Chelsea vs Spurs

This is a match-up between two managers who respect each other. Lampard used to play under Mourinho and they won 5 major trophies together with Chelsea. Hotspur is 1 point behind Chelsea. Chelsea is in 4th place with 41 points and Hotspur are in 5th with 40 points. Hotspur was 14th when Mourinho took over as head coach. This is the battle for 4th place. A place for Champions League next season. Chelsea lost their last Premier league match 2-0 against Manchester United. Hotspur won 3 of their last 5 matches. They won their last match 3-2 against Aston Villa.

This is their 18th PL meeting. Chelsea won 29, Hotspur won 7, and 19 draws between them. Chelsea set their formation to a 3-4-2-1 which means they want to take over the midfield and have more possession. Hotspur set their formation to a 5-4-1 which means they want to defend deep and tight and then counter attack. This is going to be an exciting match at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea start pretty well with good passing and attacking well but Hotspur defend ok. Hotspur soon begin to gain possession and attack some. In the 10th minute Lucas Moura takes a good shot but Caballero from Chelsea saves the shot and clears it away. In the 12 minute, Mason Mount gets ahead of the defense and gets a beautiful pass from Marcos Alonso and takes a shot at goal but is saved by Lloris. It look like both teams could score.

In the 15th minute, there are two shots at goal, one from Giroud saved by Lloris, one from Barkley but his shot hits the crossbar, and then a 3rd shot by Giroud that is slotted in the back of the net. A beautiful finish from the striker. Score is 1-0. Giroud has 10 goals, and 4 assists in his last 14 PL starts for Chelsea. Chelsea continue pressing for the ball and put the pressure on Hotspur. Hotspur have to respond and open up. Chelsea are pressing for a second goal. Hotspurs must play out the pressure and equalize.

In the 24th minute, a beautiful strike made from Marcos Alonso with his right foot that started from a free-kick that was cleared by Hotspur but went to the midfielder. There is so much energy from both teams in the midfield. Hotspur shows signs of equalizing by better attacking. Heading into halftime and both teams look pretty even besides the score line. Hotspur don’t look really beaten after the 1st goal but Chelsea should be the happier side going into the half.

Chelsea start the 2nd half with the same intensity as they did in the 1st. In the 49th minute, Alonso scores from outside the box into the bottom right corner. The game plan for Chelsea is being executed well. Score is now 2-0. Spurs are under a lot of pressure now and if they can handle it is in question. The Chelsea fans start singing around the stadium. In the 51st minute Lo Celso commits a foul on Azpilicueta that deserves a red card for serious foul play but VAR makes a human error and decides that it doesn’t rule it that way. A controversial moment for the game.

Hotspur try to attack but Chelsea are defending well. In the 62nd minute Ndombele is subbed off and Lamela is brought on. This will probably make the midfield a bit better. Spurs are trying to play through the pressure by making runs toward the defense which opens up space to pass and other players to get the ball to keep the play alive. In the 71st minute Giroud is subbed off for Tammy Abraham. Abraham missed the last match with an ankle injury. Spurs are starting to have more possession and attack more but to no avail.

In the 77th minute Barkley who had a good game is subbed off for Willian. In the 78th minute Bergwijn from Spurs who had a very quiet game is subbed off for Dele Alli. Alderweireld is also subbed off for Serge Aurier. In the 79th minute Abraham gets a ball that was crossed in front of goal and tries to put the ball in but Lloris saves it. The score could have easily been 3-0. Lo Celso causes another of his many fouls. He gets a yellow card in the 81st minute. Chelsea get a free kick just outside Spurs’ box. Alonso almost scores from the free kick. Mason mount is having a good game with his runs in the final third.

Spurs may look dangerous but cannot penetrate the defense. They haven’t been able to give Caballero any problems in the 2nd half. By a stroke of luck, in the 89th minute, Lamela tries to pass the ball in the box but deflects off of Rudiger and it goes on the other side of the goalkeeper. Spurs could equalize now. Chelsea has been playing well and this was harsh for them to concede a goal like that. Fortunately Spurs don’t score again and the game ends 2-1. This is Chelsea’s 1st home win this season. They have 7 home losses in all competitions, last season they only had 2. Chelsea break a 4 match winless run in the Premier League. They executed their game plan well and they stay 4th place. Spurs stay in 5th. Sheffield United could take 5th place if they win against Brighton. Chelsea face Bournemouth on Saturday and Spurs face Wolves on Sunday.