That’s all for today. David Hytner’s report is below, and we’ll be back with more hot liveblog action soon. Goodnight.
Chelsea reaction
Cole Palmer
[On his Panenka] I decided to do it when I stepped back. I looked at the clock and thought, ‘It’s a bit frantic, the game’s all over the place’. I could see the keeper was ready to dive so I thought if I chipped it it’d go in and it did.
[What’s your process before a penalty? What do you think about?] I’m just trying to score and thankfully it went in.
We knew with Arsenal and City drawing that we needed to win, and we did.
Levi Colwill
It means everything to beat our rivals. It’s a great win and we’re over the moon. We knew it would be tough but we trust that when we start playing our football we’ll score goals and that’s what we did. We were 2-0 down but nobody was panicking; it was early in the game and we knew we’d create big chances. It’s down to whether we score them or not.
[On Palmer] When he scores big goals for us it calms everyone down. He keeps doing that and hopefully it carries on in the future.
[On the title race] We’ve still got so much to improve on, like the gaffer said. When we’re ready to push for the title we won’t be 2-0 down after 10 minutes.
Cole Palmer has scored 12 out of 12 penalties in the Premier League, the most for anybody with a 100 per cent record. His kindred spirit Matt Le Tissier scored something like 24 out or 25 in the Premier League and 47 out of 48 overall.
The Premier League table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 14 | 18 | 35 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 15 | 17 | 31 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| 4 | Man City | 15 | 6 | 27 |
| 5 | Nottm Forest | 15 | 1 | 25 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 15 | 0 | 25 |
| 7 | Brighton | 15 | 3 | 24 |
| 8 | AFC Bournemouth | 15 | 3 | 24 |
| 9 | Brentford | 15 | 3 | 23 |
| 10 | Fulham | 15 | 2 | 23 |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 12 | 20 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 15 | -2 | 20 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 15 | 1 | 19 |
| 14 | West Ham | 14 | -9 | 15 |
| 15 | Everton | 14 | -7 | 14 |
| 16 | Leicester | 15 | -9 | 14 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 15 | -6 | 13 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 15 | -13 | 9 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 14 | -14 | 9 |
| 20 | Southampton | 15 | -20 | 5 |
These are the ages of Chelsea’s starting XI today: 27, 23, 23, 21, 26, 20, 23, 24, 22, 24, 23.
The average age of the side is around 23.4. There’s no precedent in the Premier League era for such a young team winning the league. Whatever happens this season – and the only thing we should rule out at this stage is the Carabao Cup – the future looks so bright.
Updated
Ange Postecoglou walks on the field to console his players, sadness and confusion all over his face. For Chelsea there is only joy and maybe a bit of disbelief that they are serious title contenders. I think we can say that now.
Full time: Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea
That’s it. Enzo Maresca, usually so undemonstrative, clenches his first and roars with delight. Chelsea have come from 2-0 down to win a wonderfully entertaining game and move within four points of Liverpool.
90+9 min Werner’s cross is just too heavy for Son, sliding in at the far post. Sanchez is booked for delaying the goalkick.
Maddison took a short corner on the left, danced round the back and picked out Son with a careful pass. He slid the ball through the crowd and into the net.
GOAL! Spurs 3-4 Chelsea (Son 90+7)
Spurs have 60 seconds to do something extraordinary!
90+6 min Free-kick to Spurs 22 yards out. Porro smacks it into the wall, then volleys the rebound fractionally wide. Sanchez had it covered I think. It must have taken a touch because a corner has been awarded.
90+4 min Werner slips a really clever pass through to Son, whose shot is smothered by the outrushing Sanchez. Good save.
90+2 min Chelsea have now scored 23 goals in eight league games away from home, including nine this week: 6-2, 1-0, 3-0, 1-2, 1-1, 2-1, 5-1, 4-2.
90 min Seven minutes of added time.
