3 April 2025
Chelsea 1 Tottenham 0
Enzo Maresca’s side have been faltering in their pursuit of Champions League football of late. They welcomed Tottenham to Stamford Bridge for a London derby, with both teams in desperate need of three points, for very different reasons. The Blues have found it difficult to cope with the drop-off in form of talisman Cole Palmer and hoped that was all to change.
There is no love lost between these two teams but West London is not a happy hunting ground for Spurs. Chelsea opted for a direct route early on as a long ball was sent forward for Jackson to run onto. He used his strength to hold off the defender as Vicario came out to narrow the angles. Van de Ven looked to clear but made a mess of his attempt.
The Dutchman’s attempted clearance struck Jackson and came back off the post, so close to an opening goal for the hosts. This has been one of the biggest problems for Postecoglou since taking the reigns in North London. His style of attacking football and a high line was a problem for the defenders at his disposal to implement, leaving them open at the back.
Chelsea grew in confidence and continued to pressure the visitors. A cross into the back post evaded Cucurella in the box. It dropped to Gusto, who shot first-time, only to see his effort nestle into the side netting. Spurs were struggling to cope and it seemed that a goal was imminent for Enzo Maresca’s side. Stamford Bridge was a cauldron of noise at this point.
Sancho then slid the ball into Palmer who got to the byline before looking to square it to Fernandez. The Argentine slid in to try and make contact but Udogie did enough to deny him. That said, he inadvertently dragged the ball towards goal but Vicario managed to recover to save it on the line. The Blues were proving to be wasteful in the final third.
Palmer was getting involved more and that always tends to lead to Chelsea looking far more dangerous. He whipped in a cross from the touchline to pick out an unmarked Sancho at the back post. The on-loan Man Utd winger took one touch to steady himself before getting a shot away. Vicario did brilliantly to make a fingertip save to turn it over the crossbar.
Rumours are circulating that Chelsea have already decided not to exercise the buy-option in Sancho’s loan agreement. That will cost The Blues in the region of £5m. It says a lot about how the winger’s career has taken such a nosedive since moving to Old Trafford. The Theatre of Nightmares seems to be killing more careers than the ‘Me Too’ movement ever did.
After the interval, whatever Postecoglou said to his team seemed to fall on deaf ears. The hosts continued to dominate. It was one-way traffic at Stamford Bridge. Palmer swung in a teasing ball from out wide and Fernandez ghosted into the middle to head home, completely unmarked. More dreadful defending from Spurs.
You start to wonder why the club are not able to address their defensive frailties despite signing so many players in the process. At that point, you start to wonder whether it is the coaching that is the problem. Either way, their attempts to keep sides at bay seems to be as successful as Poland’s attempt to keep Germany from their borders in 1939.
Chelsea were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position. It was swung into the danger area but as Spurs tried to clear, the ball dropped inviting to Caicedo. He struck a superb volley into the bottom corner to double the hosts’ lead. Sadly celebrations were short-lived as it was soon to be ruled out by a VAR review. The Blues had set off too early and drifted into an offside position in the build-up.
Postecoglou’s side had offered so little in an attacking sense that it had been a quiet day in the office for the Chelsea defence. As a ball was lofted into The Blues’ half, Sarr robbed Caicedo of the ball and ran towards goal. He got a shot off from outside the box that Sanchez could only palm onto the underside of the crossbar and into the goal.
It seemed to be a case of déjà vu for the hosts as their wastefulness in front of goal was going to cost them once again. The Chelsea players were surrounding the referee demanding a free-kick for the challenge on Caicedo. On this occasion VAR came to their rescue as it was adjudged that the Tottenham midfielder had not got anything on the ball, just the player.
Despite the let-off, Chelsea seemed rocked by the visitors putting some pressure on them. Solanke played the ball into Johnson, who got down the right flank. He squared the ball into the back post where Son slid in to try and convert. The South Korean could not get enough on it and Sanchez was able to scramble across goal to block his effort.
Chelsea held on to claim the three points but it was another poor performance from Tottenham. Postecoglou must be looking forward to the end of the season more than anyone, the Australian must feel like he is in the film Saw, being toyed with by Jigsaw in a series of traps that there seems to be no way out of without severing one his own limbs.
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