Tottenham’s Champions League hopes were dealt a damaging blow as they fell to a 2-0 Premier League defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were left trailing fourth-placed Aston Villa by seven points and now have just a single game in hand.
Goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson saw Mauricio Pochettino emerge victorious against his former club to enhance his team’s own chances of qualifying for Europe.
This was far from Spurs at their fluid, swashbuckling best, and rarely did they put serious pressure on a Chelsea backline that had already posted the club’s worst league defensive record in more than 30 years.
Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill takes a look at some of things you may have missed.
Chelsea fans unveiled a giant banner to show their appreciation for Conor Gallagher
All episodes
-
EPISODE 83: Listen to the latest episode of ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ -
PODCAST: Is the North London Derby the best game in the League? -
It’s All Kicking Off! ‘He’s reaching De Bruyne levels’ listen now -
PODCAST: Listen to our EXCLUSIVE interview with Phil Foden -
IAKO! – Nottingham Forest are making fools of themselves!
Stamford Bridge faithful craft pointed tribute
As revealed by Mail Sport, Chelsea’s supporters used this match to send a message to the club’s decision-makers with a gigantic banner for Conor Gallagher, who only has a year left on his contract.
Purely funded by fans, they do not want to see him sold this summer, least of all to Tottenham. The ‘Chelsea since birth’ display covered two tiers of the Shed End.
Baby Blues
So remarkable is the scale of Chelsea’s injury crisis, they could not name a single ‘senior’ outfielder as a substitute.
Tottenham’s bench boasted 664 Premier League appearances between them.
Chelsea’s bench had played 16 Premier League games, with 31-year-old goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli doing some heavy lifting there.
A night to remember, eight years on
This fixture fell on the eighth anniversary of the Battle of the Bridge and Mail Sport columnist Mark Clattenburg, who refereed that naughty night without VAR, maintains that was the hardest match he ever had to officiate.
He said: ‘There would have been few complaints if I had shown four red cards but equally, I could have been accused of ruining a great game. No matter what I did, I don’t think I could have won.’
Chelsea’s extremely junior bench weren’t called upon heavily by their manager on the night
Tempers flared in the infamous clash between the London rivals at Stamford Bridge in 2016
Tottenham have teens too!
One of those making his debut on the Tottenham bench was Mikey Moore, an English 16-year-old winger who the club are extremely excited about.
Loan watch
Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen starred for Borussia Dortmund this week in their 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg victory over Paris Saint- Germain.
With a £35million release clause in the left back’s contract, Maatsen’s father Edward, says they want to turn this into a permanent move.
Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen is enjoying a prodigious loan spell at Borussia Dortmund
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino and his own Rhodesian Ridgeback named Sansa
Stark similarities
Not often do you find yourself sharing a picture of your pooch with Mauricio Pochettino, but it happened after discovering we have dogs named after the Stark sisters from Game of Thrones.
His: Sansa. Mine: Arya.
