Chelsea shakes: After Hakim Ziyech’s looping, dipping strike landed in the Tottenham goal, Chelsea never looked back.
Even if it took until the second half to break the deadlock, the Moroccan had every right to award it a “10 out of ten” rating. Thiago Silva’s 55th-minute header from Mason Mount’s free-kick sealed a 2-0 victory on Sunday, and it was a microcosm of this most lopsided of London rivalries.
Chelsea shakes Ziyech’s looping
Chelsea should never have doubted that their winless Premier League run will end on Sunday. It wasn’t enough for former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to go nine league games unbeaten at the start of his Tottenham stint before the visit to Stamford Bridge.
In the Premier League era, Chelsea has won 33 games against Tottenham, more than any other team. Tottenham had not scored in a league match against Chelsea since the north London club’s previous victory in 2018.
“In the last couple of weeks, we haven’t achieved the results we wanted,” Mount said. “So you look around and see teams closing in on you, teams that have played more games than us.”
“Then we’re stuck in a bad scenario.” So this was a big game for us, with Tottenham closing in on us and playing against us, so three points were essential.”
Harry Kane’s first-half goal was disallowed for what appeared to be a tiny touch on Silva before running through on goal to meet Ryan Sessegnon’s pass, angering Tottenham.
Tottenham’s collapse so fast after the interval seemed to guarantee Chelsea’s triumph, despite Kane’s diatribe against referee Paul Tierney at halftime. Chelsea also eliminated Tottenham from the League Cup semi-finals this month, denying them a place in the final.
The victory confirms Thomas Tuchel’s team’s top-four position, which was beginning to seem shaky before they won for the first match since December 26.
Chelsea stayed a point behind second-placed Liverpool, who beat Crystal Palace 3-1 due to first-half goals from Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as well as Fabinho’s penalty.
“The first 35 minutes were brilliant and some of the best stuff we’ve played all season,” Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said. “This is how we want to play, and I’d be grateful if someone could explain what happened after 35 minutes.”
The results will give fans hope that Manchester City can still be caught after they were held at Southampton on Saturday, cutting their advantage over Liverpool to nine points despite having played one more game.
The standings have been thrown out of whack as a result of the Coronavirus postponements, with Tottenham now in sixth place. Tottenham is now 11 points behind Chelsea, despite having four games in hand. Despite having played two more games, Man United is only two points ahead of Tottenham in fourth place in the Champions League.
Conte was aided a little by the fact that Arsenal was held to a 0-0 tie by Burnley on Sunday. Arsenal overtook Tottenham for sixth place on goal difference, but only because they had played one more game.
Tottenham couldn’t match the drama of Wednesday night, when they beat Leicester thanks to two stoppage-time goals. Danny Welbeck’s downward header in the 82nd minute equalised Patson Daka’s opener for Brighton, and Leicester were misled once more on Sunday.
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