Chelsea ended Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the season in a Premier League classic in north London. The Blues won 4-1 but boss Mauricio Pochettino still has a number of concerns that will worry him moving forward.
Tottenham took an early lead when Dejan Kulusevski’s shot took a cruel deflection of Levi Colwill to leave Robert Sanchez helpless. But the early domination from the hosts wasn’t to last.
Chelsea had two goals disallowed for offside after Destiny Udogie was lucky to escape red for a tackle on Raheem Sterling. Cristian Romero was then sent off for a high challenge on Enzo Fernandez, with Cole Palmer equalising from the resulting penalty.
Udogie finally got his marching orders early in the second half with a trip on Sterling earning him a second yellow. Spurs and especially goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario put up a huge fight to preserve their unbeaten run but Chelsea finally broke through with Nicolas Jackson scoring from close range.
Spurs then pushed for an equaliser of their own and ultimately opened themselves up at the back, with Jackson adding two more to complete a hat-trick. Express Sport looks at three problems Chelsea still face despite the win.
Read more… Man Utd ‘agree’ Mason Greenwood return stance as Anthony Martial nears exit door
Caicedo difficulties
Moises Caicedo cost Chelsea a British record transfer fee of £115million in the summer. However, he is yet to show his real form from his time at Brighton.
The Ecuador star was unable to take a grip on the match, even when Spurs were down to nine. It appears he will take longer to settle at Stamford Bridge than most would have predicted.
Mudryk struggles
Mykhaylo Mudryk had a night to forget after coming on to replace Fernandez in the 58th minute. It seemed everything the winger did went wrong.
Chelsea needed to remain calm and wait for the open spaces. But Mudryk was often wasteful in possession and the £88m they spent on him looks stranger by the day.
Don’t miss…
Lee Sharpe opens up on life as a pro golfer after winning seven trophies Man Utd[EXCLUSIVE]
Tottenham ‘plotting’ January raid to reunite Maddison with ex-team-mate Ndidi[GOSSIP]
Erik ten Hag shuts down Rio Ferdinand in frosty interview after Man Utd win[QUOTES]
- Advert-free experience without interruptions.
- Rocket-fast speedy loading pages.
- Exclusive & Unlimited access to all our content.
Goalscoring issues
Chelsea have struggled to score goals for what seems like an eternity now. It was the same even against nine players.
In truth, the Blues could easily have hit double figures. Tottenham did their best but Chelsea were wasteful in the 18-yard box until they finally scored a second.
Jackson grabbed a hat-trick but could have scored six on his own. Chelsea scored four but that doesn’t tell the tale of all the chances they missed with the score at 1-1 against nine men.
Source: Read Full Article