problem first half,” said Maresca. “The only thing was watching the way they were pressing. First half we had Cole Palmer on one side, and Enzo Fernandez on the other. Second half we had Palmer on one side, and Cucurella on the other, and we changed something in behind. It was for this reason, it worked quite well and we won the game.”
Spurs win the ball high up early on
Postecoglou’s team started the match with an incredible pressing intensity, immediately defending well into Chelsea’s half. In wide areas, Spurs’ winger and full-back pairings jumped forward with purpose onto their direct opponents, as shown below. The home side then placed immediate pressure on Chelsea’s initial double-pivot of Romeo Lavia and Fernandez.
Although Palmer was finding significant space between the opposition midfield and backline, Chelsea weren’t able to find their talisman due to Spurs’ strong duelling and high regains.
Spurs began the match by limiting Chelsea’s deeper build-up, which gave Postecoglou's side an immediate attacking platform. Indeed, Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski scored after regains from Cucurella to give Spurs their two-goal lead.
With Spurs’ press disrupting Chelsea’s build-up, Chelsea right-back Moises Caicedo started to invert into midfield, giving his team a brief numerical advantage in that part of the pitch. Spurs’ wingers responded by narrowing and dropping back, no longer putting pressure on Chelsea’s backline as often.
Although Spurs’ midfield trio maintained their pressing intensity, they needed support from one of their centre-backs – stepping into midfield – to combat Chelsea’s box. This was initially Cristian Romero (see below), until he went off injured in the 15th minute, to be replaced by Radu Dragusin. And as the game progressed, Chelsea began to find solutions to Spurs’ pressing.
Chelsea’s improved movement in midfield
Palmer’s movements to wide right helped to pull his marker away, freeing central spaces for Chelsea’s pivots to receive and play forward.
Similar movements from Fernandez towards the left had the same effect, as Spurs no longer pushed a centre-back into midfield to mark player-for-player. The home team’s wingers now had to work back, meaning they were no longer able to press as high as often.
Caicedo and Lavia began to connect more, not least in the move that fed the ball into Sancho, shown below, which culminated in his superb bending strike halving the deficit.
In response, Spurs attempted to place earlier pressure on Chelsea’s double-pivots; their No 8s jumping early onto Caicedo and Lavia. But Palmer and Fernandez were making much wider movements, which created passing lanes that Spurs’ single-pivot Yves Bissouma simply could not cover. Nicolas Jackson then stretched beyond, stopping a Spurs centre-back from jumping into midfield.
Intelligent forward passes from Lavia, in particular, prompted Spurs’ midfield to continue jumping aggressively, but they had little time to react and readjust underneath the ball. As a result, Chelsea began to dominate possession and create well-worked attacks.
A few poor passes from Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez did give Spurs some opportunities for high regains as the first half played out. On the whole, though, the widening movements from Palmer and Fernandez in Chelsea’s 3-2-4-1 gave them a strong platform to attack and feed the direct runs of their frontline.
Maresca adjusts the left side
Malo Gusto replaced Lavia at half-time, slotting in at right-back, with Caicedo now a permanent double-pivot alongside Fernandez. Left-back Cucurella advanced high to support inside Sancho, with Palmer initially central as a No 10, working off Jackson.
But when Palmer shifted to the right, additional space was created for Cucurella and Sancho to work dangerous crosses and passes into the penalty area. Runs from one of Chelsea’s pivots gave the visitors an extra attacking edge, as Spurs pulled almost everybody back to defend.
In the 61st minute, Caicedo burst forward to support inside of Cucurella and Sancho, and was brought down for Chelsea's first penalty of the match.
At 2-2, Cucurella continued operating as Chelsea’s left No 10, with Palmer now permanently in the right-inside channel. Spurs were inconsistent in their marking and defending of the central spaces, particularly on Cucurella.
Whenever Dragusin moved out of the backline to cover Cucurella, Chelsea attacked 1v1 and played forward with purpose, having regular runners beyond and numbers well into Spurs’ half.
When Cucurella moved deeper, Kulusevski picked him up, which allowed Fernandez to link play forward. Chelsea became dominant, and it was Fernandez who ran forward through the inside-left channel to half-volley past Fraser Forster and put his team in front.
From there, Maresca’s team tightened the screw, with a two-goal cushion coming courtesy of their second penalty. After the match, the Italian head coach downplayed his side’s title chances, but for now results suggest they are one of the teams with a genuine chance of finishing top in May.
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