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lONDON. — This was a fierce clash of bitter, heavyweight rivals who clearly do not like each other.
And we are not just talking about Chelsea against Tottenham with Thomas Tuchel against Antonio Conte feeling far more intense than anything that happened among the players or fans. And that was intense enough.
Somehow Spurs escaped with a draw, through Harry Kane’s 96th-minute glancing header from a corner, but that does not go close to telling the story as Tuchel and Conte were both rightly sent off at the final whistle after an ugly clash following what is meant to be a polite, courteous handshake.
Both had already been booked as they went nose-to-nose sparking another melee after Spurs’ first equaliser and the end proved too much for them with Tuchel refusing to let go of Conte’s hand, yelling at him to look him in the eye before players and backroom staff piled in to try and pull them apart.
Eventually they were separated and red-carded by referee Anthony Taylor who should also have shown one earlier, just before Kane’s goal, when Christian Romero clearly pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair at a corner. Even after a Var check Romero escaped sanction with Tuchel raging at what he felt was a litany of errors by the match officials.
Ultimately, and remarkably given Chelsea’s dominance, there was nothing to separate the two sides. If Spurs, with their new-found ambition and belief under Conte, arrived at this stadium to make a statement then they still achieved that even if the message was more one of resilience than anything else.
Like Tuchel, Conte will never back down and that is what he expects from his players. It certainly was not ‘Spursy’. “We showed we are tough opponents,” Conte said with his team reflecting him and while it is now one win in 38 games at Stamford Bridge for Spurs it felt like a victory for them.
“Welcome to the House of Fun, Todd & Co,” read a banner unfurled along the Shed End prior to kick off and with co-owner Todd Boehly in attendance Chelsea set about living up to that claim.
“For more than an hour it was pure fun, and nothing else, for Chelsea as they ran all over Spurs who struggled even to make a forward pass.
Conte started with none of his summer signings but it was the introduction of the most expensive of them all, Richarlison, that did ultimately make the difference.
Tuchel started with three of his and all of them played their part and no more so than in combining for the opening goal.
With N’Golo Kante running the midfield, the pressure was relentless and it eventually told with a clever backheel from Raheem Sterling, as he ran away from goal, into Kai Havertz’s path with his low shot turned away by Hugo Lloris with his outstretched leg.
The corner from Cucurella ran through to Kalidou Koulibaly who, astonishingly, was left unmarked and he crashed a superb right-foot volley spinning into the net with Sterling alert to duck under it.
The technique was impressive; the defending decidedly not so. — Telegraph.
Online Reporter