David Hytner was our man at Stamford Bridge. His verdict has landed, so you know what to do: click and enjoy. Thanks for reading this MBM!
“I am proud of the players and their efforts. I am proud to see them fight until the last second. It is very difficult to do better than what we did, especially conceding a goal before we score. We had our opportunities to score but when we are 1-0 down it is very difficult because we don’t have that power. And with minutes going on and on, the fatigue of people like Lucas and Bergwijn is going to be bigger and bigger. How can I search more than we are doing? There is nothing more to search. The hopes are always the same hopes. The boys fight until the end and if we can score before the opponent, the game can be a little bit different. But when an opponent scores before us, they compact, and it’s very difficult. We don’t have the presence, the movement, the creation.” As for the Lo Celso incident: “I feel sorry VAR don’t admit more times, especially when things go against us. I don’t want to speak about it.”
And now a cast-iron promise from Jose: “I am going to be very repetitive. You are going to be bored of me, because I am going to be very, very repetitive.” Here it comes, then ...
Frank Lampard’s verdict on the latest VAR farce, five days after Harry Maguire survived his lashing out at Michy Batshuayi. “It’s not good enough. I’m sorry. It’s two VARs in two games. It’s always harder to speak about it when you’ve lost, because people claim you’re just shouting, but maybe you need to shout. Everybody in the world saw that it was a red. But it’s too late [to say they made a mistake]. The game should be over. I hate to call for red cards, but when they’re endangering players ... it’s a leg-breaker. VAR has been brought in to get the right decision. I’m not saying anything about referees on the spot, it’s not easy on the spot, VAR is here to clear it up. I’m not surprised that they’ve put it right, but it’s not good enough.”
Man-of-the-match Olivier Giroud speaks! “It was a very important game for us. We have shown great character. We knew it was a turning point, we had lost a bit of confidence so it’s nice to bounce back and get a hard win against a rival. Scoring was a good feeling for me, a good moment. It was a special day for me, and for all of us.”
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta, an ice pack taped to his leg, is then asked about the Lo Celso challenge: “I’m not a player who likes to be on the floor. I am tough. But it was a clear stamp on my shin, I felt it straight away and was surprised it wasn’t a red card. It wasn’t even a yellow card! Everybody can make a mistake but when you have a lot of replays it should be easier.”
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A deserved victory for Chelsea. They weren’t at their best, but they did score two fine goals to illuminate an otherwise scrappy game. Spurs by contrast were a complete non-event. Giovani Lo Celso was fortunate not to walk after standing on Cesar Azpilicueta’s leg, but as it didn’t affect the outcome, that doesn’t matter now and I’m sure we’ll hear no more about it. Eh?
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FULL TIME: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The whistle goes. Frank Lampard punches the air in celebration of a big victory. They’re four points clear of Spurs, in the final Champions League spot.
90 min +3: Lo Celso loops a ball into the box. It’s deflected, but the absurd arc doesn’t fox Caballero. Imagine if he of all players scored a last-gasp equaliser, though.
90 min +2: Mount dances down the right, getting the better of Winks, but can only scoop his cross into the arms of Lloris.
90 min: There will be four added minutes. Spurs aren’t going to complete an absurd smash and grab, are they?
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Rudiger og 89)
So having said that, Lamela dribbles into the Spurs box down the left. He tries to roll a cross inside for Alli. The ball clips off Rudiger’s heel, and into the bottom left, past a wrong-footed Caballero. Game on! Finally!
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87 min: In the dugout that was once his stomping ground, Jose now looks fairly relaxed. A man who has accepted his fate. Spurs have barely threatened.
85 min: Really, whatever your opinion of Lo Celso’s challenge, we can surely all agree on one thing: let’s unplug the VAR box, let it cool down, recycle whatever bits we can, pop the rest in landfill, and forget this ever happened. We don’t need to mention it ever again. Move on. No blame culture.
83 min: This is preposterous. After a review, the folk in the VAR bunker have admitted that Lo Celso should have been sent off for standing on Azpilicueta’s leg. They’re claiming “it’s not a VAR error, but a human error”. Sweet baby Moses, what a fiasco.
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82 min: Alonso takes, and curls powerfully towards the top right. Lloris is beaten all ends up, but instead of nestling in the top right, the ball twangs off the crossbar.
81 min: Mount prepares to bring down a high ball on the edge of the Spurs box, and is clumsily brought down by Lo Celso, who finally goes in the referee’s notebook. This will be a free kick, just to the right of the D.
