Tottenham Hotspur held their top spot in the Premier League table as the London derby ended 0-0. Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham visited Stamford Bridge to play the high-voltage derby against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea as the Blues were keen to overtake Liverpool and Spurs to go to No. 1 Positon.
Chelsea coach, Frank Lampard brought back his three players who did not feature in the 2-0 victory against Newcastle. No doubt these players were Reece James, who replaced captain Cesar Azpilicueta in the right-back, attacking star Hakim Ziyech, and Chelsea’s undroppable middle man, N’Golo Kante was given the task to rule the midfield.
The match started with a minute’s silence to remember the late Diego Armando Maradona in Stamford Bridge. The stadium’s screen showed his brief visit to Cobham in the year 2008.
The match started with Chelsea struggling to break down the defence of Jose Mourinho’s disciplined defence. Mourinho’s well-marshalled side was sitting at the back for any opportunity to counter-attack the Blues but Lampard knew his former boss, Mourinho who managed Chelsea for two years.
It was a tactical match between the two teams as nothing remarkable happened in the first half. Both teams were very cautioned of one another and just managed a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
Chelsea’s left-footed magician, Hakim Ziyech’s effort of trying to dip in a ball from outside of the box was the only moment in the first half although the Blues dominated possession. Jose Mourinho played with similar tactics that he used against Manchester City to beat them 2-0. Man City had all the domination and lots of shots but Spurs took advantage of their fewer chances and won the match.
This was evident when Spurs’ only counter-attack came in the form of Steven Bergwijn who scooped his shot over the cross-bar. Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy saved a powerful shot of Tottenham’s right-back, Serge Aurier in the 15th minute of the game. Sergio Reguilon showed glimpses of threat in the Chelsea backline too, but the Thiago Silva-led defence of Lampard resisted all.
Although Spurs looked very threatening as they were pouncing on the moments whenever there was a nervous pass or errors made in the back, Chelsea took hold of the match in the second half.
Chelsea was determined to give their owner, Roman Abramovich a win in his 1000th match and that intent was clearly revealed. Chelsea’s fullback, Reece James delivered two dangerous crosses in the opposition box and Blues’ striker, Tammy Abraham failed to convert them both.
Just two minutes later, a combination play between Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount found Timo Werner- who ran behind the defense. The German striker finished clinically to the far post of the Spurs keeper but unfortunately, it was ruled offside.
Hakim Ziyech again found a half chance where he struck the ball over the bar in the 67th minute of the game. Just fifteen minutes later, Lamaprd thought that his side had taken the lead as Mason Mount struck a low shot which almost went inside the net- only to be saved by the Spurs keeper, Hugo Lloris’ fingers.
The excitement was seen in the later stages of the match when a weak back header from Spurs defender, Joe Rodon almost cost them the match. Chelsea’s substitute, Olivier Giroud almost went near to convert from their error but failed to do so. Lampard’s side was expected to show their attacking prowess but the solid defence lead by Joe Roden on his debut match prevented all types of threats posed by the Blues.
The dying minutes of the match sent shivers down the spine of Chelsea manager as Tottenham came to win the match when Giovani lo Celso, who cam as a substitute struck his shot wide. It was a perfect moment to steal the win from Chelsea as Mourinho’s reaction on the sidelines said it all.
The London derby saw both the teams prioritizing to earn at least a point as they focussed to stay on top. Tottenham and Chelsea both stayed where they were in the League table after this game.
