Chelsea took on Tottenham hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening in what was both sides third meeting in three weeks. The match ended with Chelsea emerging victorious once again with a 2-0 result further establishing Chelsea as the kings of London.
The game started on a really bright note for the blues and that was all down to the intensity and aggression displayed by Tuchel’s men. The blues toiled all through the first 45 minutes with chances coming their way aplenty but there was no reward with Romelu Lukaku in particular a major culprit with wasteful finishing.
The second half did start on an even brighter note as the half time team talk by Thomas Tuchel seemed to ignite a certain spark and that led to the blues coming out all guns blazing. The first goal of the game came courtesy of a brilliant play by Callum Hudson Odoi down the left who cut onto his favorite right foot after beating Spurs’ defender Tanganga with relative ease and picking out Hakim Ziyech who found the top left hand corner with a peach of a strike.
The second goal was a more straight forward one. Mount with an in-swinging free kick from the left and the ever reliable Thiago redeeming himself (A couple of previous misses) with a fine header bouncing right before the goalie and into the net for 2-0.
Game, set and match… Spurs, no match for the mighty Chels!
Magical Hakim Ziyech 🎩
Hakim Ziyech has been in the limelight for both good and bad reasons in the past couple of weeks. First from his poor performance against City at the Etihad down to his lack of celebration after scoring the opener against Brighton in mid-week.
This game seemed like a chance at redemption for the troubled Moroccan who had an heated exchange with Lukaku at half time in the draw against Brighton and boy did he deliver! The former Ajax playmaker probably had his best game in a Chelsea shirt since the game against Sheffield United in 2020.
Ziyech was a constant threat to the Tottenham defence with incredibly nice touches and outrageous cross field passes all through the entire duration of the game.
To top that performance, on the 47th minute of the encounter after some brilliant play by Callum Hudson Odoi, Ziyech found space on the far right hand side and with Azpilicueta creating space with a darting run, Ziyech had a clear sight of the top left corner and picked his spot right there, Bull’s eye! 1-0.
His all round play was also right on the money with relentless pressing out of possession and wonderful connection with Mason Mount. The Moroccan wizard is back to his best and let’s just hope he can keep this up!
Master Tactician – Thomas Tuchel 🧠
Ahead of the game, there were some sort of deep thinking as to how Thomas Tuchel would set out to play having already faced Spurs three times in such a short space of time. This game seemed like it was going to be another tough tactical battle between Conte and Tuchel but the German tactician showed how tactically adept he his.
On paper, Chelsea did look to set out to play a 4-4-2 formation but on the pitch, the formation played out to be something similar to 4-1-4-1 with the ball and 4-5-1 without the ball.
When in possession, Mount was often seen running beyond Ziyech on the far right hand side of Chelsea while Kovaçic did exactly the same with Hudson Odoi on the left often leaving Jorginho as the only center midfielder.
Out of possession, Mount was on the heels of Hoejberg while Odoi and Ziyech had the responsibility of tracking Spurs’ wing backs. Another masterstroke from our German super tactician!
Callum Hudson Odoi – Shinning Light 💫
Callum Hudson Odoi was another shining light in the game against Spurs at the bridge and he seems to be coming into his own with consecutive minutes coming his way.
The England international played on his favourite left hand side and had a good outing with him turning provider for the opener after a brilliant play on the left turning Spurs’ defender, Tanganga and finding Ziyech on the edge of the box.
Odoi was busy all through and kept tracks with Doherty when needed.
Brilliant performance, wishing for more of the same!
Oh Thiago Silva, what a signing! 🎶
After Chelsea announced the signing of the Brazilian defender on a free, very few could have thought he would turn out to be this good. The experienced defender has grown in leaps and bounds over the one-and-half season he has spent in London.
The defender once again proved how integral he is to this Chelsea team with an assured performance at the back and showed his “Footballing wisdom” after winning a foul (A rather soft touch) from Harry Kane when he knew he had been beat by the pull back from Ryan that ultimately led to Spurs’ disallowed goal.
His present knack of scoring against London rivals (Twice against Spurs and once against West Ham) is surely appreciated amongst Chelsea faithfuls.
Long may he continue this fine form!
Õ Monstro – #Chelsea legend through & through 😤🔵
Oh Thiago Silvaaa 🎶
Originally tweeted by CHELSEATAINMENT® (@Chelseatainment) on January 23, 2022.
Solidity with Set Pieces 🪨
Under Frank Lampard, set pieces were an issue and Tuchel seems to have miraculously turned that around to be one major strength of this team.
Chelsea have the highest number of goals by defenders this season in the premier league and much of those have been from set pieces.
When defending them, Chelsea have only conceded from two all season and set pieces seem to be one major route to scoring goals for this Chelsea side even without being able to boast of having the tallest players available.
After an 11 match winning streak vs Spurs, after 4 wins this season (8-0), there’s no doubt that Chelsea really are the KINGS OF LONDON! 💪
