This was a demonstration of strength to knock the stuffing out of the chasing pack. Chelsea were supposed to be blunted, shorn of Diego Costa and all the threat he has brought to their attacking intent this season. And yet, with the man who has made such a difference in civvies up in the stands as he sat out a one-match suspension, they still prevailed with something to spare against a Tottenham Hotspur side who aspire to qualify for the Champions League.
Manchester City may have run riot up on Wearside and remain a tantalising six points behind, but the leaders’ conviction that this title is theirs to be claimed will have soared in the wake of this success. The nagging doubt, that their first team may be untouchable when fit and available but their squad might still be found out, has arguably been allayed. This was a glimpse of life should injury properly interrupt Costa’s serene progress to date. José Mourinho will be reassured that the £32m signing is not irreplaceable.
Costa’s absence after accruing five bookings had felt significant not only for the goal threat and aggression it removed from the hosts’ frontline but because it effectively shifted the whole emphasis of the team’s approach. This side have been geared towards supplying the forward since pre-season, tapping into his strengths. Mourinho has consistently stated “if Diego can play, I play Diego” even through those hamstring and groin niggles before the last international window, adding “the team is made to play with Costa”. Drogba is still as like for like as Chelsea possess but he has been readjusting to life back in the Premier League, a veteran softened by age and those post-Munich spells in China and Turkey that were supposed to be his retirement plan. The alternative, the slippery Loïc Rémy, is more about pace and movement than brawn.
Yet even with Drogba preferred, there would have to be a tweak against a Spurs team who had suggested in recent weeks they are coming to terms with the smothering tactics Mauricio Pochettino favours and had started here by swarming all over their hosts. Costa might have unsettled a vulnerable backline and driven them back with his pace across the turf as well as that trademark aggression. Yet Chelsea clearly boast the talent to adapt and the verve to threaten all-comers. Drogba is not as mobile as the Spain international but his is still a presence. He was willing to drop deep or wide and was eager to act as a pivot around which the team’s most talented creators could revolve. Not all of his lay-offs found their mark but Tottenham’s fragility remained.
That much was clear when the lead was forged. Eden Hazard, at his irrepressible best, used the Ivorian 19 minutes in, the pair’s slick exchange slicing the visitors apart before the Belgian ripped his finish through Hugo Lloris. Spurs were rattled in the frenzy which followed and when the goalkeeper’s weak clearance fell to Hazard, he shifted the ball on to Oscar and Drogba had his own moment. He eased past Jan Vertonghen, his finish slammed beyond Lloris for a second Premier League goal since his return. It was as if he had never been away.
Tottenham have been bruised by the veteran before – this was the sixth time they had shipped to the forward in 19 appearances – and his touches in front of the away support were booed as much for the nightmarish memories they stirred as the pain he was inflicting here. He was tiring visibly before the hour, might have added a third only to mistime a finish from Hazard’s delivery and retired early with a nod of agreement and his manager offering a handshake of appreciation. Perhaps even admiration.
Rémy, his replacement, had scored a winner against Spurs for Newcastle last season and hardly offered a respite. The manner in which he outmuscled Vertonghen to collect César Azpilicueta’s pass and calmly score a first league goal for the club beyond a wrong-footed Lloris delivered its own message. In March Tottenham had been thrashed 4-0 with Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba on the scoresheet, yet that had felt almost freakish. This was an illustration of true depth to Chelsea’s forward ranks.