90 min: Chelsea substitutions Renato Veiga and Joao Felix replace Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer, who scored two goals apiece. Palmer’s were for Chelsea.
Updated
89 min “And to think the biggest reason the game stayed close for this long is that Marc Cucurella chose his boots poorly,” honks Eric Peterson.
88 min Jamie Carragher is now putting the boot in on Ange Postecoglou: “absolute rubbish”, etc. I think he’s going over the top – ask Nani – but his point about Big Ange’s inflexibility is hard to dispute. Though this is a far better team, their peculiar vulnerability evokes the Ossie Ardiles side of 1994-95.
88 min For all the gloom around Spurs, plenty of it justified, the margins remain pretty fine. It’s only 20 minutes ago that Son Heung-min missed a one-on-one to put them 3-2 ahead.
86 min: Chelsea substitution Noni Madueke replaces the excellent Pedro Neto.
85 min Beto is booked for a foul on Udogie. There was something going on with Enzo Fernandez after the goal; I’m not sure what it was but a few of his teammates dragged him away.
84 min What a joy Cole Palmer is, a 1970s maverick with the substance of a Ballon d’Or contender.
Updated
GOAL! Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea (Palmer 84 pen)
Palmer rubs Spurs’ nose in it with the daintiest of Panenkas. Sheer delightful arrogance!
Updated
83 min: Penalty to Chelsea! Chelsea break three on two from a Spurs corner. Sancho slows down and eventually plays the ball to Palmer, who is going nowhere when Sarr shoves him over from behind. That’s awful defending.
Updated
81 min If Spurs lose it’ll be their seventh defeat in 15 league games. Yet they have also won 7-0 in Manchester and have the fourth best goal difference in the league. We can’t ignore the injuries either. I think they’d be mad to get rid of Ange Postecoglou, but I might be in the minority.
79 min: Triple substitution for Spurs James Maddison, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall replace Van de Ven, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski.
78 min I may have jumped the gun on Van de Ven, who is being treated as if for cramp rather than a hamstring tear. Either way he’s coming off.
78 min “Don’t know if you caught that amazing moment in Fernandez’s celebration where he tries to take his shirt off and Jackson drags it back down again,” says Edan Tal. “Surprised that doesn’t happen more!”
Heh, I missed that. Great stuff.
77 min This is turning into an absolute nightmare for Spurs. Micky van de Ven has suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury, and Sancho almost makes it 4-2 with a shot that is deflected behind by Pedro Porro.
76 min: Chelsea substitution Christopher Nkunku replaces Nicolas Jackson.
Palmer cut inside from the right, wiggled his hips to beat a couple of players and hit a shot that deflected across the penalty area. Fernandez ran onto the bouncing ball, 12 yards out, and slashed it past Forster with his left foot. That’s a brilliant finish from a player who has becoming a goals and assists monster in recent weeks.
GOAL! Tottenham 2-3 Chelsea (Fernandez 73)
Chelsea’s comeback is complete!
Updated
72 min Porro’s clipped free-kick is headed wide of the far post by the stretching Van de Ven. The Chelsea defence did well to ensure he couldn’t get a clear run at the ball.
71 min That chance seems to have woken Spurs up, both the players and the fans. Kulusevski is fouled just outside the area on the right by Badiashile. This is an opportunity…
68 min: What a chance for Son! Solanke screws a pass in behind towards Udogie, palpably offside. Everyone stops except Son, who zooms through to collect the ball, move through on goal and curl just wide of the far post.
Chelsea would have gone mad had that gone in, although I’m pretty sure the goal would have stood because Udogie didn’t touch the ball. For a finisher of Son’s class it was a very good chance.
Updated
66 min In the second half Chelsea have had 73 per cent possession and five shots to Spurs’ none.
63 min There’s no doubt Chelsea deserve that goal, having been much the better team since half-time. Spurs, who lost at Brighton from 2-0 up, will now be fearing the worst. In hindsight I’d have brought on Maddison rather than Werner to provide some composure in possession.
