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Ahead of the London Derby at Stamford Bridge, there was a lot of pressure on both sides as they were coming off poor performances. Tottenham was shocked by RB Leipzig in the Champions League while Chelsea lost (read: robbed) to Manchester United.
Chelsea started in a 3-4-3 with a rather unfamiliar frontline featuring Mason Mount, Olivier Giroud, and Ross Barkley. The Blues adopted a high pressing strategy as they managed to create pressure on the Spurs' backline on various occasions.
Spurs also started in a 3-4-3 and looked very cautious in their approach. Mourinho was clearly in a defensive mood, a decision that backfired eventually.
Here, we take a look at three talking points from Chelsea's win over Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea's forgotten players shine
Frank Lampard has come under some scrutiny due to his strange decision in the starting lineup. Be it his decision to rate Michy Batshuayi over Olivier Giroud or his alienation of Fikayo Tomori, Lampard has never shied away from making big calls. The same style was on display against Spurs as Chelsea started with Ross Barkley, Marcos Alonso, and Olivier Giroud. Now, these three players have barely gotten any opportunities this season despite putting in good shifts here and there.
However, Lampard's decision paid off as Alonso and Giroud ended up scoring and changed the game completely. Barkley was also extremely sharp as he made some great runs into the box and was unlucky not to score. He linked up well with Mount and Giroud and was instrumental in the build-up play for Chelsea.
Marcos Alonso was efficient in the wingback position again and was unlucky not to score the second goal. What is even more important is that he was alert in the defensive phase except for the one time where he lost track of Japhet Tanganga's run.
Olivier Giroud has a habit of making comebacks, doesn't he? The Frenchman was awarded a start after his fantastic substitute performance against United. Throughout the game, Giroud dominated aerial battles and held up the ball well. His finishing skills were on display as he managed to beat Hugo Lloris on the near post using a perfect half-volley.
Frank Lampard decided to give starts to some players who have rarely featured in the past and the gamble worked as Chelsea dominated Spurs and won the London Derby.
Mourinho's pragmatic approach backfires
Jose Mourinho has a habit of using a cautious strategy against the 'Top Six' teams. However, against Chelsea, he failed to recognize the fact that this a Chelsea side that was struggling to score goals and was wasteful in attack. Hence, sitting back and absorbing the pressure wasn't exactly the ideal plan to deploy against Chelsea.
Spurs were sitting back from the first whistle of the game and had just over 15% of possession after the first ten minutes of the game. This showed the negative mentality that Mourinho was instilled in his side. Even at 0-0, Mourinho had 5 players out of the box to defend corners instead of looking for a chance to score a header. This gave Chelsea an open invitation to hold up possession and slowly work their way up the field. The Blues managed to do just that as they created continuous pressure and bombarded the Lilywhites with chances.
Moreover, Mourinho's midfield was also off the mark as they failed to stop Jorginho and Kovacic from maintaining possession. As the game went on, Spurs got scrappier and scrappier and were committing unnecessary fouls. While Mourinho has always had a knack for tactical fouling, he needs to understand there is a line that must not be crossed, something which is discussed in the next slide.
It seems that Chelsea's energetic style was too much to handle for the Lilywhites and it is clear that Mourinho's pragmatic approach failed as Chelsea completed a league double over Spurs.
VAR strikes controversy again
Ever since the introduction of Video Assitant Referee (VAR) in the Premier League, the level of officiating has gotten worse. Every game week there is at least a couple of controversies regarding the decisions and VAR. Last week, Chelsea was robbed by the referee as several fouls were not given including a clear red card to Maguire for kicking Batshuayi in the groin.
In the second half, Giovanni Lo Celso stamped on Azpilicueta's shin with his boot for a good amount of time. What followed was perhaps one of the biggest disasters in VAR history as VAR failed to send Lo Celso. Now, something which is even more shocking is that the VAR team was completely confident to waive off the red card appeal as they did not call the referee to the Referee Review Area to take a look at the challenge.
Lo Celso committed several other fouls as well including another high boot challenge on Mateo Kovacic (he wasn't cautioned for it either). Michael Olivier is regarded as one of the best referees in the world and it is appalling to see him being involved in a controversy like this. Premier League authorities have to do something about VAR and they need to do it as soon as possible.
