Chelsea has defeated Tottenham’s top-four dreams and improved their own chances of European qualification with a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The hosts, who were missing 14 first-team players due to injury, took the lead in the first half thanks to Trevoh Chalobah’s thunderous header from Conor Gallagher’s free-kick, exposing Spurs’ set-piece weaknesses once more after their defeat to Arsenal.
Ange Postecoglou was noticeably irritated by his team’s poor performance in the first half, and Chelsea increased their advantage in the 72nd minute, despite some Spurs improvement, when Nicolas Jackson headed home after Cole Palmer’s free-kick rebounded off the crossbar.
The victory completes Mauricio Pochettino’s double over his old side, following Chelsea’s 4-1 triumph at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November, and puts them only two points below Newcastle in eighth place. Spurs, however, are seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, who now have only one game in hand.
As Chelsea continued to thrash Spurs, Postecoglou, generally a calm figure on the touchline, became increasingly enraged, blaming Emerson Royal for conceding a free-kick, exposing his side’s much-discussed set-piece flaws once more.
Chalobah performed admirably to direct his towering header over Guglielmo Vicario and into the net from Gallagher’s delivery, although the defender was unmarked, with Marc Cucurella blocking Brennan Johnson, and VAR ruled the goal fair after a lengthy review.
Spurs pinned Chelsea back at the start of the second half but struggled to create chances, failing to register a shot on target until just after the hour mark, when Pedro Porro’s diagonal effort was parried away by Djordje Petrovic. Chelsea remained a threat on the break, but their second goal came from another set-piece, Palmer’s brilliant free-kick bouncing back into the underside of the bar, with Jackson recovering quickly to loop a header into the goal.
Johnson squandered an early chance to equalise at the other end, but Spurs never looked like rallying after that, with Postecoglou’s first-half wrath replaced by a look of resignation as his team suffered a third consecutive defeat, leaving their top-four chances hanging by a thread.
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