Tottenham’s unbeaten start under Ange Postecoglou came to an end at the hands of their former boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose Chelsea side came from behind to win 4-1.
In one of the most chaotic Premier League games of all-time, Spurs took an early lead but were later reduced to nine-men as the Blues fought back to claim a much needed win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, with Nicolas Jackson bagging a surprise hat-trick.
As expected, Spurs made a fast start to the game and were rewarded when Dejan Kulusevski’s shot took a kind deflection off the back of Levi Colwill and past a helpless Robert Sanchez.
With Chelsea shell-shocked, the home side continued to press and looked to have doubled their advantage through captain Son Heung-min after a sublime move, but the flag was up for the narrowest of offsides.
The visitors looked dangerous on the break though, with Guglielmo Vicario pulling off a brilliant save to deny Nicolas Jackson.
But then came the game changing moment: Destiny Udogie made a reckless, two-footed, studs up challenge on Raheem Sterling, and was very lucky not to have seen red.
Moments later, Sterling appeared to have levelled the game but his goal was disallowed because it struck his hand shortly before finding the back of the net.
In the build-up to the disallowed goal, Cristian Romero also came under investigation for a red card after kicking out on Levi Colwill following a challenge from the defender.
It should have been a warning sign as soon after the Argentine was given his marching orders after following through on Enzo Fernadez while clearing the ball in the box.
Chelsea, who had just had another goal, this time from Moises Caicedo, ruled out for offside, were awarded a penalty, and though Vicario got two hands on Cole Palmer’s effort the ball bounced the right way off the post to level the tie.
Down to 10-men, Spurs came under huge pressure from Chelsea and soon things got even worse, with key players James Maddison and Mick van de Ven forced off with injury, the latter pulling his hamstring in worrying scenes.
But the drama was far, far from over, with both Colwill and Blues captain Reece James perhaps fortunate to still be on the pitch after two separate incidents of violent conduct.
The second-half was slightly less chaotic, as Chelsea attempted to breakdown Spurs who really were forced to play with their backs to the wall after Udogie was shown a second yellow for a needless foul on Sterling in the 55th minute.
Vicario more than played his part for his side, pulling off save after save including one to deny Marc Cucurella.
But he could little to stop Jackson who tapped home the winner after Sterling selflessly rolled him in from a quick break.
But Spurs weren’t done, with Eric Dier, on his first appearance of the season, thumping in a fine volley from a free-kick but once again the offside flag was up.
Rodrigo Bentancur ought to have equalised with five minutes remaining but missed a header from a free-kick from just a few yards out, as should have Son who broke through in stoppage time but was denied by Sanchez.
And the visitors took advantage of their opponents high-line, with Jackson bagging his second and third goal deep into stoppage time to give his side a flattering scoreline.
The result means Tottenham stay second in the league a point behind Manchester City but have missed the chance to go back to the top, while Chelsea move up to 10th after 11 games but are still 12 points off the top.
More to follow…
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