Chelsea were twice pegged back by Spurs as the London rivals played out a hugely entertaining 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge today.
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side had the better of the opening exchanges and they almost took the lead after 17 minutes, but Hugo Lloris managed to turn Kai Havertz’s powerful low strike around the post. The Blues wouldn’t have to wait long to take the lead though with summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly rippling the net from the resulting corner. Fellow new recruit Marc Cucurella whipped a corner towards the back post and Koulibaly showed wonderful technique to volley home from 14 yards out.
Chelsea continued to perform impressively and their dominance only increased as he first half went on and Spurs boss Antonio Conte will have been pleased his team only went in at the break one goal down.
Tuchel’s side struggled to find that elusive second goal despite their clear superiority, with Raheem Sterling blazing over from close range on the hour mark.
Just moments later and it looked as if Sterling’s miss would be costly when Harry Kane found himself clean through on goal, but the England skipper dragged his effort wide of the post.
On 68 minutes Spurs would equalise against the run of play through Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Chelsea midfielder Jorginho wanted too much time on the ball inside his own box and when it broke to Hojbjerg, he fired a low strike past Eduoard Mendy from just outside the area.
Things got heated in the dugouts as Spurs celebrated, with both Conte and Tuchel shown a yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor.
Tuchel’s frustrations would be short-lived though, with the impressive Reece James breaking forward to put his side ahead on 77 minutes. Spurs’ defence seemed to be sucked over to the left-hand side, allowing Sterling plenty of space and time to slip in James, who fired a powerful finish home with his side foot.
It looked as if Chelsea might score a third in the final stages to cement what would have been a hugely deserved win. However, deep into injury time Spurs talisman Kane would silence the Stamford Bridge faithful by netting his 249th goal for his boyhood club. Chelsea failed to deal with an inswinging corner and Kane rose highest to glance a header into the far corner.
There was more bad blood between Conte and Tuchel which came as no real surprise considering the mutual dislike shared by the two London clubs fanbases.
TUCHEL VS CONTE: ROUND TWO!!! 🤬🤬 pic.twitter.com/XhWuOU4fwD
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 14, 2022
Speaking afterward Conte refused to be drawn on his arguments with Tuchel and the Italian coach admitted Chelsea had made his side ‘suffer’ for long periods.
”My opinion is it’s better to talk about the game,” Conte told Sky Sports.
”It was a difficult game for both teams and we try in every game to be competitive.
“Chelsea showed they are a really good team. Compared to last season we did better, but if we want to create problems for Chelsea [in the table] we have to be better.
“I don’t want to comment on the [Tuchel] situation, this is not the most important thing. If there’s a problem, it’s between me and him.
“It’s normal to come here and to suffer but at the same time we created chances to stay in the game.”
