A clinical display from the Blues in the second half saw them bag three goals and three points to go to the top of the league table.
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It was a game of two halves in the London derby played between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the English Premier League (EPL) on Sunday. Spurs started the game quite well as they created a number of good opportunities. They played with pace and had the hunger to bag an early goal. However, the ball never once went past Kepa Arrizabalaga. Chelsea perhaps did not expect that fast a start so they had to spend a lot of time in the first half just weathering the Spurs attack and slowing the tempo of the game. However, a clinical display from the Blues in the second half saw them bag three goals and three points to go to the top of the league table at the end of the day.
Chelsea’s first goal came in the 49th minute from the unlikeliest of scorers. Defender Thiago Silva out jumped Dele Alli to head a beautiful Marcos Alonso corner past Hugo Lloris to make it 1-0 to the visitors. It was a rather simple goal for Chelsea considering how well Spurs played in the first half. Probably, it was just a case of the wrong player marking the wrong person. Alli was never going to overpower Silva and that is something skipper Hugo Lloris should have noticed and mentioned ahead of the corner routine.
It took only eight minutes for the Blues to bag a second goal and get a firm grip on the three points. Midfielder N’golo Kante was the scorer on this occasion. The Frenchman was sidelined with an ankle injury that he had sustained during the EPL game against Liverpool. This was his first appearance since then and he certainly made a mark after coming on at half time. A beautiful long pass from Matteo Kovacic found Kante who hit a low strike. Spurs defender Eric Dier got in the way but the deflection only made it worse for Lloris as the ball found its way into the bottom corner.
The European champions added a third goal in second-half stoppage time through Antonio Rudiger. Timo Werner drove to the byline before cutting the ball back for Rudiger who had no problem in sweeping the ball past Lloris from 12 yards out. It was a perfect away victory from Thomas Tuchel’s perspective and he will be quite happy with the result on the day.
Chelsea are currently at the top of the table but they have an identical record as Liverpool so far in the EPL this season. The two have been touted as title contenders and they are certainly living up to the billing. For Nuno Espirito Santo, all the positivity from the opening three matches of the season seems to have evaporated. This was the team’s second straight 3-0 loss in the league. The earlier one came against Crystal Palace last week at Selhurst Park.
Spurs have a mammoth tie next week as they will travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal in the iconic North London Derby. Chelsea will also have their hands full next week as they ill host defending champions Manchester City.
