First defeat for Spurs: Romero and Udogie sent off, the sensational match of the former Empoli player is not enough
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dchinellato
– London
Tottenham finally surrenders. At double numerical inferiority, Chelsea drilled it on the counterattack with Nicolas Jackson in the fourth and seventh of injury time of the second half for the final 4-1 immediately after Son had been denied the equalizer by Robert Sanchez, at VAR. Not even the saves of the amazing Guglielmo Vicario, the best on the pitch for the hosts betrayed by the reds to Romero in the 33rd minute and Udogie in the 55th minute, managed to prevent the Spurs from their first defeat of the season. Which leaves Manchester City at the top of the table with a point advantage over Postecoglou’s team, which in addition to the two reds also lost James Maddison and Micky Van de Ven to injury, two pillars of this amazing start to the season. In the second half Chelsea found the goals with Jackson (hat-trick) that allowed them to make the difference, but they suffered too much for a team that had two more men. The success remains with which Mauricio Pochettino’s team will have to try to change gear. And the controversies also remain, because this fiery London derby is the right conclusion to the weekend in which English football has definitively turned against the VAR that it hates so much, with the electronic eye also protagonist of this Tottenham-Chelsea.
the keys
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A first half with 4 goals disallowed, a red card, a penalty and 13 minutes of injury time, to which another red card, another goal disallowed and another 10 minutes of extra time are added in the second half. The impatient fans waited, whistling, for the referee to clarify, the turns that the match took with the electronic eye were too many to leave no mark. The most sensational one came in the 33rd minute, when in the 5′ review of a goal by Sterling spoiled by a handball the VAR noticed a foul by Romero on Fernandez which the referee considered to be a red card. You don’t need slow motion, however, to understand that Udogie’s entry at the start of the second half on Sterling earned the blue winger a second yellow card which left Tottenham with 9 men from the 55th minute. If Spurs with 10 men had played better than Chelsea throughout the very long final half (13′ of stoppage time), with two men less they started to defend and showed that they have the heart needed to do great things. The Blues, who scored 10 points out of 15 away, instead confirm that they are a team with a great future that has yet to find a way to fully express it in the present. The victory is important, but if it remains an end in itself as has happened too many times this season it will not bring the shock that Pochettino hopes for. In Tottenham, in addition to Vicario, Højbjerg and Dier deserve praise, gladiators as long as their breath held out. In Chelsea, in addition to Jackson and his hat-trick, there was also a positive impact for Sterling and Palmer.
the match
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Kulusevski’s goal in the 6th minute, on which Colwill’s deflection is decisive, lights up the London derby and the VAR. In a lively match they skip the order: Tottenham’s 2-0 due to a millimetric offside by Son (13′ ), Chelsea’s 1-1 thanks to a hand by Sterling (21′), Chelsea’s new equalizer with Caicedo due to Jackson’s offside (28′). Reviewing this action, however, the referee and VAR notice a hard foul by Romero on Fernandez in the area: the defender is sent off, Palmer makes it 1-1 from the spot despite Vicario sensing it and deflecting it onto the inside post. Tottenham’s bad moment doesn’t end here: before the 45th minute, Maddison (replaced by Royal) and Van de Ven (into Højbjerg), two of Postecoglou’s cornerstones, get hurt in quick succession. The second half restarts from 1-1 and Spurs remain down to 9 in the 55th minute, when Udogie naively gets the second yellow card after a great recovery on Sterling. Vicario does everything he can to make Tottenham resist, with a series of sensational interventions, but he can do nothing on the half hour when Sterling breaks through to the right on the edge of offside (the VAR confirms) and finds Jackson in the middle of the area for the support with empty goal. Tottenham equalized immediately, but VAR pinched Dier offside by millimeters and Chelsea remained ahead 2-1. But the Blues risk a lot, first with Bentancur who misses a goal that seemed to have been scored, then with Son who forces Sanchez to perform a miracle in the 94th minute. On the reversal in front, Gallagher breaks through to the right and serves Jackson the ball to close the match, which the attacker reiterates when in the 97th minute he scores the 4-1 and the hat-trick at the end of a personal action.
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