Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur - 5 Talking Points

Chelsea got back to winning ways and gave themselves a shot in the arm in the race for a top-four finish with a convincing 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues looked more dynamic than their counter-parts from the get-go and dominated proceedings for the majority of the first half.

However, Maurizio Sarri's men were forced to wait until the 57th minute to edge themselves ahead through Pedro, who scored after cutting inside from the flank and finishing expertly between Hugo Lloris' legs.

The hosts were duly rewarded for their fearless approach with another goal, which stemmed out of a lack of communication between Kieran Trippier and Lloris, as the former passed the ball into his own net in the 84th minute.

Chelsea, who have a played a fewer game than both Arsenal and Manchester United, are just three points adrift of fourth place in the Premier League table and will next face Fulham on Sunday, while Spurs are poised to endure a testing encounter against Arsenal on Saturday.

Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the major talking points from the 'Battle of the Bridge' in west London on Wednesday night:

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#1 Chelsea shake off negativity to script the perfect headline

Sarri might have just bought himself some time

There has been very little for Chelsea to be jovial about since the turn of the year in the Premier League. Maurizio Sarri's high-flying start to life at Stamford Bridge had been hampered by meek performances and apparent discontentment within the team, who were accused publicly by the manager for lacking mentality in big games.

The Italian's unbeaten start in England was shell-shocked when Tottenham ran riot in the reverse fixture at Wembley back in November, but Chelsea were having none of that in their own backyard.

Despite their wretched run of form in the league in recent months, Chelsea took heart from their valiant display against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and scripted another memorable headline, but this time it wasn't for all the wrong reasons.

At the expense of Spurs and their title aspirations, if there were any in the first place, Chelsea might have salvaged their season and subsequently earned Sarri a bit more time to breathe a sigh of relief!

#2 Hugo Lloris - An agent of chaos

Lloris wilted under the pressure from Chelsea

It has been a series of unfortunate events for Hugo Lloris since that day in Moscow, when he was potentially at the pinnacle of world football after lifting the World Cup with France last summer.

Even on that day, when Les Bleus were comfortably winning, Lloris produced a calamitous error that helped Croatia pull a goal back and that laid out his deficiencies.

Perhaps no other player at Tottenham would have had a bigger post-World Cup hangover than him and that is still after turning a blind eye on the drink-driving allegations that came to light earlier this season.

And against Chelsea, Lloris was nowhere near his confident self to begin with. The Frenchman almost paid the price for a sloppy pass early on in the first half, but Gonzalo Higuain failed to make the best use of the opportunity.

However, the mishap struck Spurs with just about six minutes of normal time left on the clock as he failed to communicate clearly with Kieran Trippier when the defender's back pass found the back of the visitors' net.

The goal might go down as an own goal from Trippier, but it is safe to say that Lloris had a better view of the position and should have taken the initiative to communicate effectively with his team-mate to nullify the situation.

That did not happen, and Spurs ended up paying the price for an individual error, yet again.

#3 Willy Caballero stakes claim at the expense of Kepa

Caballero did not let his guard down at any point

The major talking point ahead of the game was certainly whether Chelsea's record-signing and the world's most expensive goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga would still be named in the playing eleven for the hosts.

The Spaniard had refused to come off during the Carabao Cup final and came in for criticism from almost all quarters after his refusal to obey Maurizio Sarri's decision to replace him.

Kepa apologized for his misdemeanor and was subsequently fined by the club with Sarri also keen to put the incident behind the team, despite his frustration that was quite evident on the touchline.

The Chelsea boss sent out a huge statement by dropping Kepa to the bench and providing a rare opportunity in the Premier League for Willy Caballero, who made the most of the chance.

Caballero punched above his weight and showed good command inside his area and although he was not tested to the limits by an insipid Spurs attack, the shot-stopper was still a calm presence between the sticks. The only time he was fully beaten was when Harry Winks struck a dipping shot that came off the cross-bar and that would only be lauding the effort from the Spurs midfielder.

The former Manchester City star was also comfortable with receiving the ball under pressure and distributing it with his feet, and could have just made a strong claim for a starting berth against Fulham on Sunday at the expense of Kepa's immature antics at Wembley.

#4 Mauricio Pochettino's words make for harsh reality

Spurs failed to play like a team in pursuit of the big guns in the division

Prior to the meeting with Chelsea on Wednesday night, Mauricio Pochettino had opined that his team are at least 10 years away from lifting the Premier League title.

The Spurs boss might have conceded the cold facts in that fashion to just take a little pressure off his limited resources that are being stretched across the demands of both domestic and European football this season.

Tottenham were the only team not to strengthen their squad in the transfer window last summer and for them to be still in with a healthy shout of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, while also competing with the big guns in the division, is a merit in itself.

However, the reality can be harsh and bitter to digest and the Spurs fans, who were eager to make an exit shortly after conceding the second goal would inadvertently agree to it as well.

The back-to-back defeats at Turf Moor and Stamford Bridge would have stung Spurs quite badly and any hopes of a late title charge at the expense of either Liverpool or Manchester City is well and truly out of the question now and by some distance.

Tottenham will next play host to Arsenal on Saturday in yet another derby that could work out as vital clash for the manager, who has openly conceded he won't be lifting substantial silverware anytime soon, simply due to the fact that there are potential suitors within the country and abroad willing to make life easier for Pochettino.

#5 Chelsea suffer casualty in another silly transfer merry-go-round?

Higuain has scored just twice for Chelsea until now

It is too early to dissect Gonzalo Higuain's loan switch to Chelsea and brand him among the several misfits that donned the number nine jersey at Stamford Bridge. However, it is hard to not overlook the fact that he has not hit the ground running like the others, who earned subsequent moves to clubs as soon as Higuain secured his switch to west London.

Krzysztof Piatek has been in red-hot form after replacing Higuain at Milan and has successfully carried his goal-scoring boots from Genoa to the capital after netting six times in all competitions since joining the Italian giants.

Although not as prolific as the Polish marksman, even Alvaro Morata, who was the other player involved in the transfer merry-go-round in January, has settled in quite well under Diego Simeone after joining Atletico Madrid on loan.

The Spaniard provide the assist for the only goal of the game during the win over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga and backed it up with a goal against Villarreal on Sunday. Morata has earned the trust of Simeone and has eight shots, 10 successful dribbles and 21 aeria duels won in his first four league appearances for Atletico Madrid.

The odds are stacked against Higuain at the moment and at least some people would feel there is a similarity in how things have worked out for the aforementioned trio in comparison to Chelsea's January transfer merry-go-round last season that involved three strikers joining three clubs.

Olivier Giroud to Chelsea was sanctioned after the Blues allowed Michy Batshuayi to join Borussia Dortmund so that the German club could let Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang make the switch to north London with Arsenal. And although Giroud went on to lift the FA Cup with Chelsea last season, we all know which team failed to get the desired output from the deal.