Updated
Forster dived to his left, Palmer curled the ball into the other corner at pace. Even if Forster had gone the right way he’d have struggled to save that.
What a game!
GOAL! Tottenham 2-2 Chelsea (Palmer 61 pen)
Cole Palmer does not miss penalties.
Updated
59 min: Penalty to Chelsea! Bissouma fouls Caicedo with a needless and very costly sliding challenge. He’s booked.
Sancho, who has been excellent, played a typically penetrative pass infield towards the onrushing Caicedo. Bissouma thought he could win the ball and slid across; he was wrong.
Updated
57 min It’s all Chelsea just now. A corner is taken short and worked infield to Gusto, whose crisp shot from 20 yards is pushed round the near post by the diving Forster. That was a more comfortable save.
53 min: Spurs substitution Another injury for Spurs. Brennan Johnson has pulled something and is replaced by former Chelsea forward Timo Werner. Johnson was able to walk off without obvious pain so Spurs will hope it’s not too serious.
Updated
52 min … for about 10 seconds. Chelsea win the ball back and Fernandez shapes a beautiful curler from 25 yards that goes this far wide of the far post. As the ball beat Forster’s dive I expected the net to ripple.
51 min Spurs break four on four, only for Kulusevski to flick his cross too close to Sanchez. About 2.4 seconds later, at the other end, Sancho’s excellent low cross rolls through the six-yard box and reaches Neto beyond the far post. He screws it back and Spurs clear…
50 min Chelsea have started the second half brilliantly, with Cucurella heavily involved. He’s almost plying as a No10 when Chelsea have the ball.
48 min: Outstanding save by Forster! Sancho zips infield from the left and gives the ball to the underlapping Cucurella. He reverses a superb return pass to Sancho, who pokes an early shot across goal from seven yards. Forster, with almost no reaction time, throws out his left hand to divert it behind for a corner. That’s a wonderful stop.
Replays show Sancho’s shot took a slight deflection, though that doesn’t change the quality of the save.
47 min Chelsea have also swapped their centre-backs, a response to Solanke giving Badiashile a bit of a chasing in the first half.
46 min Chelsea begin the second half. Malo Gusto has come on for Romeo Lavia, with Caicedo moving into midfield. Chelsea say it’s tactical, which is a surprise as Lavia was extremely good in the first half.
Apparently VAR said Kulusevski’s elbow on Lavia was “accidental”. The Sky Sports pundits, Paul Merson and Jamie Redknapp, aren’t convinced.
Here’s something to bring you down during the half-time break. No, not Wilson’s prose – I mean the stuff he’s writing about.
Half time: Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea
That was fantastic entertainment. I would summarise the first half but if I do I’ll miss the start of the second. And I need the [redacted].
45+2 min Lavia is down after a weird tackle from Kulusevski, who tried to win the ball on the floor but caught Lavia on the side of the head with a pointy elbow. This time a VAR check goes in Spurs favour – once again the verdict is that it ‘lacks excessive force’.
There’s a world – probably last season – in which both Caicedo and Kulusevski are sent off.
45+1 min A lovely turn from Solanke, who is quietly having a stormer, sparks a dangerous Spurs break. For once Kulusevski undoes the good work by drilling a cross too close to Sanchez.
45 min Two minutes of added time. Any chance of making it two hours?
44 min Yet another Chelsea corner. I’m not sure what’s being thrown at Palmer and Fernandez. Presumably nothing vicious but it’s still pretty tedious. File under Grown Men, Eh, or fugme for short.
Updated
42 min Every time Chelsea win a corner, the taker is bombarbed with rubbish from the crowd. “What are these stewards doing?” shrieks Jamie Carragher. “There’s three of them behind Cole Palmer watching them throwing stuff.”
