INJURED WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR THE THIRD TEAM
Lately, many face-to-face meetings of the best clubs are in crisis. For example, on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabéu, Atlético Madrid, who were lame this season, took points from Real Madrid, who had previously beaten Liverpool, and thus predetermined the outcome of the title race in Spain. . And on Sunday, in the formally central game of the Premier League tour, the fourth team in the league hosted the tenth. In addition, Chelsea in the previous five games had three draws with two losses and a dismal goal difference of 1-3.
Both coaches lost a large group of players to injuries. So, Antonio Conte was unable to line up four important point guards that night: Hugo Lloris, Yves Bissum, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ryan Sessegnon. As a result, reservist Oliver Skipp appeared in midfield, having spent 286 minutes in the Premier League this season as well. Furthermore, Conte once again preferred Richarlison, who was in an attacking trio with Dejan Kulusevski and Harry Kane, to Son Heung Ming, who was in poor form.
And Graham Potter had to do without Ngolo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Cesar Azpilicueta and Christian Pulisic. However, the number of players Chelsea have is so phenomenal that even without them, the first team looked impressive. It is true that there are still problems with the striker in the team, so Kai Havertz came out on top and Joao Félix under him. There’s also Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but he’s just recovered and logged into the app for the first time in a month.
ATWELL FORGIVES Ziyesh
Soccer turned out to be the corresponding to the losses. No matter how Potter tries to find the optimal mix of players and make connections down the lanes, his team doesn’t leave a solid impression. Chelsea had more possession of the ball than their opponents and spent most of their time in the opposite half of the field, but entered the penalty area with great difficulty. The attacks fell clearly on the left wing, where Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling played, but on the right, Rhys James and Hakim Ziyech were much less involved.
Potter, because of which for several months he could not release the optimal lineup and seemed to have collected a truly combat-ready combination of players for the first time, but already in the 19th minute, due to the injury of Thiago Silva, he was forced to release Wesley Fofana. The 22-year-old French defender marked the entry onto the pitch with a jumper under Pierre-Emile Heybjerg’s punch, but instead of blocking, he bounced off and hit the post. This is the most critical moment for the two teams in the first half hour.
In a generally even game, Ziyosha deserves a special mention. With a minus sign. For him, this is one of the worst halves at Chelsea. He didn’t open well between the lines, rarely found the ball, made mistakes more often than all his teammates, and at the same time almost didn’t get worse. At the end of the half, the winger, without looking, exactly returned Richarlison, but he fired the ball into the stands from the corner of the penalty area. And just before the whistle for halftime, he freaked out: he floored Richarlison and then, in a scuffle, slapped Emerson Royal. So he was about to be eliminated. The Brazilian, of course, provoked him, but does this justify the blue midfielder? He was lucky that Stuart Atwell went on the monitor and changed his mind.
SKIP KEPU CHECKED
Before the Chelsea players had time to enter the second half, they found themselves in a position to rally. Barely 19 seconds after the match was restarted, the same reservist Skipp, taking the ball out of the penalty area, got ahead of Félix and left Kepa Arrizabalaga no chance with a shot near the top corner. The goalkeeper had time to react, but was unable to deflect the goal. For sure this is one of the first goals in the second half of the Premier League.
If, against the background of the first half, it seemed to someone that this was just a flash in the performance of Spurs, then they quickly convinced the skeptics. It is indicative that from minute 46 to minute 64 they were 5-1 higher in touches in outside areas, while before the break this figure was 8-12. Potter tried to regain the initiative with the release of Mason Mount (instead of Ziyech) and Denis Zakaria, but received nothing more than a boost in possession. And even that is more likely due to the fact that Tottenham were pleased with the result and were waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.
INCREASINGLY SILENT IN THE GRANDSTANDS
The hosts defended with a lot of coolness, which is usually characteristic of Conte’s teams. Right center Christian Romero and right winger Emerson particularly enjoyed this game. The first was impenetrable and moved the ball forward under pressure (not every defenseman manages to record three successful runs), the second was the team’s engine, clawing all over the forehead.
And in the 82nd minute, everything finally became clear. The newly substituted Son Heung-min delivered a perfect corner, Eric Dier won the fight and flicked the ball to the far post, where a lurking Kane sent the ball into an empty net.
After that, the blue fans were drawn towards the exit. It seems that Potter will follow soon, because Chelsea is not a team of managers. A goal in six games is already a sentence, right? Tottenham Hotspur are four points clear of Newcastle in the Champions League with two games to go.
APP. 25 tours
Tottenham – Chelsea – 2:0 (0:0)
Goals: Skipp, 46 – 1:0. Kane, 82-2:0.
Tottenham Hotspur: Forster, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Emerson, Skipp, Heibjerg, Davies, Kulusevski (son 79), Richarlison (porro 89), Kane.
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Thiago Silva (Fofana 19), Koulibaly, Chilwell, Loftus-Cheek (Zakaria 62), E. Fernandez, Ziyech (Mount 62), Felix (Mudrick 83), Sterling (Aubameyang, 83), Havertz.
Warnings: Havertz, 45+3. Emerson, 45+3. Ziyesh, 45+7. Davis, 59. Monte, 74.
Referee: Atwell.
