Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea: Dele Alli continues stunning goalscoring form with a brace to end Blues' winning streak and open up the Premier League title race
- In a frenetic first-half in north London, Chelsea's Diego Costa and Pedro were involved in heated exchange
- Dele Alli opened the scoring in impressive fashion after meeting Christian Eriksen's cross with bullet header
- The pair combined again nine minutes after the restart when Alli doubled his tally with another headed goal
- Alli, the 20-year-old star, now has 10 Premier League goals for the season after his brace at White Hart Lane
- Tottenham moved to third in the table while Chelsea remain top, five points above second-place Liverpool
- Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea: Follow the action from White Hart Lane as it happened
There is an old joke about two idiots watching a cowboy film. John Wayne rides his horse over a cliff. 'Let's watch it again,' says one of the idiots. He bets £5 on the outcome. Wayne rides his horse over a cliff again. 'I can't believe it,' says the idiot, paying up. 'I never thought the silly bleeder would do it a second time.'
That was pretty much like Chelsea on Wednesday night. They conceded one headed goal from Dele Alli just before half-time, and then just after half-time they conceded the same goal again.
Seriously, same goal. Same players in the build-up, same provider, same scorer, getting in between the same two defenders to find the net in the same way.
Dele Alli doubles his tally for the evening with another wonderful headed finish as Tottenham stunned London rivals Chelsea
Nine minutes after the restart, Alli grabs his second goal after meeting Christian Eriksen's cross to head home
The 20-year-old midfielder celebrates with Tottenham substitute Harry Winks after scoring his side's second goal
Tottenham midfielder Alli times his jump perfectly and prepares to head the ball in the build-up to the hosts' opener
Alli meets Eriksen's perfect cross with a superb placed header which opened the scoring for Spurs in north London
Alli celebrates his first-half goal by encouraging the home fans to increase the volume at White Hart Lane
The former MK Dons playmaker is mobbed by his jubilant Tottenham team-mates after scoring on the stroke of half-time
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte shows a look of dejection after seeing his Premier League leaders struggle against Spurs
Chelsea pair Diego Costa and Pedro were involved in a heated exchange during a fast-paced first half at White Hart Lane
Costa's frustration is there for all to see after Chelsea missed a good chance to open the scoring against their London rivals
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE FROM WHITE HART LANE
TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris 6.5; Dier 7, Alderweireld 7.5, Vertonghen 7; Walker 7, Wanyama 7, Dembele 7.5 (Winks 74, 6), Rose 7.5; Eriksen 8, Kane 6.5 (Son 90), Alli 8.5 (Sissoko 86, 6)
Subs not used: Son, Vorm, Trippier, Wimmer, Davies
Goals: Alli 45' 54'
Booked: Wanyama, Alli, Rose
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 8
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Courtois 6; Azpilicueta 6, Luiz 6.5, Cahill 6; Moses 5.5 (Batshauyi 85, 6), Kante 6.5 (Fabregas 79, 6), Matic 6.5, Alonso 5.5 (Willian 65, 6); Pedro 6, Costa 6, Hazard 6.5
Subs not used: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Chalobah
Booked: Pedro, Cahill
Manager: Antonio Conte 6
Referee: Martin Atkinson 6.5
Attendance: 34,491
MoM: Alli
Ratings by Sami Mobkel
Dele Alli (No 20) opened the scoring in impressive fashion after meeting a cross from Christian Eriksen (No 23) with a bullet header. CLICK HERE to see more of our brilliant Match Zone service.
The pair combined again nine minutes after the restart when Alli doubled his tally with another headed goal
It was like watching an action replay, or attempting one of those spot-the-difference games with two near identical panels. The faces in the crowd would have been altered, the advertising hoardings, too. But the goals, the execution? They were as good as carbon copies.
Kyle Walker had the ball on the right and slipped it inside for Christian Eriksen. His cross was perfectly targeted and picked out Alli, who got between Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta with limited resistance from Thibaut Courtois.
Alli's astutely positioned header sent the ball into the corner of the net in the direction from which it came. Take that as the description of the goal in the 54th minute, and the one in first-half injury time, too. You get two for the price of one here.
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As Tottenham have done from Alli over the holiday period. Two goals against Southampton on December 28, two more against Watford on January 1, two more here.
Factor in the one against Burnley on December 18 and he now has seven goals in his last four league games. Those comparisons with Steven Gerrard in terms of impact and influence seem increasingly apt. Alli scored in Tottenham's other landmark result this season, too — the 2-0 win over Manchester City.
So has he blown the title race wide open? Well, not exactly. Chelsea are still five points clear, which any manager would take with a whoop of delight at this stage in the season, and few of their opponents will be as clinical as Tottenham were on Wednesday night.
Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen tangles with Chelsea forward Pedro during the early stages of this top-flight fixture
Players exchange words after Cesar Azpilicueta shoves Jan Vertonghen to the deck after the Belgian tangled with Pedro
It took just six minutes for referee Martin Atkinson to get involved following Azpilicueta's unnecessary shove
Victor Moses (second left) and Nemanja Matic attempt to cool the situation down as Tottenham's Harry Kane gets involved
Eden Hazard has the game's first attempt at goal but the Belgian star's left-footed shot is wide of the Tottenham goal
In a frenetic and entertaining opening period at White Hart Lane, defender Rose sends France star N'Golo Kante flying
Yet what Alli did was prevent this season becoming a procession. Had Chelsea won here many would have been planning their spring coronation in the first week of January. Tottenham would have been considered as good as out of it; Liverpool with a mountain to climb, the rest scrapping for the Champions League places.
