Chelsea came from behind to win a seventh straight league game in a pulsating London derby at Stamford Bridge. Goals either side of half-time from Pedro and Victor Moses were enough to cancel out Christian Eriksen’s early opener, preserving our place at the top of the Premier League and ensuring we remain unbeaten against Tottenham in west London since 1990.
The visitors were ahead in the 11th minute when Eriksen drove home from distance but after a period of readjustment we came back into the game, and although chances were hard to come by, drew level when Pedro bent in from distance just before the break.
Five minutes into the second half Moses hit the winner, finishing off a decent move after smart hold-up play from Diego Costa.
We may have conceded but seven straight wins means things are looking good as we head into December.
Antonio Conte made it six league games unchanged for the Blues, with captain Gary Cahill making his 200th Chelsea start in defence. Tottenham’s line-up, depleted by injury and suspension, carried few surprises with the dangerous Harry Kane leading the attack.
Both captains, Cahill and Hugo Lloris, were wearing special armbands in support of the Rainbow Laces campaign.
Following May’s 2-2 draw, in which we ended the visitors’ title hopes, the expectation here was for another physical encounter and in the early stages the crowd roared with every challenge.
Spurs did get the ball in the net from a free-kick in the early stages but the assistant’s flag denied them the lead, though only for a matter of minutes.
Thibaut Courtois had not been beaten since late September, a run of six straight games, but there was little the goalkeeper could do about Eriksen’s strike, hit early off his lesser favoured left foot from 25 yards, taking advantage of a kind bounce after David Luiz had challenged from Dele Alli’s lay-off.
Chelsea needed a strong response, but were struggling to replicate the impressive form of recent weeks, too often moves breaking down in midfield where Spurs looked quicker to the ball and continued to threaten on the counter.
Our first shot actually took until the 30th minute, David Luiz, earlier booked himself, firing a decent but straight free-kick into the arms of Lloris from around 30 yards after Pedro had been fouled.
At the other end Courtois blocked a Kyle Walker cross-shot and then held onto an Eric Dier header from the resulting corner.
Pedro and Diego Costa combined down our left but the striker could only square straight to Lloris, but we were at least showing signs of some cohesive play. From there though Spurs went forward and Kane’s powerful drive stung Courtois’ palms before going behind.
As the half draw on, the Blues began to redress the balance in play, enjoying more possession and territory than our north London rivals but were lacking the final pass to create a clear-cut opportunity.
Lloris presented a sight of goal with a poor clearance but was able to dive on Eden Hazard’s low effort with relative ease. Next time he was called into action he wouldn’t be so lucky.
Chelsea needed a bit of magic and it arrived at the perfect time just before the half-time whistle. Pedro collected a pass on the edge of the area, and looking left with few options, he turned inside and with space to pick his spot curled a finish into the far corner.
We just about deserved the equaliser and could head in at half-time with parity restored knowing we had several more gears to move into.
- Match stats:
Chelsea (3-4-3): Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c), Moses (Ivanovic 80), Kante, Matic, Alonso; Pedro (Oscar 83), Diego Costa, Hazard (Willian 76).
Unused subs Begovic, Fabregas, Chalobah, Batshuayi.
Scorers Pedro 44, Moses 51
Booked David Luiz 18, Willian 85
Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Wimmer; Wanyama, Dembele; Son (Winks 65), Alli (N’Koudou 73), Eriksen, Kane.
Unused subs Vorm, Carter-Vickers, Trippier, Onomah, Janssen.
Scorer Eriksen 11
Booked Dembele 26
Referee Michael Oliver
Crowd 41,513
- Match report by chelseafc.com
4 - 1 