LONDON — Chelsea were victorious against nine-man Tottenham in a chaotic London derby but Spurs actually came out of it feeling more positive.
That’s right. Ange Postecoglou’s side suffered a 4-1 defeat, their first loss of the Premier League season, but they were applauded off the pitch by their fans as they came so close to snatching a 2-2 draw, against all odds, late on.
Despite Cristiano Romero and Destiny Udogie both letting the occasion get to them as they were sent off, plus Spurs losing influential center back Micky van de Ven to what looks like a long-term injury and James Maddison also going off with a knock, it was Tottenham who were strangely feeling pretty positive about the defeat.
Tottenham: ‘We went down with the flag held high’
“First 15 minutes was amazing, we played unbelievable football. One of the best so far in the season, but then we were too hyped up and did some bad tackles. In the end we paid for it,” Dejan Kulusevski said. “I think we created a lot of chances and Eric Dier score a goal that in the end was offside, but then we had great opportunity with both Bentancur and Sonny. So, we created three chances and Vicario was unbelievable in the goal. We did really well and of course in the end they score the goals, but I am very proud of the team.”
Kulusevski, who scored Spurs’ opener as they battered Chelsea before the chaos ensued, was asked if this display will actually fuel them to kick on once again.
“It has to. It has to give us fuel. We lost the game, we hate to lose, it was the first of the season, but we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again and we play 11 v 11 because then it is much harder to beat... We were proud, absolutely. We were very, very angry, but the coach was very proud and the players also. You cannot ask for more than this. We played with two guys off and we still competed at a high level. We created a lot of chances and did good, honestly. You cannot do more than this,” Kulusevski said.
Postecoglou maintained Spurs’ high defensive line, even with so many changes, and he said that style of play will never change.
“It is just who we are mate, it is who we are and who we will be for as long as I am here. If we go down to five men we will have a go,” Postecoglou said.
Eric Dier, Emerson Royal and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg all came off the bench to play in a makeshift Tottenham back four and the latter made heroic clearances galore and was proud of how Spurs’ stand-in players, who will now be called upon, performed.
“Listen, I think we went down with the flag held high. We gave it all but the result hurts a lot,” Hojbjerg said. “Tomorrow we have a day off and when we see each other on Wednesday, we’ll gather the pieces and the focus and focus on the next game, as we have to. Everyone has to show their availability and show they are prepared to do what it takes. A good squad is not 11 players. It is 18 or 25 players and this is what we have to show. The result hurts a lot but we have to keep going.”
When Chelsea went ahead further in stoppage time, Tottenham’s fans stood up and applauded the effort of their players. Their players want to repay them for that kind of support as the connection under Postecoglou continues to grow despite a damaging derby defeat.
“It was unbelievable, honestly,” Kulusevski added. “Some things are bigger than life, bigger than football, bigger than the wins. Honestly I was really proud of that moment and the fans. I was grateful and it makes me want to give more back.”
Despite victory, big questions remain for Chelsea
Chelsea, on the other hand, huffed and puffed and finally got the job done but Mauricio Pochettino will have plenty of concerns about how wasteful his side continue to be. This time against nine men as they’re still 11 points behind Tottenham and nine points off the top four of the Premier League.
Pochettino said Chelsea deserved to win and his players told reporters that he told his side to be patient at half time as they created chances galore but kept making the wrong pass or being offside or were sucked into the chaos of this swirling, messy derby.
Asked by Pro Soccer Talk after the game about the plan, Chelsea center back Axel Disasi revealed the Blues were told to hang in there.
“The coach said at half time to be patient and to keep the ball and when we have the opportunity to score that we must kill them,” Disasi said. “The second goal came a bit late but in the end Nico [Nicolas Jackson] scored a hat trick and I’m happy for him because he needs this and hopefully in the future he will score more goals again.”
PST also asked Disasi if this win could be a statement and a turning point for Chelsea but instead he wanted to focus on the next game, a huge one, against Manchester City this Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
“It’s too early to talk about this, we just want to enjoy the win tonight and see what happens on Sunday,” Disasi said.
It is tough to analyze a performance when you play against nine men but if Chelsea play like they did against Tottenham against Manchester City this Sunday, they will be dismantled. Defensively they still left plenty of gaps as they almost blew it and in attack they were extremely wasteful (Jackson scored three but could have had six) and snatched at chances.
But they are a young team and Pochettino’s side know they will only continue to get better.
“We are a young group and the victory will give us a lot of confidence for the future,” Disasi continued. “We have to take this and learn from this game because we can do some things much better. But we will keep the result and see what happens.”
This crazy London derby was a rare case where, given the circumstances, the losing team feel a lot happier than the victors.
