Match Reports

Player Ratings v Chelsea

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Straight from the off Tottenham looked as though they were up for the ‘Battle at the Bridge’ with slick, easy on the eye football. And it wouldn’t take long for the away fans to be jumping for joy when Christian Eriksen opened the scoring after a mere 11 minutes thanks to a brilliant long-range shot. Could this be a contender for ‘Goal of the Season’?

The game swayed from one end to the other with neat and pacey passing – a neutral would have enjoyed the passion and energy, not only from the 22 on the pitch but from the noise coming from both sets of supporters.

On the stroke of half time Chelsea’s Pedro equalised with a sweet swivel (the Strictly come Dancing contestants would have been proud with that) and strike (all in one motion) from the edge of Tottenham’s penalty area.

Six minutes into the second and from the six yard line Victor Moses scored what turned out to be Chelsea’s winner with a firmly hit side footed shot.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men can take heart from a gutsy performance, however the home side were never going to be a walkover and in the end Antonio Conte and the Chelsea FC juggernaut bounced back to of the top of the Premier League table.

The 26 year Stamford Bridge hoodoo continues!

Player Ratings

Hugo Lloris 7
No one would have saved Pedro’s goal and Chelsea’s second was more of a fluke. Either way Hugo wasn’t to blame. Not a perfect performance nor was it a poor one.

Kyle Walker 6
Plenty of energy and kept alert, especially with Alonso and Hazard constantly breathing down his neck.

Eric Dier 6
Allowed Pedro to swivel on a sixpence and score one of the goals of the day, nevertheless he kept Costa quiet for most of the game.

Jan Vertonghen 6.5
Worked his socks-off – gave pretty much everything he had. Solid performance.

Kevin Wimmer 5.5
Looked uncomfortable at times but that may have been because he was playing out of position. He may have prevented Moses goal, who knows?

Victor Wanyama 6.8
Similar to a bull in a China shop – charged around and bullied and stifled many of the waves of attack. Dominated midfield.

Mousa Dembele 6
Couldn’t cope with Costa prior to Chelsea’s second goal build-up. Having said that, there’s not too many who can cope with Costa when he’s in the mood.

Christian Eriksen 7.5
Scored a screamer from around 25-30 yards and that’s enough for me to make him my ‘Man of the Match’.

Dele Alli 6
Struggling with fitness and faded towards the end. However, he fluffed his lines when he squandered a good goal scoring opportunity to equalise with 70 minutes on the clock. Those living next door heard a thud when my jaw hit the floor. Tad frustrating at times.

Heung-min Son 4
Played like a lemon against Monaco on Tuesday and I have to be brutally honest when I say I witnessed nothing from yesterday’s performance to make me change my opinion. Verdict – still a lemon!

Harry Kane 6.2
Netted but turns out his was offside (bah!). Looked perky and up for it, just a pity his engine died slightly towards the end.

Harry Winks 5.7
Replaced Son after 65 minutes. Looked solid.

Georges-Kevin N`Koudou 5
Replaced Alli on 73. Added a spot of pace.
Came on for Dembele with seven minutes remaining. Not on the field long enough to grade.

Manager Rating
Mauricio Pochettino 6: Shuffled and shoehorned a few players in and out from the defeat against Monaco. Did he get them right? Obviously not! Can’t be too critical at this stage of the season.

Ref Michael Oliver 5.5
Tried to keep the game and tempo flowing.

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