Nine-man Spurs beaten by Chelsea in dramatic VAR-heavy clash
The first 10 games of Ange Postecoglou’s reign have constituted Tottenham’s greatest-ever start to a Premier League (PL) season, and his side seized the initiative early in what turned out to be a remarkable first half.
A fluid counter found Dejan Kulusevski in acres of space on the right, and the Swede cut inside to shoot off the back of Levi Colwill and in past the wrong-footed Robert Sánchez.
At the other end, Guglielmo Vicario’s lightning-sharp reflexes denied Nicolas Jackson an almost immediate reply, before a spate of disallowed goals and VAR stoppages sent the first half into a spiral of controversy and chaos in equal measure.
First, Son Heung-min’s goal from a fantastic Spurs move was ruled out for a marginal offside, before Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have handled it as he found the net himself.
Both Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero were spared red cards for late challenges, but things nevertheless began to unravel for the home side.
There was a major stoppage when Moisés Caicedo’s strike was ruled out for offside, but VAR had spotted Romero’s reckless challenge in the build-up, and this time Michael Oliver reached for the red card.
The resulting penalty was blasted in off the post by Cole Palmer, and the play remained well in Chelsea’s favour heading into HT.
Tottenham had already lost both of their starting central defenders thanks to a Micky van de Ven injury, and things were made considerably worse when Udogie’s second yellow to halt a Chelsea counter sent the home side down to nine.
It seemed only a matter of time before the visitors would take the lead, and Jackson’s attempt from point-blank range was turned over by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg on the line.
Vicario was at times acting as an extra defender for his side against the relentless Chelsea attack, but he was powerless to keep Jackson out as he raced ahead of the defence to sweep in Sterling’s square ball.
Having finally gone behind, Tottenham had licence to roll the dice, and there was momentary euphoria in the stands when Eric Dier volleyed in following a free-kick, but VAR stepped in to disallow its fourth goal of the evening.
Son was unable to beat Sánchez deep inside stoppage time, and any hopes of an unlikely comeback vanished as Jackson proceeded to net two more on the break in stoppage time for his first PL treble.
It was the most memorable of nights in the capital, but Postecoglou ultimately comes up short in his quest to become just the third manager to go unbeaten across his first 11 PL matches.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)
