Chelsea ended up losing 3-1 to Tottenham at Wembley in their Premier League fixture of the weekend. It was their first loss of the league campaign and they would have not liked the way that they performed in the London derby. The defence was all over the place and the midfield could not support the attack, that was expected to be the main threat against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Alli scored a header in the 8th minute to open the scoring, while Kane added a second in the 16th and Son got the third in the 54th, to showcase Spurs’ supremacy in the game. The north Londoners also wasted quite a few chances to add more goals. Eventually, Sarri’s substitute Olivier Giroud pulled one back to make it 3-1, though that was just a mere consolation for his team.
A lot of fans and pundits had multiple reasons for why the visitors lost this game so easily and could not pose a real challenge in this one. However, here are our three reasons why Maurizio Sarri’s side were so weak on the night-
Chelsea’s Midfield And Attack Dismantled By Pochettino’s Tactics
What a tactical win it was for the Argentine manager, who completely dismantled his rival’s tactics on the night. Sarri was left chewing cigarette after cigarette, as Tottenham took the game away from them and sent back home empty handed. The midfield that Sarri would have been so proud of, since the start of the new term, was totally outplayed in terms of possession and creativity. The likes of Jorginho, Willian and Kovacic could not much, while Hazard did have the energy, yet was kept quiet.
It is always good to see such battles of two tactical geniuses, who can ready produce some lovely football. Eventually, it was Pochettino’s side that did triumph on the night, which is great for the title challenge, as it keeps more teams in the hunt now.
The David Luiz Factor
A couple of errors by the Brazilian international helped his London based rivals score a couple of goals, which killed the game off. Spurs were already the better team on the night and it was such horrific defending that helped their cause even more, as Sarri watched his team getting destroyed in the game. When your centre-back and such a senior player is so weak in a game, it surely has an impact on the entire team and that was clear on the night.
Kepa Is No Courtois
There were a couple times when Kepa could have done way better to save the shots that were thrown at him. Even the first goal that his team conceded, could have been saved. Courtois, who is slightly taller than the Spaniard could have possibly saved the shot better and prevented the opening goal of the game, which shifted the momentum in the favour of the home side. From that point, the visitors were never really able to recover and get back into the match, which eventually cost them a couple of points. Whether you love him or hate him, accept his talents and appreciate what he could have done for the team, based on his past showings of consistency.