79 min: Mount spins Vertonghen with ease down the right. He curls a low ball into the centre for Abraham, who pokes cutely towards the bottom left. It looks like it’s heading in, but Lloris somehow grabs a ball that’s behind him. What a save! That’s kept Spurs in it. Just.
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78 min: Spurs make a double change, their last roll of the dice. Aurier and Alli replace Bergwijn and Alderweireld.
77 min: Chelsea make their second switch, replacing Barkley with Willian, who ran Tottenham ragged in December.
76 min: This is scrappy nonsense right now. Here’s Mary Waltz: “A penny for Jose’s thoughts (50 mins)? How many points can I squeeze out of the season in a series of 0-0 and 1-0 fixtures?”
74 min: Winks bustles in from the right and falls over in the general environs of Rudiger. He wants a penalty but he’s not getting it. He was fairly brushed off the ball.
73 min: Not much going on. Chelsea will be perfectly happy as the clock ticks on.
71 min: Giroud goes off to a standing ovation. A message from the fans to Frank. He’s replaced by the equally popular Abraham.
70 min: Lamela slips a pass down the right for Bergwijn, who is brushed off the ball by Christensen with ease. Bergwijn hasn’t featured at all today.
68 min: Spurs stroke it around the back. They’ve had more possession in this second half, though they’ve done very little with it. In the dugout, Jose Mourinho has a face on. His post-match interview could be interesting if the score stays this way.
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66 min: Lamela looks for the top right, attempting a curler over the wall. The wall does its job, deflecting the ball out for a corner. The set piece is punched clear by Caballero, then returned by Alderweireld. The keeper claims well, under pressure from Sanchez on his line.
65 min: Some pre-free-kick faffing.
64 min: Moura dribbles his way down the inside right and is blocked crudely by Christensen, who picks up his fourth booking of the season for his trouble. A free kick just to the right of the D.
62 min: The first switch of the afternoon, as Lamela replaces Ndombele.
60 min: Ndombele sashays down the inside-left channel and enters the box. He’s got time to shoot, but hesitates, allowing James to brush him off the ball. Was he waiting for the sort of clumsy challenge that’d gift a penalty? If so, it wasn’t coming. Great defending by the ever-impressive James.
58 min: Incidentally, during the first half, BT Sport cut to a shot of Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, looking on, both men sporting fashionable flat caps. But both broadcaster and your hapless MBM hack missed the really big news, as Paul Neilan reports: “They were only sitting in front of Bobby Bloody Davro and no-one appears to have told them.” Bobby Davro, a star of Saturday light entertainment once more. It’s like TVS never lost their licence.
56 min: Frank Lampard isn’t happy with that decision at all, and is currently involved in a heated exchange of views with the fourth official. You can see his point; red cards have been awarded for much less.
54 min: VAR decides there’s no foul play, deeming the challenge accidental. Lo Celso is a lucky boy. So is Azpilicueta, who has suffered no serious damage.
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52 min: Lo Celso stands on Azpilicueta’s outstretched leg as the pair contest for a ball in midfield. VAR will have a look at this. It’s not a pleasant one, with the Chelsea captain’s leg bending in sickening fashion. Is it accidental, though, rather than a stamp? Possibly, though it’s one of those that can be argued either way.
50 min: That goal represents a full house for Frank Lampard, as it involved all four of the players he recalled to the starting XI. Penny for Jose’s thoughts. Barkley nearly makes it three with a power curler from the left. Lloris tips over; the corner comes to nothing.
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Alonso 48)
What a strike this is! The ball’s worked across the face of the Spurs box, right to left. Giroud to Mount to Barkley to Alonso, who strides in from the left and pearls a first-time daisycutter across Lloris and into the bottom right. That’s a stunner.
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47 min: James has a wander down the right and has a dig from distance. He drags his shot across the face of goal. Lloris had it covered.
Spurs get the second half underway. Mystic Dom doesn’t have much confidence in their ability to turn this around. “Is there any more chilling sentence to a Spurs fan than ‘If Spurs win this game, they will <insert very positive outcome here>’? To be honest, I don’t know why Jose bothered to send a team out.”
Half-time entertainment. Max Rushden celebrates the legendary Jimmy Greaves, whose brilliance is one of the few things Chelsea and Spurs fans can agree on.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
It’s not been much of a spectacle, though Chelsea won’t care. As things stand, they’ll go four points clear of Spurs in fourth, thanks to Olivier Giroud’s expertly taken goal. The best you can say for Tottenham: they’re still in it.
