Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in a crucial Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Sunday evening. The win propelled Chelsea to the top of the league table. The Blues are now equal with Liverpool in terms of points and goal difference: 13 points and a +11 GD from five matches.
Tottenham, on the other hand, suffered their second successive loss and remain stranded on seven points. Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger scored for Chelsea and each of the goals came in the second half.
On that note, let's take a look at the three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Chelsea’s set-piece prowess:
Chelsea scored two of their three goals from corners and could have scored one more as Thiago Silva came close to getting a brace. Silva had earlier put Chelsea ahead in the 49th minute with a perfect header from a Marcus Alonso corner. He then forced Hugo Lloris into a great save as the home side struggled defending set-pieces throughout the second half.
Antonio Rudiger also got on the scoresheet - his 8th goal for Chelsea in 156 matches. He received the ball inside the Tottenham box from a corner and then beat Lloris with a neat shot.
With Silva, Rudiger, Romelu Lukaku and Andrea Christensen in the side, Chelsea were always going to be formidable in the air, and Tottenham paid the price heavily.
#2 Bringing on Kante for Mount:
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel made a smart move by replacing Mason Mount, who had started as the right winger, with N’Golo Kante to strengthen the midfield. The formation seemingly changed to 3-5-2 from an initial 3-4-3. However, Tuchel denied such suggestions, claiming there was no change in system.
The move meant that Chelsea had now gained supremacy in midfield, as Kante made frequent forays into the opposition half. He also surged into the final third at times and was successful in beating Lloris with a grounder which deflected off a defender before going into the net.
Tuchel also threw in Timo Werner towards the latter stages of the match in place of a tiring Kai Havertz, and Werner succeeded in making some inroads into the Tottenham penalty box.
#3 Tireless performance from Lukaku and Alonso:
Lukaku was tireless as the Chelsea centre-forward, especially in the second half. He held the ball up and constantly troubled the Tottenham centre-backs with his dribbling.
Tottenham even replaced Cristian Romero with Davinson Sanchez after going 0-2 down. Lukaku also exchanged a few passes with Werner and managed to test Lloris with his shots on a few occasions.
Alonso, who played as a left wing-back, also had a crucial role to play in Chelsea's attacks. While Cesar Azpilicueta could not overlap much across the right flank, Alonso had to shoulder the responsibility of providing width to Chelsea’s attack.
A lot of balls were played to the advancing Alonso from the Chelsea half, and the Spaniard kept attacking down the left flank, delivering crosses into the box. He was also accurate with his corner kicks as mentioned earlier.
