Crazy London derby: Spurs miss out on top spot in the table
In a crazy London city derby, Tottenham Hotspur missed out on a return to the top of the English Premier League table with their first defeat of the season.
Spurs lost 1:4 (1:1) to Chelsea FC after two sending-offs, numerous VAR decisions and a total of 21 minutes of stoppage time. With 26 points, Tottenham are now one point behind defending champions Manchester City. At Chelsea FC, who are tenth in the table, coach Mauricio Pochettino celebrated a successful return to his old stomping ground. The Argentine was coach of Spurs from 2014 to 2019, when he even led them to the Champions League final.
After the hosts took an early lead through Dejan Kulusevski (6'), things went haywire. First, two Chelsea goals were conceded by the video referee for handball and offside. However, the VAR also intervened for an excessive foul by Tottenham's Cristian Romero in the penalty area, for which the Argentinian was shown the red card (33'). Cole Palmer converted the penalty to equalize. (35.)
Things got even worse for the hosts in the second half when Destiny Udogie was shown a yellow card (55). With two men in superior numbers, Chelsea scored the opening goal through Nicolas Jackson (75'). However, Spurs did not give up, scoring another goal for offside and creating two great chances. However, the equalizer would not come in the nine minutes of stoppage time - twelve minutes had already been added in the first half. Instead, Jackson made everything clear with two counter-attacks (90.+4 and 90.+7).
In this chaotic derby, Chelsea FC capitalized on Tottenham Hotspur's misfortunes, with Premier League rivals Tottenham missing a chance to take the lead at the top of the table. Despite an early goal by Dejan Kulusevski, Chelsea scored four times, taking advantage of multiple VAR decisions and Tottenham's two send-offs, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both receiving cards. Spurs' defeat leaves them just one point behind defending champions Manchester City in the league standings, while Chelsea FC celebrates their success under former manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Source: www.dpa.com
