Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Chelsea remain unbeaten in all competitions this season and six points up on second-place Manchester City in the Premier League after Wednesday's 3-0 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
The match was effectively over in the 22nd minute when Didier Drogba put the guests 2-0 up following a Hugo Lloris mistake in the Spurs goal. Three minutes before that the Ivorian had taken part in a neat one-two that put Eden Hazard through to open the scoring.
With 17 minutes remaining, Loic Remy, who replaced Drogba midway through the second half, notched Chelsea's third after shrugging off Jan Vertonghen and finishing confidently inside the far corner.
Overall, there were a handful of standout displays at Stamford Bridge, as well as one or two that were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the contest.
Winner: Nemanja Matic, Who Didn't Give the Spurs Playmakers an Inch
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Summer arrivals Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa tend to dominate the headlines for Chelsea, but once again Wednesday, Nemanja Matic underlined his importance to the Blues with yet another strong performance in the centre of the park.
Over the course of the 90 minutes the Serbia international helped keep Spurs' buildup play to the perimeter, which in turn allowed full-backs Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta to break at speed.
He also made an eye-popping six interceptions as well as six clearances against Tottenham, according to Squawka.
Loser: Hugo Lloris, Whose Misplaced Pass Gifted Chelsea a Goal
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Spurs started Wednesday's match brightly, with Harry Kane in particular causing one or two problems on the dribble.
But in the 19th minute Eden Hazard opened the scoring for Chelsea, who had only just settled into the encounter, and three minutes later Didier Drogba all but sealed the three points when he tallied the Blues' second.
Hugo Lloris was largely to blame for the fateful passage of play.
Looking to pass the ball to the right flank, the Spurs goalkeeper instead passed to Chelsea's Hazard, who passed to Oscar, who in turn set up Drogba.
The powerful striker was never going to miss from in close, and Lloris looked understandably disgusted with himself after picking the ball out of the back of the net.
Winner: Eden Hazard, Who Had a Hand in Two Goals
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Eden Hazard didn't make much of an impact in the second half, but by then he had already contributed to a pair of Chelsea goals within a three-minute span.
First, in the 19th minute, he initiated a clever one-two with Drogba that he completed with a fine finish just inside the near post.
Then in the 21st, he intercepted Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Loris' errant pass and sent the ball to Oscar, who picked up an assist on Drogba's goal.
The Belgium international also completed 86 percent of his passes Wednesday, as per Squawka—many of which came on the left-hand side of the attacking third.
Winner: Spurs' Away Supporters, Who Deserved Better
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There was a point in the second half when Tottenham Hotspur, quite clearly driven on by the energy of their traveling fans, increased the tempo and looked on the verge of creating something in the final third.
They didn't, of course, but if the voices of the away contingent of supporters could have translated into incision, Spurs would have given Chelsea a run for their money.
Quite simply, the Spurs fans didn't stop singing at Stamford Bridge and deserved far better than the poor result they took back home.
As the club posted on its official Twitter account, there was "fantastic support and noise coming from the away end."
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino was quoted by Sky Sports as saying, "We tried to score. We tried to create chances but in the second half we were hit by another counter-attack."
He added, "I think we deserved to score but it’s 3-0. It’s a difficult result but this is football and we played against a very tough team. It’s disappointing because I think we started the game very well but the first chance they had they scored."
Loser: Aaron Lennon, Who Was Generally Abysmal
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Aaron Lennon caused a goal and failed to take his one chance at scoring Wednesday and was withdrawn in favour of Nacer Chadli just prior to the hour mark.
In the 19th minute, and with Chelsea only starting to get a foothold in the contest, Lennon allowed himself to be spun into the ground by Hazard, who went on to play a one-two with Drogba before opening the scoring.
Given that Hazard had paused momentarily while on the ball, the Spurs winger could easily have stuck with him.
As The Guardian's Daniel Taylor pointed out on Twitter, it was "really poor" that Lennon essentially quit on the play. "Hazard plays a one-two with Drogba and Lennon just lets his man go."
In the 51st minute Lennon might have made up for the error with a goal of his own, but after being played through by Harry Kane he delayed in his release and was embarrassingly dispossessed by Cesc Fabregas.
Spurs are struggling for consistent contributions from their attacking players so far this season, and in that the 27-year-old is hardly alone in under-performing. But any uptick in form will surely require better, more incise play in the attacking third, nevermind increased attention to defensive responsibilities.
Lennon, like many of his Tottenham teammates, is well off his best at the moment.
Winner: Chelsea's Attacking Depth, Which Continues to Produce Goals
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As Telegraph columnist Henry Winter pointed out on Twitter, Didier Drogba only started Wednesday's match because Diego Costa was banned. But he scored, as did the striker who replaced him in the second half, Loic Remy.
Andre Schurrle, meanwhile, didn't even come off the bench.
Chelsea's attacking depth is impressive, and one of the reasons they remain unbeaten in all competitions is they've been able to get goals from everyone.
"We need Costa, but I think our mentality is the right mentality," remarked Blues boss Jose Mourinho in his post-match press conference, as per the Daily Mail. "We don't have a player? We don't cry about it. You give the confidence to others and the others respond in the best way."
At this rate, it may be some time before they taste defeat.
A trip to Newcastle awaits Chelsea at the weekend, after which they'll host Sporting Lisbon and Hull before traveling to Derby in the Capital One Cup. Given their schedule, the unbeaten run could go on for some time yet.
