Chelsea vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday night. The north London club's slim chance of a first title since 1960-61 ended with a now unassailable Leicester City crowned Premier League champions.
Goals from Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son had given Tottenham hope that their first win at the home of their capital rivals for 26 years was also on the horizon. Both finished calmly after excellent through balls from Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen, respectively.
Signs of nerves and ill-discipline were already peeking through Spurs' facade prior to half-time. Fouls from both sides led to unnecessary clashes, with one between Danny Rose and Willian requiring the swift intervention of Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The game would turn even uglier after the interval.
Gary Cahill upped the pressure within 15 minutes of the restart when Toby Alderweireld let him go unmarked from a Chelsea corner. Spurs initially responded well but lost the plot in the last 20 minutes. A succession of poorly judged challenges killed any momentum they had, the game soon escaping them.
Substitute Eden Hazard capitalised on the loss of focus in their defence with a nicely worked give-and-go with Diego Costa. His subsequent finish ended Chelsea's reign as champions and denied their hated foes the possibility of claiming the crown.
Read on for the winners and losers from this decisive London derby.
Winner: Eden Hazard
1 of 5
Hazard had talked prior to this match about his intention and hope to stop Tottenham winning the title, per BBC Sport. The Belgian had to wait 45 minutes but ultimately succeeded in his plan.
Chelsea had the better of the first-half chances prior to Kane's opener. But they were mostly snatched efforts, often from the edge of the area or tough angles.
Hazard's half-time introduction almost immediately resulted in greater penetration of the Spurs defence, with his well-chosen routes toward goal and beguiling dribbles leaving the visitors scrambling to stop him.
There had been nice combinations with team-mates prior to his goal. The eventual equalising exchange with Costa was undoubtedly the best and obviously the most important.
Hazard's determination initiating the move and continuing his run forward was the attacking midfielder at his best. He was simultaneously urgent and captivating, relishing having the ball at his feet.
The exquisite finish a just reward for a match-changing and season-changing goal.
Loser: Toby Alderweireld
2 of 5
In the buildup to Hazard's goal, his Belgium national team colleague Alderweireld was turned a little too easily by Costa prior to the striker's return pass.
It was not a great moment for the centre-back, but you would not lay the blame at his feet for this one. Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier and Kyle Walker had all allowed Hazard to run untracked beyond them, each ball-watching and getting punished for it.
Cahill's crucial early second-half goal was a different story.
Alderweireld momentarily picked the Chelsea defender up on the edge of the area but swiftly turned his attention to the corner being sent in. Not believing his luck, Cahill ran off and even had time to control Willian's cross before shooting.
Tottenham's defence still ranks as the Premier League's meanest this season (28 goals conceded—the least of any). Alderweireld has been a huge contributor to this improvement.
Unfortunately on this crucial night he was not at his usual level and Spurs suffered.
Winner: Diego Costa
3 of 5
"Chelsea salvaged something from it, but it was more through adrenaline than quality," Bleacher Report's Blues correspondent Garry Hayes said of Chelsea's display. "Poor performance but they dragged themselves over the line."
That does Hazard's impressive involvement a little disservice, but the general sentiment is correct. Few exemplified this more than the battling Costa.
There were certainly some smart passes setting others up and some lovely flashes of skill—again, notably his assist for Hazard.
But even in the moments things did not come off, his engagement of Tottenham meant they could rarely rest, causing pressure that contributed to their eventual unravelling.
It says a lot about the way many of Tottenham's players lost their heads that Costa was maybe one of the least crazy people on the pitch. He was still involved in many of the clashes, but not to a point where they undermined his game, which is something that could not be said of the Spurs players who got involved.
Loser: Mousa Dembele
4 of 5
One of the game's biggest flashpoints involved a confrontation between Costa and Dembele. But it was not the Spaniard who was risking trouble, rather the usually cool Belgian.
He appeared to attempt to gauge Costa during a melee following the earlier-mentioned Rose/Willian confrontation (or at least get in his face). It was missed by officials, yet Dembele still suffered a cost.
The midfielder was already a little off the pace by his standards.
While his passing was still close to exemplary (94 per cent completed, per Squawka) he did little to lead Spurs forward. His defensive contributions offered minimal compensation too as Chelsea frequently bypassed him (he failed in both of his just two tackle attempts).
That incident contributed to taking Dembele out of the game mentally, though he was not the only one to lose his head.
Rose and Walker, Eric Dier and Ryan Mason were all just as bad, as the hard-working and thoughtful efforts of their team-mates in attack were wasted (Son will wonder why he was not kept on given Spurs' shape and structure hardly improved when he went off). The team committed 20 fouls overall, their nine bookings the most by a Premier League team in one game—the latter statistic per OptaJoe.
Spurs are usually able to set themselves by their midfield metronome. Dembele went haywire, and the team unsurprisingly lost any semblance of rhythm.
Winner: Guus Hiddink
5 of 5
For a while there it felt like Guus Hiddink might be the manager to lose Chelsea's 26-year unbeaten streak against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
His side fought back, however, and he has instead been able to reflect proudly on the efforts of his players. Both on this occasion and, he said per Chelsea's Twitter page, in the whole of his second spell in charge.
Losing to Spurs would have been unlikely to seriously diminish the regard in which the Blues fans hold a coach who has twice rescued them from troubled periods. But getting this big result against a major rival will ensure this likely final tenure at the club is remembered with something close to fondness too.