45 min: As this half peters out painfully, the officials show us some mercy. There will be just one additional minute.
44 min: Might as well beat the queue for a pint and a pie.
42 min: It’s not been a classic so far, this.
40 min: Lo Celso is barged - fairly - off the ball by Kovacic, allowing Chelsea to break upfield at speed. Barkley breaks into the box from the left and shanks wide. He should have done much better.
38 min: Chelsea reestablish some control in midfield. But that was much better from Spurs, who are finally showing a little ambition.
36 min: Alderweireld, quarterbacking from deep, sprays a pass down the right for Tanganga, who comes in from the flank and takes one touch to bring Alonso out of the game. The ball also flies past Caballero, who is way off his line. But it’s flying at speed, and bobbles out of play to the left of goal before Tanganga can poke into an empty net. Nearly as direct as it gets.
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35 min: Spurs finally show in attack. A few passes and Moura is gifted space in the box on the left. His shot is deflected over the bar by Azpilicueta’s lunge. From the corner, Sanchez flashes a header towards the top left, but it’s tipped over spectacularly by Caballero. The second corner comes to nothing.
33 min: Kovacic slides a ball down the middle. Barkley takes up possession, his back to goal 30 yards out, and very nearly backheels Mount free down the inside left. Sanchez blocks. Spurs were very nearly opened up with a rapier thrust.
31 min: Giroud has a dig from the best part of 30 yards. Ambitious, bordering on downright disrespectful. An international team-mate of Lloris as well.
29 min: Lo Celso gets up and takes the resulting free kick. It’s not very good.
28 min: Lo Celso dribbles down the left and is clattered by Mount. He extends his leg as he falls, and catches the Chelsea player. It’s not exactly Harry Maguire on Michy Batshuayi, but it is a little bit saucy. Neither referee nor VAR is interested, though.
26 min: Spurs haven’t responded to falling behind at all. They’re barely able to string two passes together. Chelsea are enjoying the lion’s share of possession.
24 min: The set piece is worked towards Alonso, to the left of the D. He chests down and pearls a stunning volley towards the top right. It’s beaten Lloris and is inches away from nestling in the top corner. That was Le Tissieresque.
23 min: But here comes the first yellow card of the afternoon. Winks loses control and is robbed by Jorginho. He responds by tugging on the Chelsea midfielder’s shirt, and that’s a booking and a free kick out on the right.
21 min: Giroud and Sanchez clatter into each other. No whistle, and no recriminations either, the pair shaking hands after a short period of hopping around in pain. Adults playing hard but fair.
19 min: Jorginho tries to release Barkley down the inside left, but Sanchez snuffs out the attack. Chelsea are first to everything in the centre of the park right now.
17 min: VAR pokes its neb in. Of course it does. But there’s nothing wrong with the goal, and eventually we’re allowed to continue. The Stamford Bridge faithful break into a chorus of the traditional English folk song Fuck VAR. No manners, but cogent analysis nonetheless.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Giroud 15)
Jorginho curls a glorious pass down the inside right channel for Giroud. A poor first touch takes him a bit wider than he’d like, but he powers a shot towards the bottom right anyway. Lloris parries. Barkley gets onto the rebound and slams a shot against the right-hand post. Giroud latches onto that rebound and drives home, beating Lloris, the ball flying into the bottom right.
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14 min: Barkley powers his way down the inside right and fires a low diagonal shot wide of the left-hand post. A more-than-decent effort.
13 min: Seems Giroud’s header took a nick off a Spurs player. Another corner. James hits it long. Too long. Goal kick. Ah well, at least this match has finally sparked into life after a slow start.
12 min: Chelsea respond by whisking up the other end, Alonso sliding a glorious pass down the inside left to release Mount, who whistles a shot towards the bottom left. Lloris turns the ball around the post. From the resulting corner, Giroud flashes a header wide left at the near post.
10 min: The first corner leads immediately to the second. Lo Celso’s low delivery is cleared by the first man, but Spurs come back quickly at the home side, Moura dropping a shoulder 20 yards out and slamming a shot towards the bottom left. It’s a fine effort, but well met by Cabellero.
9 min: Bergwijn busies himself out on the left, and earns the first corner of the game off Azpilicueta.
