Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea defeat the Spurs to win their first EPL match of the season

The first ever Premier League match at Wembley Stadium in London ended in defending champions Chelsea’s first win of the EPL season. Tottenham's Wembley woe continues as Marcos Alonso scored twice to hand Chelsea their first Premier League win of the 2017 – 2018 campaign.

Match Report

Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea goals Alonso 24, 88
Tottenham Hotspur goal: Batshuayi o.g. 82:

Two goals from Marcos Alonso, a superb free-kick in the first half and a strike late in the game at 88 minutes, gave the Chelsea their first victory of the season at the Spurs temporary home at the national stadium. After suffering disappointment in the Wembley at the FA Cup final and the Community Shield match, Chelsea returned to their winning ways on Sunday afternoon in a joyous repeat of the Blues visit the last time they played Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley back in April. The match demonstrated the clinical expertise of Chelsea and showcased the Blues resolve and determination, as Chelsea scored a second goal after Tottenham appeared to have gained an equalizer late in the match when substitute Michy Batshuayi diverted the ball into his own net for an own goal. Credit for the win goes to Marcus Alonso’s brace and to an Chelsea’s backline which was put under plenty of pressure by last season’s Premier League runners up who hit the post when a goal down in the first half, but then survived a Willian strike against the woodwork in the second half which would have put the Blues 2-0 up. However, it was Alonso who sent his boss Antonio Conte into an ecstatic celebration in his 50th game in charge of Chelsea when he drove the ball under Hugo Lloris five minutes after the leveler, with 88 minutes on the clock. It secured a first away win against the Spurs in five years.

For this, the first Premier League game ever at Wembley Stadium, manager Conte made a switch in formation from the 3-4-3 that served the champions so well last season on their road to glory. The back-three defense remained this time with Andreas Christensen at its center in the 21-year-old’s debut Premier League start. Gary Cahill was suspended and David Luiz was pushed into midfield in a 3-5-2 shape. Tiemoue Bakayoko made his first Chelsea start in the center ground too. The front two were Alvaro Morata, who also made his first league start in England and Willian in the role of the support striker. Victor Moses was back from suspension, to resume at wing-back. Cesar Azpilicueta was captain for the day in the absence of Cahill. In the back three, there was another EPL start for Antonio Rudiger. After the Blues surprising defeat against Burnley last weekend, Conte’s men were up for a good start to their first away outing of the season. Moses crossed threateningly inside the first minute. Azpilicueta passed to Morata’s head for a well-placed header that was a couple of yards wide. Tottenham Hotspur picked up their game, with Spurs superstar striker Harry Kane driving a shot which bounced off Thibaut Courtois. Then popular Dele Alli missed the target from a difficult angle. Midfielder David Luiz made his presence felt in the early minutes, however, Mousa Dembele made a powerful run, through space inside the Brazilian for a shot that was just clearing the Chelsea crossbar. Chelsea No. 1 Belgian goalie Courtois stopped the attempt with his fingertips.

David Luiz was fouled by Deli Alli halfway through the first half and the position was slightly to the right perfect for a left footed strike at goal by Spaniard Marcus Alonso who managed to go past the wall and into the top right-hand corner, Spurs No 1 goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had no hope of keeping it out. The Chelsea fans roared at the other end of Wembley Stadium from their FA Cup semi-final win against the Spurs last April. Spurs came back and twice threatened the Chelsea goal through Kane. Courtois saved the first shot and the second was wide of the far post. The referee booked Rudiger soon after for a foul on Harry Kane, and the card count was evened when Eric Dier slid through on David Luiz. As a result Luiz needed treatment and could be compared to the Cahill sending off last Saturday, but this time only a yellow was shown. David Luiz entered the book before half-time when the ref spotted an off-the-ball impeding of Christian Eriksen who sent the free-kick deep into the danger zone but the Blues’ lead survived. Chelsea came close to conceding a goal with 41 minutes on the clock when Harry Kane’s shot came back off the post and then Ben Davies with a curling shot brought out the best from Courtois. In added time, David Luiz prevented Dier from scoring after Jan Vertonghen had slipped the ball past Moses just before the half time whistle.

Vertonghen became the second Tottenham player booked five minutes into the second half for running into Moses. Like Dier'schallenge, it could have been punished more strongly. The Spurs were playing better than Chelsea, but the Blues stayed disciplined and defended well in the face of Spurs pressure. With 10 minutes to go, Batshuayi and Pedro were introduced for Morata and Willian but Batshuayi soon was on the wrong end of the own-goal. Like Chelsea’s opener, the equalizer came from a free-kick conceded out wide by Bakayoko. Eriksen delivered the set-piece towards the near post where Batshuayi’s stopping attempt to cut out the dangerous ball instead sent it into the net. He almost had the chance to make amends after Kante made a counter-attack Kane received a delayed booking but Dembele made a good challenge on Batshauyi inside the area. Chelsea would not stop their drive and kept the attack on. Next Alonso was in on goal. He kept his cool and smashed the ball past Lloris’s legs.

Squads

Tottenham Hotspur
Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Trippier, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies; Eriksen; Alli, Kane. Subs: Vorm, Walker-Peters, Wimmer, Son, Sissoko, Janssen, Winks.

Chelsea
Courtois; Christensen, Rudiger, Azpilicueta; Moses, Bakayoko, David Luiz, Kante, Alonso; Willian; Morata. Subs: Caballero, Musonda, Batshuayi, Pedro, Kenedy, Tomori, Scott.

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Coming up next, Tottenham Hotspur host Burnley on Sunday, August 27 at their fantastic temporary stadium Wembley in London. Then on Saturday, September 9, the Spurs travel to play Everton at Goodison Park in Liverpool. On SaturdaySeptember 16, Tottenham host Swansea City at Wembley. On August 27th, Chelsea host Everton at Stamford. Leicester City host Chelsea at King Power Stadium on September 9th, then on September 17, titan clubs Chelsea and Arsenal will compete at Stamford Bridge in London. Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea tickets are selling fast! Great seats and the very best tickets for Tottenham and the Blues are still available for all 2017 – 2018 matches now online securely from 1st4FootballTickets.com!