Chelsea report: The Blues beat Tottenham 2-1 at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea secured a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur to open up a four-point gap over their bitter London rivals in the battle for fourth place. Goals from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso in each half gave the hosts a comfortable lead before they were made to sweat in the dying minutes by an Antonio Rudiger own goal.
With Tammy Abraham only fit enough for the bench, Giroud was given the chance to lead the line from the start for the first time in the league since late November, replacing Michy Batshuayi, who was left out of the squad completely after his poor performance against Manchester United on Monday.
The danger signs were there after 12 minutes when Alonso exploited the space in behind Tottenham’s wing-backs with a ball up the line to Mason Mount, who tested Hugo Lloris with a low drive.
Just three minutes later, Chelsea took the lead as an even better pass from Jorginho sent Giroud away, and though both he and Ross Barkley were denied by Lloris and the woodwork respectively, the Frenchman drilled home his first league goal since last April.
At the other end, Cesar Azpilicueta scrambled to deflect Lucas Moura’s effort and from the resulting corner, Willy Cabellero tipped Davinson Sanchez’s header over. While Tottenham finished the half strongly, they were given a sucker punch a couple of minutes after the restart. Marcos Alonso hit a low, driven shot from outside the area into the bottom right corner to double the Blues’ advantage.
Tottenham’s Lo Celso put in an awful tackle on the shin of Azpilicueta but somehow escaped a red card. Chelsea twice went close to adding a third, with substitute Abraham denied by a superb reflex save by Lloris, before Alonso crashed against the woodwork with a stunning free-kick.
Mourinho’s side did pull a goal back in the dying stages when Erik Lamela’s attempted cross deflected off Rudiger and into his own net, however, it was too little, too late for the away side.
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After a big 2-1 victory over Tottenham, here’s how some Chelsea fans reacted on Twitter.
WE DOMINATE LONDON💙🔥
— The Blues (@TheBlues___) February 22, 2020
London is blue 🔵🤩💙
— Omoo 🕊 (@omooo_a) February 22, 2020
NEVER LEAVE OUT GIROUD!!!!!
— Sinethemba Mbatha (@SnezzyMbatha) February 22, 2020
I was scared, weldone boys 💙💙
— Otunba ICE🩸 (@ManLikeIcey) February 22, 2020
Well deserved 3 points. We move 💙✊
— Blue is the color (@MuhindiJuma) February 22, 2020
LONDON IS FOREVER BLUEEEE
— ĶĂŁĶÖ (@CrispyKovacic) February 22, 2020
top performance. a well deserved win! 👏🏻
— Alia (アリア) (@AliaBatrisyiaa) February 22, 2020
Massive win 👏🏽👏🏽
— Alexandrea (@Alexguazzelli) February 22, 2020
Massive win in the Top 4 race 💙🔝⚽
— it’s Chelsea ting (@Talented1ones) February 22, 2020
Great win boys we get more stronger 💪
— 💙NICHOLAS💙 (@Djnicho3) February 22, 2020
