The Blues handed the Spurs their third consecutive defeat in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
Jose Mourinho’s side looked lacklustre and set up very negatively against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side that seems to have found its mojo again after the sacking of Frank Lampard.
Jose Mourinho seemed to have no answers against Chelsea. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Chelsea went up early in the game after Eric Dier brought down German Timo Werner in the penalty area to concede a cheap penalty that midfielder Jorginho put away in the 24th minute of the game. The penalty ended up being the decisive moment of the game as Chelsea held on to go 6th in the Premier League, 4 points off the Champions League spots.
Son Heung-Min of Tottenham was all alone in the Spurs attack. (Photo by Neil Hall – Pool/Getty Images)
Tuchel’s side was the better team and deserved to win the game but Jose Mourinho criticised referee Andre Marriner’s decision of awarding the penalty saying, “In the end, a penalty decides the game. In the end, they score a penalty which is not a penalty where you say it is a dangerous situation, one on one, almost scoring. It’s a penalty that is difficult to accept and to lose the game like this is a bit painful.”
Chelsea is yet to concede a goal under Thomas Tuchel who has gone who has 2 wins and a draw since taking charge. Thomas Tuchel was very impressed with the potential this Chelsea side has and is looking forward to the times ahead.
This third consecutive league loss for Tottenham puts them in 8th, 3 points behind Chelsea but the Spurs do have a game in hand so can potentially go equal on points still with the Blues and potentially be in contention for the Champions League placings.
Why did Gareth Bale not feature?
Gareth Bale appears dejected after realizing that he will not be brought on as a substitute. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Tottenham lacked everything in the game against Chelsea. They offered absolutely no attacking threat and did not look likely to score whatsoever. The side looked like one that lacked ambition and confidence.
When they needed some attacking impetus or some energy off the bench, who better you’d think to bring on than Gareth Bale? However, Mourinho had other ideas. Bale did not end up featuring in the game although he was picked as a substitute!
When the Spurs manager was asked the question by a TV reporter as to why Bale did not get to feature, the response was a puzzling, “Good question. You do not deserve to know the answer.”
The question was posed by someone else later on in the press conference and the Portuguese man said, “I am doing my best. He is doing his best. Everybody is doing their best.”
Maybe Bale is not ready given the lack of game time he had at Real Madrid but it makes you wonder as to why he was brought in on loan then if he was to suffer the same fate as he did with the Galacticos.
Jose Mourinho’s record finally ends and some other fun stats
Thomas Tuchel celebrating after beating Tottenham in the Premier League (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
- The “Special One” lost back-to-back home games for the FIRST TIME EVER with this loss to Chelsea after being in-charge for 327 games!
- Thomas Tuchel is Chelsea’s first manager since Jose Mourinho to keep clean sheets in his first 3 games.
- This is the first time Tottenham has lost three consecutive Premier League games since November 2012.
- Spurs have lost 4 of their last 5 matches when Harry Kane has not played.
- Mourinho has never beaten Chelsea till date.
- Jorginho netted his 10th Premier League goal as the Blues beat the Spurs, which happens to be his 8th goal from the penalty spot.
Spurs play relegation-battling West Bromwich Albion at home on Sunday and Chelsea will face off against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Both these games will be considered a failure for London’s top clubs if they fail to come away with the 3 points.
