Tottenham 3-1 Chelsea: 3 reasons why Chelsea lost to Spurs
Chelsea's unbeaten run in the Premier League came to a screeching halt after they folded to a 3-1 defeat against Tottenham at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday (November 25).
It was a splendid display from Spurs, who have now leapfrogged Chelsea to sit third on the Premier League points table. They asserted their dominance in their adopted home, clinching the first goal of the match as early in as early as the eighth minute.
Dele Ali opened the scoring on the day, before Harry Kane followed up with a thundering goal. The hosts went into half-time with sitting on a 2-0 lead, which was extended after Heung-Min Son claimed his 50th goal for Tottenham in the 54th minute.
Chelsea's only goal of the game came off a header from Olivier Giroud in the 85th minute.
#3 Clueless in defence
Chelsea's defence struggled throughout the game, as the Spurs pierced the gaps to slalom swiftly through their backline.
The fact that Tottenham had two corners in the first minute of the game shows how vulnerable the Blues were in defence, failing to cope with their opposition's swift passing and pace.
A serious lack of coordination between the centre-backs – David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger – hurt Chelsea's chances even further, as Kane, Son, Ali and Eriksen kept finding a way to pierce their defence. Rudiger, who looked rusty on the day, was outpaced by the hosts on numerous occasions
Tottenham's first goal came after a reckless foul from Luis, which led to a sweet delivery from Eriksen into the box. Kepa Arrizabalaga kept shouting instructions at the players in front of him, but their defence remained slapdash through most parts of the game.
Luiz's frustration on the night was augmented further after he seemed to dodge a shot from Kane from 25 yards out, which meant the goalkeeper was unsighted for the second goal.
Effectively, he did not attempt to dive or even move towards the strike, as the visitors found themselves down by two goals to nil within the first 17 minutes of the fixture.
Their haphazard structure at the back made it difficult for Chelsea to build their attack, thereby leading to mediocre passing accuracy and range within their formation.