The build up to Chelsea’s trip to Tottenham on Monday was all about Mauricio Pochettino. But the Blues manager’s much-anticipated homecoming was reduced to a footnote as the two side’s played out a completely 90+ minutes, from which Pochettino and Co eventually emerged as 4-1 winners.
The first half was the most chaotic of the season so far. Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected opener broke the deadlock inside six minutes and it was non-stop drama from there. By the time the half-time whistle had been blown, both teams had seen goals ruled out, Cristian Romero had been sent off and Chelsea had equalised following an endless VAR review, while several other players had escaped red cards of their own.
One of those from Destiny Udogie, and the youngster’s luck ran out shortly after the break when he was dismissed for a second yellow, leaving Spurs down to 10 men.
With a two-player advantage, the Blues unsurprisingly carved out a string of opportunities. They were just unfortunate that the majority fell to Nicolas Jackson, a striker so short of confidence it seemed like a light breeze might blow him over. Eventually though, he got his moment, tapping home Sterling’s cross for just his third Premier League of the season.
Chelsea endured a nervy moment when Eric Dier replied with a sumptuous, back-post volley swiftly after, but VAR came to the rescue to rubber stamp a marginal offside decision.
Then, somehow, after Rodrigo Bentancur missed a close-range header, Jackson was presented with two more chances. And on both occasions, he shook off his demons to score, completing a rather unexpected hat-trick. It summed up a quite ridiculous evening in the capital and will hopefully provide him with the momentum he needs to start showing what he’s really about.
