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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Freddie Keighley

Chelsea vs Tottenham winners and losers as debutant dazzles and Spurs rescued

Harry Kane rescued a draw for Tottenham in an enthralling London derby after Chelsea's defenders looked to have earned the Blues all three points at Stamford Bridge.

Kalidou Koulibaly had a memorable home debut, volleying his new team in front in the first half from Marc Cucurella's corner. After the interval, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg brought Spurs back on level terms with a driven effort but Reece James restored the lead with a powerful effort which Hugo Lloris was unable to contain.

Thomas Tuchel's tactical tweak came up trumps ahead of James' goal, as he brought on Cesar Azpilicueta and shifted the Englishman to a more advanced role on the right flank minutes before he struck. But there was to be another twist in the tale and Kane found the back of the net deep into added time, meeting Ivan Perisic's corner to leave the Blues stunned.

Aside from the goalscorers, here are those who stood out at a sweltering Stamford Bridge - and those who had an outing they would rather forget.

Winners

Marc Cucurella

Ahead of kick-off, Thomas Tuchel said he handed Marc Cucurella for his first Chelsea start because he was better suited for the "rhythm and intensity" of the Premier League than Ben Chilwell, his main competition at left wing-back.

The Spaniard more than justified his manager's billing against Tottenham, marauding up and down the wing at will, coming out on top in his battle with Dejan Kulusevski while also giving Emerson Royal and Cristian Romero plenty to think about.

Cucurella will be delighted to already have his share of the set-piece duties, too, and provided the assist for Kalidou Koulibaly's opener from the corner flag.

The 24-year-old has a long way to go to justifying his mammoth £60million price tag, but he made an excellent start on his home debut for the Blues.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Ruben Loftus-Cheek excelled on the right flank then in central midfield (Getty Images)

On the other side of the Chelsea back five, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was just as solid as Marc Cucurella, if slightly less threatening.

The 26-year-old will have given Thomas Tuchel plenty to think about with his composed display, showing a cool head in a sizzling derby atmosphere. As Reece James dropped back into the right centre-back slot, Loftus-Cheek was brought in on the flank as part of a more defensive set-up to help combat Tottenham's wealth of attacking talent.

The Englishman did just that, putting himself around and coming out on top with Spurs' left side of Son Heung-min and Ryan Sessegnon - no mean feat.

As N'Golo Kante went off injured late on, Tuchel moved Loftus-Cheek into midfield and he continued to fight tooth and nail in every 50-50 challenge. It was the type of spirited display which shows he has much more to offer than simply being a squad player this season.

Was 2-2 a fair result? Have your say in the comments!

Losers

Dejan Kulusevski

Just as Marc Cucurella was brilliant on the Chelsea left, Dejan Kulusevski was far from his best on the Tottenham right.

The Swede picked up a goal and an assist in the opening-weekend victory over Southampton but had a very quiet evening against the Blues thanks to the fine work of Cucurella and Jorginho. Thomas Tuchel clearly set out to keep Kulusevski quiet and was routinely heard calling to Jorginho to move nearer the Spurs winger, all but man marking him at times.

While the 22-year-old ended up playing the whole 90 minutes in West London, he managed a paltry 23 touches. In contrast, Chelsea widemen Mason Mount and Kai Havertz recorded 90 and 55 touches respectively.

Rodrigo Bentancur

Rodrigo Bentancur did not keep pace in the midfield battle against the likes of Jorginho (Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

Reflecting that Tottenham were a tad fortunate to emerge from Stamford Bridge with a point, both losers fall on Spurs' side.

Rodrigo Bentancur is a classy, complete operator on his day but, as was the case with Dejan Kulusevski, much of the game passed him by on Sunday evening. The former Juventus man was outshone by the other midfielders on the pitch, with Jorginho and N'Golo Kante busy throughout and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg popping up with the first of Spurs' equalisers.

Antonio Conte opted to send on Yves Bissouma in Bentancur's place in the 79th minute - marking the second time in two games he has taken the Uruguayan off - and the summer arrival from Brighton is pushing to usurp him in midfield.

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