7 min: Rudiger dallies in the midfield and is robbed by Winks, who should really send Moura clear down the left. But his pass is a clunker, and flies out for a goal kick. Shame for Spurs, as Chelsea were light at the back there, and Moura had plenty of grass in front of him.
6 min: A slow, scrappy start to this game, which is why I’ve been droning on about bugger all.
4 min: Spurs have hardly had a touch yet. Maybe they’re pining for the yellow winter ball, which is back in its box for another year, replaced by a white-and-red number. Spring has sprung.
2 min: Alonso crosses from the left. James crosses from the right. Spurs clear without too much fuss. It’s all Chelsea in the opening exchanges, Spurs happy to sit back.
And we’re off! Chelsea get the ball rolling, and ping it around the back for a bit.
The teams are out! Chelsea wear their famous blue, Spurs are in their trademark lilywhite. A derby-day atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. We’re one reggae instrumental away from kick-off.
And now it’s the turn of Frank Lampard. “It’s a big moment for us. We understand how close the battle for fourth is, and it’s a big rivalry anyway. This game always has a lot on it, regardless. Our players need to show something, our home form hasn’t been what we want it to be, we are very honest about that. It’s a time to change that, a good opportunity. Olivier Giroud’s professionalism has been brilliant. He needed some weeks to get fit, and today he is ready, so he gets the nod. We have a squad for a reason, players have to come in and do their jobs. I expected Jose to know how we were going to go, so the match-up is a test, a challenge for us.”
BT Sport have a word with the ever-spiky Jose Mourinho. “I cannot demand more than I do in every game, which is to give everything they can give. We have had only two days to prepare but we prepared the best we could. As I was more than expecting, Chelsea come with a system and with Alonso playing, we prepare ourselves tactically for that. And with what we have available, we are going to fight for the points.” As for leaving out Dele Alli? “I am not sure you ask every manager in the Premier League when one player stays out. Do you do the same question for them? For other managers it is normal to leave out any player they want. It looks like to me any time I make a decision of this type, there is always a big story so I prefer not to answer. I think Ndombele can give us creativity, we need a bit of risk, he is in condition to give us a good hour.”
Chelsea hand Olivier Giroud his first start in three months. He’s one of four changes to the side that went down at home to Manchester United. Ross Barkley, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso also step up, taking the places of Michy Batshuayi, Pedro, Willian, and the injured N’Golo Kante.
Meanwhile there’s no room in the starting XI for Tottenham’s bottle-and-boot-juggling malcontent Dele Alli. He drops to the bench, one of three changes made in the wake of the Leipzig defeat. Serge Aurier and Gedson Fernandes also make way; Jan Vertonghen, Tanguy Ndombele and Japhet Tanganga take their places.
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The teams
Chelsea: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso, Barkley, Mount, Giroud.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Abraham, Willian, Loftus-Cheek, Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Gilmour.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Tanganga, Ndombele, Winks, Lo Celso, Davies, Lucas Moura, Bergwijn.
Subs: Lamela, Dier, Sessegnon, Alli, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Fernandes.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Preamble
It’s fair to say Chelsea have the upper hand in this fixture: Tottenham Hotspur have won it once in the last 30 years. Look at it another way, though: Spurs have won one of their last two Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, having triumphed here 3-1 in April 2018. So depending on your cut-off point, and the angle at which you’re holding the prism you’re peering through, Spurs either have a win ratio of 50 percent or a slightly less impressive 3.33 percent. It’s all up to you.
However you want to spin it, this is a big one. When Chelsea did a number on Spurs in north London last December, an eventual finish in the Champions League places looked likely for Frank Lampard’s side. For Spurs, such an end-of-season prize seemed a pipe dream. But Spurs have won three of their last four league games, drawing the other, while Chelsea are without a win in four. And suddenly, having made up eight points in short order, Jose Mourinho is breathing down his old club’s neck. They’re just a point behind!
Should Chelsea swat Spurs aside as they usually do on their own patch, that gap regenerates to four points and the Pensioners can breathe again. Only problem is, they’ve won just five of their 13 league matches at the Bridge this season. Spurs will scent blood. Chelsea, however, have that recent 2-0 win in N17 as succour, and can point to Tottenham riding their luck at times during their recent winning run, while they themselves had none whatsoever against Manchester United last Monday. So depending on how you look at it, etc., and so on, and so forth.
Can Chelsea burst clear again in the race for fourth? Or will Jose overhaul his old club to set up one hell of a scramble during the run-in? We’ll find out this lunchtime. It’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.
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