Tottenham let a two-goal lead slip as they fell to a 4-3 defeat at home to Chelsea on Sunday evening. Ange Postecoglou sprung a surprise ahead of kick-off following the return of both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to the starting XI following their respective injuries.
There was also a place in the team for Son Heung-min, with James Maddison dropping down to the bench after having very little impact on the game in Thursday’s loss at Bournemouth. Spurs made the best possible start to proceedings as Dominic Solanke opened the scoring after only five minutes from Brennan Johnson’s low cross following a Marc Cucurella slip.
Six minutes later and Tottenham were two to the good after another error from the left-back. The Spaniard once again slipped on the wet surface and that allowed Johnson to gain possession leading up to Dejan Kulusevski’s low strike
There was a lot more to come from the eventful start as Romero exited the field injured and Jadon Sancho reduced the deficit with a brilliant effort that gave Fraser Forster no chance. In what was an end-to-end game, Cole Palmer restored parity on the hour mark from the penalty spot after Yves Bissouma’s poorly timed challenge on Moises Caicedo.
The west London club were to complete the turnaround on 73 minutes as Enzo Fernandez volleyed home from just inside the box after Palmer’s deflected ball had fallen kindly into his path. Palmer was to get another goal to his name in the 84th minute as he scored a Panenka penalty past Forster prior to Son’s strike in the dying seconds. Here are five things we spotted in what was a thrilling game in north London:
An unexpected surprise
Romero’s return to the Tottenham team to face Chelsea perhaps wasn’t that big of a surprise for supporters following Postecoglou’s pre-match comments. Speaking at Hotspur Way on Friday morning, the 59-year-old hinted at a potential comeback for the Argentine after admitting that he was due to return to training that day and a decision would be made on Saturday.
However, there was no mention of Van de Ven’sfitness in his press conference. Speaking last month, the Spurs boss did reveal that the Dutchman would more than likely return from his hamstring injury in the middle of December.
Amid no whispers about a possible early return for Van de Ven against Chelsea, it was very similar to Rodrigo Bentancur’s Tottenham comeback against Bournemouth last December way ahead of schedule when nobody expected it. That came as a huge boost to all connected with the club, with the same happening on Sunday afternoon as Van de Ven’s name on the teamsheet gave everyone a much-needed lift going into such an important fixture.
Radu Dragusin’s run in the team unfortunately came to an end but it was a no-brainer for Postecoglou with his first-choice centre-back in a position to start. However, the Romanian would be needed 15 minutes after kick-off.
Romero reaction
Romero’s comeback would only last a quarter of an hour as he unfortunately had to make way through injury. The ex-Atalanta man appeared to pick up an issue in his own area when performing a backheel early on and it later resulted in him coming off.
After initially looking able to carry on playing following the early injury scare, he never really looked comfortable; Romero went to ground not long after and was in no position to continue. The 26-year-old could be seen laying on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf and then he put his shirt over his head when he departed the field. He was completely devastated and his reaction said it all.
Cucurella calamity
Cucurella had a huge part to play in Tottenham’s opening two goals as they stormed into an early lead in the capital. The Spaniard slipped on the wet turf on both occasions and that allowed Johnson to come away with the ball, with Solanke and Kulusevski in turn going on to find the net.
Quite how Cucurella didn’t realise during the warm-up that his boots weren’t right for the surface remains to be seen. However, his second costly slip saw him immediately head to the touchline and complain to a member of Enzo Maresca’s coaching staff about the boots that he had picked for the game as he changed them.
Big VAR call
Chelsea were perhaps a tad lucky not to be down to 10 men towards the end of the first half. Caicedo caught Pape Matar Sarr on the shin with a late challenge when going for the ball and it looked to be a nasty one.
As we have seen plenty of red cards in the past for similar challenges, it initially appeared that the Ecuadorian would be heading for an early bath with VAR set to get involved. However, he would remain on the pitch and it was a decision that baffled home supporters.
The explanation from PGMOL for the decision not to show Caicedo a red card then left Tottenham fans even more perplexed. “VAR checked for a potential red card following a challenge by Caicedo on Sarr and confirmed the referee’s call of no serious foul play,” read a tweet from Premier League Match Centre’s X account.
It’s quite hard to see how VAR came to that decision when the replay of the tackle showed how dangerous it was. Once again, consistency and determining the correct call is a major talking point when it comes to VAR.
Spurs themselves got away with one just before half-time as Kulusevski caught Romeo Lavia on the side of his head with his elbow following a sharp turn from the Chelsea midfielder. The Swede was not to be dismissed from the field of play, though.
More Ange agony
Not only did Tottenham have to deal with Romero’s first-half exit due to injury, Johnsonthen picked up an issue himself not long after the restart and it resulted in former Chelsea man Timo Werner replacing him. Johnson headed straight down the tunnel after his substitution and now it remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is.
One player who will definitely miss Sunday’s game at Southampton is Bissouma. The Tottenham midfielder picked up a yellow card when attempting to win the ball off Caicedo in the area but he subsequently gave away a penalty as it was completely mistimed.
It was Bissouma’s fifth yellow card of the campaign and he will now serve a one-match suspension, meaning he will have to watch on from the stands at St Mary’s next weekend. There will also be questions over Van de Ven’s participation on the south coast as he didn’t complete the match.
The Dutchman went down needing treatment with just over 10 minutes to go and the hope will be that he just cramped up rather than another hamstring problem. It never rains but it pours at Tottenham.
