Premier League

TOTTENHAM 1 (Kulusevski 6, Romero sent off 33, Udogie sent off 55)
CHELSEA 4 (Palmer 35 pen, Jackson 75, 90+4, 90+7)

A THRILLER of a game, a follow up to the infamous “Battle of the Bridge” – and with the same outcome.

Chelsea were out to prick the Tottenham bubble this evening (Monday), as they did when Mauricio Pochettino was in the Spurs dug out and chasing down Leicester City in 2016.

This time, it was Ange Postecoglou’s in-form side Pochettino was out to get, and his charges did so in dramatic style.

A game of disallowed goals, VAR waits, two game-changing red cards, uncontrolled aggression, injuries and a match-winning 20 minute hat-trick from Nicolas Jackson. This was full throttle football that ended in a 4-1 defeat, Tottenham’s first of the season, and was dramatic as it sounds.

The football circus Spurs so regularly conjure up, and that Postecoglou has tried to eliminate, was in full effect in this riotous derby.

Postecoglou watched the game turn on a red card for hot-headed Cristian Romero – his fourth since he joined – and then another for Destiny Udogie.

The Tottenham boss had no complaints, and said afterwards: “You have to accept the referee’s decision. This constant erosion of the referee’s authority is where the game is going to get – they are not going to have any authority.

“We are going to be under the control of someone with a TV screen a few miles away. The decision is the decision. In 26 years I have had plenty of bad decisions, I have had plenty fall in my favour. It is what it is.”

Yet the defeat, which saw Chelsea finally break down nine-man Spurs in the last 15 minutes and then hit two more in injury-time, giving the result a gloss, came in such a chaotic manner that when Postecoglou said he could take heart from a desperately disappointing defeat on paper, he was telling the truth.

He added: “Disappointed by the result but proud of the players, they gave everything and that is the positive we will take. We were very close to getting an equaliser a couple of times and it shows their spirit. It was just a bridge too far today.

“I thought we started really well, scored a great goal and were inches away from another. The red card affected the game, I felt like I was standing around waiting for things to happen, with VAR intervention. It felt like a lot of standing around.”

Tottenham started like a whirlwind and it took just seven minutes for them to get their noses in front. A team move began from the back, with Guglielmo Vicario laying it out three times before Micky van de Ven found the angle for James Maddison in space.

The excellent Pape Sarr swept the ball across the pitch for Dejan Kulusevski, who came inside and saw his shot take a big deflection to leave Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez wrong-footed.

Then came the first of a tumble of game-changing VAR moments. Heung-Min Son thought he’d doubled the lead on 12 when live wire Brennan Johnson whipped a devil of a ball in that Son needed only to direct home. Replays showed Son was a fraction offside and the goal was chalked off.

Next came the first card offence. Udogie dived in two-footed as Spurs sought to keep the press up. He earned a no question yellow, which was lenient. Another day and it could easily have been walkies.

This poured fuel on to a febrile atmosphere, cranked up when on 20 minutes Raheem Sterling thought he’d levelled things. Another goal, another VAR check, and this time a free-kick to the home side for a handball.

As if poor referee Michael Oliver hadn’t had enough to do, seven minutes later a bizarre VAR sequence flipped the game on its head.

Tottenham got themselves in a pickle at the back, and a rough and ready scramble in the box saw the ball squirt out to Moises Caicedo, who thumped the ball home from distance.

Straight forward? Not in modern football.

VAR first asked if Jackson was offside in the build up – he was – and then if Enzo Fernandez was fouled for a penalty – again, he was – and finally, had Romero committed a red card offence in the process, which he had.

So the Caicedo goal was chalked off, Romero walked, and Cole Palmer slotted the resulting penalty home.

From being in control, dominating the opponent and likely to score every time they went forward, Spurs gave themselves a problem to solve.

The volatile Romero had followed through on a clearance and was looking for trouble, minutes earlier flicking a leg out off the ball at Thiago Silva. If that had been spotted, he may well have been ordered off earlier.

But it got worse. Romero’s defensive partner van de Ven joined him in the dressing room after he pulled up clutching his hamstring. Emerson Royal and Eric Dier popped up as centr- backs. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also came on for the knocked about Maddison who limped off with an ankle injury.

On 53 minutes, Udogie, determined to win the ball as Sterling lurked, flew into a challenge. He knew his night was done before he’d hit the ground and Sterling tumbled. A second yellow card and the home side were down to nine.

Some heroics from Vicario kept Chelsea at bay for awhile and every tackle, every header was cheered as Dier got into the spirit of things with a roll call of his greatest grimaces and crowd pleasing roars after clearing any danger.

Despite the player deficit Tottenham even conjured up three big moments in the second half. Dier smashed home a brilliant volley – how sweet a goal that would have been for the out of favour veteran – but VAR found an inch again to quibble over and it was ruled out for offside.

Rodrigo Bentancur got his feet and head muddled up when the goal was at his mercy, and Son broke clear with three in his wake, only for Sanchez to get a finger tip to his goal-bound effort.

Chelsea walked away with it in injury-time, Jackson scoring twice on the break after he had given Chelsea the lead in a similar fashion with 15 minutes to go.

Postecoglou has a mountain in front of him in terms of injuries and suspensions – but the atmosphere after a heavy defeat was positive. There were always going to be setbacks. Tonight was self-inflicted, and something you sense Postecoglou will use for his players to learn a valuable lesson from.

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero (sent off 33), van de Ven (Royal, 45+1), Udogie (sent off 55), Sarr (Bentancur, 61), Maddison (Hojbjerg, 45+1), Bissouma, Kulusevski (Skipp, 61), Johnson (Dier, 34), Son
Substitutes not used: Forster, Richarlison, Gil, Lo Celso

Chelsea: Sanchez, James (Gusto, 77), Disasi, Silva, Colwill (Cucurella, 45), Fernandez (Mudryk, 58), Caicedo, Gallagher, Palmer, Sterling (Ugochukwu, 90+1), Jackson
Substitutes not used: Petrovic, Badiashile, Maatsen, Washington