41 min Chelsea are having some good possession now. Palmer turns into space and plays a sliderule pass through to Jackson, whose run between the centre-back is perfectly timed. Dragusin charges back to make a brilliant sliding block tackle and deflect Jackson’s shot behind for a corner.
Spurs have got to do something to address Palmer, who is having a field day between the lines.
38 min That Solanke chance came from a poor pass from Sanchez, though at least he redeemed himself.
Meanwhile, Jackson exchanges passes with Neto and screws a shot on the turn that deflects behind for a corner.
37 min At the other end Palmer’s low ball into the six-yard box is cleared desperately by the off-balance Van de Ven.
35 min: Two more chances for Spurs! Son’s corner is headed off the top of the bar by Sarr. Moments later, Son’s low cross is forced towards goal by the off-balance Solanke and saved by Sanchez.
Can Spurs play Chelsea every week? This is wonderful!
33 min: No red card “What?!” says Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports. “Have I missed something there?”
I don’t think Caicedo was even booked. Sarr was being challenged by Lavia and then poked the ball away from Caicedo, whose attempted tackle turned into a studs-to-the-shin challenge.
Apparently the VAR team decided there wasn’t excessive force and therefore the on-field decision stands. He’s pretty lucky, I think, though I’d like to see it in real time to be sure. We’ve only seen slow-motion replies.
Updated
33 min Caicedo crumps Sarr on the shin and could be in a bit of trouble. It was miles over the ball.
32 min: Brilliant double save from Forster! Palmer is found in space, 25 yards from goal, and that always spells trouble. He hammers a low drive across goal that is beaten away superbly by Forster, plunging to his left. The rebound comes to Neto, who makes just enough room to reverse a near-post shot that is kicked away by Forster. That was a really good save too as he had to change direction.
31 min Unless the referee Anthony Taylor thought Sarr was trolling Cucurella by putting him back on the deck, in which case it’s clear ungentlemanly conduct.
30 min Sarr is booked for tripping Cucurella. It was a foul but a yellow card is really harsh.
Updated
29 min Free-kick to Chelsea 25 yards from goal, too wide for a shot. Fernandez overhits his ball to the far post and that’s the end of that.
27 min My colleague Daniel Harris poijnts out that Gary Neville knows how Cucurella feels after his shocker against Vasco da Gama in 2000. Paul Scholes, who missed the trip through injury, sent Neville a pithy, sympathetic text after the game, which read: ‘Fiasco da Gama’.
24 min: Just wide! Solanke turns Badiashile superbly just past the halfway line and plays a return pass to Son in the inside-left channel. He scurries into the area, moves inside Colwill and whips a trademark curler towards the top corner on the far side. Sanchez is beaten and the ball flashes just wide.
Updated
23 min This is glorious entertainment. Chelsea break three on a three after a stunning pass from Neto in his own area, but the last man Udogie makes a vital tackle on Jackson.
22 min Replays suggest that pass from Fernandez wasn’t touched by a Spurs player. Palmer fresh-aired the shot and the ball hit his standing leg. Bizarre.
21 min: Great chance for Palmer! Brilliant football from Chelsea again. Jackson, on the left side of the area, flicks the ball behind his standing leg to the overlapping Palmer. He gets his head up and picks out Palmer, who misses his kick eight yards from goal! That must have taken a nick off a Spurs defender; otherwise I can’t understand why he miskicked it.
Spurs break and Lavia is booked for a foul on Kulusevski.
20 min Almost another chance for Chelsea. They work the ball neatly through midfield, with Fernandez playing in the overlapping Sancho. His left-foot cross towards Jackson is overhit.
Sancho received the ball on the left touchline and zipped infield with purpose, roughly 20 yards from goal. He ran across Porro and then Dragusin before clipping a brilliant low drive across Forster. It hit the inside of the far post and ricocheted into the net.
That’s a beautiful goal and a timely reminder of a talent which, though unfulfilled, is unique in the English game.
GOAL! Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea (Sancho 18)
Oh-hoo we’ve got a game on here. Jadon Sancho has just rolled back the years to score a fantasic goal!