Chelsea would also have set the all-time top division record for consecutive wins in one season, 14, with the psychological advantage that entails. Now they must go again. They have to visit Anfield at the end of the month. Even if they win every league game until that date, they could still end the night a mere two points clear.
This win said something about Tottenham, too, up to third place, although still seven points off Chelsea. Their recent form is impressive, but the opposition has been weak. Not so on Wednesday night. This was a Chelsea team in historic form, and they picked them off with hard work and outstanding organisation.
Chelsea had chances, of course, and should have equalised through Eden Hazard at the back post minutes before Tottenham went two ahead, but Tottenham's tenacity alone made them worthy winners. They left Chelsea's defence looking vulnerable again, and few have managed that since Antonio Conte switched to three at the back.
Costa and Spain team-mate Pedro have a very public slanging match after the visitors wasted a goalscoring opportunity
Eriksen powers forward for the hosts but can only watch on as this shot goes narrowly wide of the Chelsea goal
The Spurs playmaker reacts in disappointment after seeing his long-range shot fail to break the deadlock in north London
Pedro's late sliding challenge on Danny Rose results in a yellow card for the Spaniard - the first booking of the game
Chelsea's experienced defender Gary Cahill becomes the second away player to get booked after pulling back Eriksen
Four minutes after Cahill's booking and Victor Wanyama becomes first Tottenham player to be booked for a foul on Hazard
The first half was fast and furious but lacking the poisonous mood that marked the meeting between these teams at the end of last season.
With no Tottenham players to row with, Chelsea's players took to arguing with each other. In the 22nd minute, a Tottenham corner yielded a typical Chelsea counter-attack. Hazard burst away and found Diego Costa. He strode through and played a neat pass intended for Pedro, who failed to read it.
Costa was livid. In his mind, he was occupying Pedro's role, so Pedro should play his. This was clearly the run he would have made had the positions been reversed. Why couldn't Pedro see it? The heated dialogue continued while waiting for Hugo Lloris's goal-kick, and then through the next break in play, neither man backing down. At least it showed they cared is the cliched take, although other players probably care just as much without wasting energy bickering.
Sure enough, Costa gave the ball away in a dangerous position a minute later — Eriksen should have done better with his shot — then blasted his next chance high and wide, very much out of character considering his recent form.
Chelsea found it hard going all night, to be fair. Tottenham are very strong defensively and were working incredibly hard to contain the league leaders.
On one occasion Chelsea exchanged passes into double figures, neat, snappy, fast and impressive. They ended up pegged back in their own half, 50 yards downfield from where they started. It was like watching Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at their best this season. Indeed, it is easy to forget they are not the only exponents of the high press. Mauricio Pochettino's team killed Manchester City earlier this season exactly the same way.
Alli put the right amount of placement and power on the ball to ensure Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had no chance
The 20-year-old midfielder points to the ecstatic Tottenham fans in the home end after scoring the game's first goal
The England international wheels away to celebrate his first goal as Danny Rose rushes to congratulate his team-mate
The Tottenham players including England defender Kyle Walker join in on the celebrations with the delighted home fans
Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham's Belgian centre back, times his sliding challenge perfectly to tackle the powerful Costa
Alli, the Tottenham playmaker, is fouled by Chelsea's midfield maestro Kante as the former looked to attack
Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembele tries to play a pass into the run of Kane but Courtois is out fast to scoop it up
Not that the sting is ever completely removed from Chelsea. They are always dangerous and one pass is all it takes. In the fifth minute, Nemanja Matic clipped the ball over the top and Hazard was away. He should have done better than a low shot across goal that travelled just wide of the far post. Equally, David Luiz will be disappointed with a 25th-minute free-kick that flew harmlessly over the bar and a header in the 90th minute that took a similar flightpath.
Yet at the very least Tottenham showed Chelsea could be got at, even if few other teams possess the wit or energy to replicate this display. Victor Wanyama did a good job matching N'Golo Kante in midfield, while pressure led to mistakes at the back.
Gary Cahill headed the ball straight to Eriksen in the 38th minute, and could only respond by hauling him back in the most obvious fashion, taking the yellow card. It looked sloppy and unsightly — two words that have barely been associated with Chelsea since Conte switched to his preferred system.
Maybe the result was not such a great surprise considering Tottenham are yet to lose a home London derby in the Premier League under Pochettino. Even so, there will be more than a few taking encouragement from this.
Key questions remain, however. Could others do what Tottenham did to Chelsea? And will Conte ever again let his players make the same mistake twice? Observing him on the touchline, he really doesn't look the sort.
Chelsea started the second half superbly and they almost grabbed an equaliser but Hazard's headed effort was weak
Chelsea's Belgian goalkeeper Courtois looks to spread his body but can't prevent Alli from doubling Tottenham's lead
For the third Premier League match in a row, Alli grabs a brace for Tottenham and the midfielder was clearly delighted
Tottenham team-mate and close friend Eric Dier congratulates the man of the moment as the Tottenham fans celebrate
Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris, who was relatively quiet in the hosts' goal, enjoys the moment after Alli scored his second
The match winner left the White Hart Lane field to a standing ovation and was congratulated by his manager after the game
Chelsea defender David Luiz and Azpilicueta cut dejected figures following the full-time whistle on Wednesday evening
Chelsea manager Conte and his Tottenham counterpart Mauricio Pochettino share a laugh prior to kick-off
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4088524/Tottenham-2-0-Chelsea-Dele-Alli-continues-stunning-goalscoring-form-brace-end-Blues-winning-streak-open-Premier-League-title-race.html#ixzz4UslX2dF6
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