Match report - Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea

The blues make it 7 wins out of 8 in the premier league with a dominant display at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium ending with a deserved 1-0 win

Joao Pedro with Chelsea's winner in a well deserved win at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium

A dominant first half from the Blues saw them go a goal up at the break after some fine pressing from Moises Caicedo resulted in Joao Pedro getting the opener for the Blues.

The game was a stroll in the park for the Blues who were rarely ever troubled by the hosts and could and should have added another in the second half, Pedro Neto forcing two saves from Guglielmo Vicario in the Tottenham goal in normal time, Jamie Gittens missed a glorious opportunity later and the Spurs shot stopper also produced a great save to deny Joao Pedro in injury time. 

The blues in the end had to settle for a solitary goal however, this was enough to secure another victory over Tottenham to move the Blues into the top 4, level on points with Spurs who sit in third.

Ten Changes 
 

Having made 10 changes to the line up from the side that started in the carabao cup game against Wolves on Wednesday, Blues boss Enzo Maresca made a further ten altercations today, the changes included two changes to the side which lost at home to Sunderland last week with Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto coming in for Josh Acheampong and Marc Guiu.

Robert Sanchez found himself back in goal, with Malo Gusto starting alongside Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah with Cucurella starting on the left.

There was another start in midfield for Reece James partnering Moises Caicedo, with Enzo Fernandez playing further forward in the number 10 role, Pedro Neto was deployed on the right with Alejandra Garnacho on the left with Joao Pedro leading the front line. 

For the hosts Thomas Frank made two changes to the starting 11 which faced Everton with Pape Sarr and Lucas Bergvall coming in for Xavi Simmons and Brennan Johnson.

Just three points separated the hosts and the Blues going into todays game. 

The start of the game was slow and there was very little to talk about in the opening 10 minutes as both sides looked to size each other up. The Blues came out of the blocks quicker than the hosts and had a few corners early on however, the closest they came to troubling Vicario in the Tottenham goal came from a Cucurella shot getting blocked when a cross was half cleared.

The Blues dominated possession in the opening 20 minutes and continued to carry the greater threat. Chelsea continued probing the Spurs goal however, could only must a Reece James long range effort along with a tame Garnacho shot which which was easily held by Vicario going to his left hand side. 

The first clear cut chance of the game came just after the half hour mark when some good pressing from Garnacho saw the winger divert a beautiful pass into the path of Joao Pedro inside the penalty box however, the Brazilian saw his first time shot from the angle saved by the legs of Vicario.

Straight up the other end Tottenham had their best opportunity of the half, Mohammed Kudus shooting over the bar from outside the area, but a few minutes from the end the Blues would take a deserved lead. 

Blues deservedly go ahead

Midfield maestro Moises Caicedo's ability to win the ball back is arguably unrivalled in the premier league and the blues opener purely came from the Ecuadorian. Deep in Tottenham's half Caicedo first tackled Djed Spence before pressing Xavi Simons beautifully to the point where the Dutchman had to pass back to his fellow international team mate and colleague Micky Van de Ven with Caicedo dispossessing the Tottenham captain on the edge of his own box. Caicedo then dived in to flick the ball to Joao Pedro , providing the Brazilian with a simple chance to finish in the top corner.

The blues could and should have doubled their advantage before the break when a Malo Gusto cross from the right was met by Joao Pedro's first time effort that was struck powerfully however, was too central and was easily palmed away by Vicario. 

For all of the Blues dominance, Tottenham did have chances to equalise deep into injury time when Mohammed Kudus's looked to have curled a shot inside the far post however, Robert Sanchez made a smart save parrying the ball out away from the oncoming Spurs attackers.  

The Blues started the second half brightly, with Moises Caicedo turning well to beat the Spurs press setting Enzo Fernandez on his way. The Argentine did have options either side however opted to shoot , forcing Vicario into a save low to his left. 

Chelsea were doing well in second half, keeping Spurs penned in their own half and had three quick chances in succession , Enzo Fernandez heading over from a Reece James cross, then good strength from Joao Pedro led to Pedro Neto having a low shot saved an then moments later, the Portuguese winger just wasn't able to direct the ball towards goal from close range following Garnacho's low delivery across the face of goal.

The Blues then went close to a second with just a quarter of an hour of the game remaining when Jamie Gittens passed to Joao Pedro who's flick went into the path of Enzo Fernandez and his pass was followed by a powerful drive from Pedro Neto at a tight angle which had to be parried away. Reece James then curled an effort over from the resulting play. 

In injury time the Blues ha two glorious chances. The first being a breakaway move ending with Gittens firing over the bar and then Joao Pedro would have scored a second had it not been for an outstanding save at point blank range by Vicario.

However, It wasn't to matter as Chelsea recorded yet another victory away at Tottenham. The Blues have now won 11 out of their last 14 games against Spurs. 

What it means

A victory for the Blues lifts them up to fourth in the premier league table on 17 points , level on points with Spurs who are in third, Sunderland in fifth and Manchester United in sixth. Although, the black cats do have a game in hand. Bournemouth, who also have a game in hand are one point ahead in second. 

What's next  

The Blue's next game takes place in the champions league as they take on Qarabag. 

The next premier league for the Blues sees them facing Wolves again at Stamford Bridge.