Updated
17 min We’ve seen players slip and concede goals before, most famously against Chelsea, but I can’t remember it happening twice to the same player in the same game. And certainly not in the first 11 minutes.
16 min “We, Chelsea fans, are on unfamiliar grounds,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “Did you just mention title race/title decider in your preamble? Please don’t jinx it. From desolate lands to a Cole Palmer XI to this unrecognizable winning machine is a transformation few saw coming. To be back in the top four (with City out of the top 4) is heady stuff indeed. Merry Christmas.”
I should stress I don’t think you can win it, but there are certain parallels with Antonio Conte’s first season. Even down to a 0-2 scoreline at Spurs!
Updated
14 min: Spurs substitution Cristian Romero’s return lasted less than 15 minutes. He’s pulled something – I think it was when he did that needless flick behind his standing leg – and is replaced by Radu Dragusin. The poor guy has his shirt over his face and looks devastated.
13 min Udogie drives just wide from the left edge of the six-yard box, though I’m pretty sure there was an offside in the build-up. Pretty sure but not certain as it’s hard to keep up with all this.
12 min After the goal Cucurella ran straight over to the touchline to change his footwear, shrugging his shoulders as if it was somebody else’s fault.
Imagine the [redacted]-eating grin on Gary Neville’s face right now.
Updated
Cucurella slipped again, just outside the area on the left. Spurs worked the ball infiel to Kulusevski, who ran across the line of the area and then reversed a shot towards the near post. It wasn’t particularly well struck but it went through the legs ofa defender and could not have been more precise.
GOAL! Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea (Kulusevksi 11)
Whether it’s Jekyll or Hyde, he’s rampant!
Updated
7 min Romero produces an indulgent and extremely risky flick inside his own area. He gets away with it in terms of keeping possession but he looks like he’s given himself a twinge.
Chelsea were building up just short of the halfway line when Colwill played a square pass to Cucurella. He slipped, allowing Johnson to nick possession and charge down the right. Johnson kept going and then crossed to the near post, where Solanke made a brilliant run across Colwill and stretched to poke the ball into the net. That net was empty because Sanchez had dalready dived for the cross, thinking Solanke couldn’t reach it.
Solanke was so sharp there, both in his movement and the decisiveness of the finish.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea (Solanke 5)
Dominic Solanke scores against his old club after a slip from Marc Cucurella.
Updated
4 min Chelsea win a corner on the left. Palmer has to wait while Spurs fans throw a few things towards him. Eventually he takes it short, gets it back in and whips in a dangerous cross that is fractionally behind the leaping Colwill at the far post. His header flies across the other side of the field and is collected by Neto. The end.
3 min “Shouldn’t that be Spursy and Hyde?” says Joe Pearson. “Since Jekyll was sort of a milquetoast? Just asking.”
Are you suggesting I haven’t read Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 Gothic horror novella and am throwing literary references around willy-nilly without knowing what I’m talking about. Because you’d be right.
1 min A bad ball from Badiashile – a Benoit balls-up, if you’re a Goldie Lookin’ Chain fan – goes straight to Kulusevski 30 yards out. He’s slightly indecisive by his standards, eventually playing a pass outside to Johnson. His cross is deflected behind for a corner, from which nothing eventuates.
1 min Spurs kick off from right to left as we watch.
“Caicedo will invert in possession, playing next to Lavia,” says our man Jacob Steinberg. “Fernandez pushes on and it becomes a 3-2-5.”
The way we describe formations is outdated, isn’t it? I know this sounds a pretentious but you really need to list two formations – one with and without the ball. <Two Banks> Ideally 4-4-2 and 4-4-2 </Two Banks>
A reminder of the teams
Spurs (4-3-3) Forster; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Substitutes: Austin, Reguilon, Dragusin, Spence, Maddison, Gray, Bergvall, Werner, Lankshear.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Gusto, Dewsbury-Hall, Veiga, Madueke, Felix, Nkunku.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Enzo Maresca’s thoughts
Tottenham are a very good team with good players, a good squad and a good manager. Today they have Romero and Van de Ven, and for sure they are going to do well.
[On the chance to go within four points of Liverpool] It’s an opportunity because we can improve and these kinds of games tell us [how they can improve]. For me it’s no more than that. Our focus isn’t about Liverpool and City, it’s about us and how we can improve.
Ange Postecoglou’s pre-match thoughts
It’s a welcome boost for us [to have Romero and Van de Ven back]. We thought Micky would return next Thursday but he trained really well; both of them were really keen to play.
We’ve been in this position before when we’ve got a good result against a top side [after some poor results]. Irrespective, it’s a big game: it’s a derby, they’re in a good place and it’s a great test for us. Here at home, when we play our football, we’re hard to stop.
Having that energy with the fans at home can really help give you an edge. Sometimes we have to play our part too – we have to get them excited. Hopefully we can start the game well and put Chelsea on the back foot.
In an entirely precedented development, I was a bit dim when I looked at Chelsea’s team. Moises Caicedo, not Romeo Lavia, will start at right-back – partly to take good care of Son Heung-min, partly because he played there against Aston Villa last weekend and I definitely knew that and you can’t prove otherwise.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Caicedo, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Gusto, Dewsbury-Hall, Veiga, Madueke, Felix, Nkunku.
A win today would move Chelsea within four points of Liverpool, albeit having played a game more. Who knows: Chelsea v Liverpool on 3 May could be an unlikely title decider.
There aren’t too many worries on that score
It’s already been a good day for Spurs and Chelsea, with their beloathed Arsenal’s title chances suffering a blow at Craven Cottage. These are the results from the 2pm games.
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
Ipswich 1-2 Bournemouth
Leicester 2-2 Brighton
Team news
Ange Postecoglou is able to pick Spurs’ best back four, with Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven all returning. Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies drop out. The return of Son Heung-min is bad news for James Maddison, whose topsy-turvy season continues with a return to the bench. Dejan Kulusevski will move into midfield.
Enzo Maresca has made seven changes, and it looks like Romeo Lavia will play at right-back. The four players who started the 5-1 win at Southampton are the unrotatables: Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, the in-form Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer.
Spurs (4-3-3) Forster; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Substitutes: Austin, Reguilon, Dragusin, Spence, Maddison, Gray, Bergvall, Werner, Lankshear.
Chelsea (possible 4-2-3-1) Sanchez; Lavia, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Gusto, Dewsbury-Hall, Veiga, Madueke, Felix, Nkunku.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Preamble
So, are Chelsea in this title race or what? We’ll have a better idea after today’s game, a really tricky/surprisingly easy trip to Tottenham Hotpsur Stadium.
The reason for the two options is the recent form of their opponents. The good news for Tottenham fans is that their team is no longer Spursy. The bad news is that they’ve become Jekyll and Spursy, capable of humiliating Manchester’s finest with exhilarating football on a good day or losing to, well, pretty much anyone on a bad day.
Ange Postecoglou’s row with an entitled empathy void at Bournemouth has increased the scrutiny ahead of today’s game, and his love affair with Spurs is starting to feel a bit Blue Valentine. Let’s hope not: as a neutral, Postecoglou’s team – and his repeated pleas for maturity in a drainingly infantile culture – add so much to the Premier League.
So do Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea. It helps having Cole Palmer, sure, but so far he’s done a pretty remarkable. Chelsea’s only defeats have been to Manchester City (pre-slump) and Liverpool and they’re already nine points better off than they were at the same stage last season. Just as importantly, given the nature of Chelsea FC in the 21st century, there has been almost no noise.
What Big Ange would give for a bit of peace and quiet. The best way to achieve that, now and forever, is to win football matches.
Kick off 4.30pm.
