Downwardly Mobile Tottenham Pay The Penalty

A 24th-minute Jorginho penalty condemned Spurs to a third straight Premier League defeat and left the North Londoners languishing in eighth place in the table – seven points off the Champions League pace. But of far more concern to Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy than a run of just two league wins in ten, was the fatalistic nature of this performance. Spurs looked a beaten side from the very first minute.

The once messianic Jose Mourinho now appears utterly incapable of providing inspiration. By contrast, Thomas Tuchel, in less than two weeks since his arrival, has reignited Chelsea’s season.

Following Sunday’s dispiriting defeat at Brighton, the Tottenham manager reverted to the gameplan that had seen Spurs counterpunch their way to the top of the table briefly for a few weeks back in November. Dier and Alderweireld were reunited at the heart of a back four with Sissoko and Hojbjerg providing the midfield shield in front of them. Critically however with Harry Kane still sidelined, it fell to Vinicius – on his first Premier League start – to be Tottenham’s attacking fulcrum. The Brazilian, who cut an isolated figure, hardly managed a kick in a first half where Spurs scarcely crossed the half-way line.

Setting the tone for the evening, Chelsea came close to opening the scoring before a Tottenham player had managed a touch of the ball. From the kick-off, Azpilicueta split the home defence with a flighted pass into the area that Timo Werner headed over with only Lloris to beat.

Recognising the home side’s lack of confidence and ambition, the Chelsea wing-backs, Alonso and the impressive Reece James, were free to take up permanent residence in Tottenham territory. In the opening quarter-hour, James and Hudson-Odoi repeatedly exposed the overworked Ben Davies on the left of the Tottenham defence as the home side totally surrendered the initiative. The consequences were inevitable.

Midway through the first half Thiago Silva strode forward before steering the ball on to Azpilicueta, who, in turn, clipped a pass down the right channel seeking out Werner. Caught on the wrong side of the German forward, Eric Dier went to ground in the box. Initially, the big defender contacted the ball which held up on the rain-soaked turf, but then rashly, from his prone position, began flailing his legs at Werner. The forward shrewdly manoeuvred his body to ensure Dier kicked through him, leaving referee Andre Marriner no option but to point to the spot. Jorginho struck his kick to Lloris’s right, and although the keeper dived that way, the power of the shot gave him no chance.

Chelsea’s failure to increase their lead before the interval reflects the lack of a genuinely top-class centre forward in their ranks. Plied with passes from Kovacic and Jorginho, time and again Mason Mount found himself on the edge of the Spurs box searching for a striker to whom he could play a killer ball. Mount himself should have applied the finishing touch when a simple short corner routine with James saw him escape into the Tottenham area unopposed. For a player of such poise, Mount lacked composure on this occasion and belted the ball wildly behind Lloris’s goal from the angle.

Three minutes before the break, Spurs almost stole a completely unmerited equaliser. Serge Aurier – having been brought down following his first foray into the Chelsea half – rose to head a Son free-kick narrowly wide of Edouard Mendy’s far post.

Tottenham did rally at the start of the second period, trying, at least, to engage Chelsea further up the pitch in the hope of forcing mistakes. But so feeble had their showing in the first 45 minutes been, the bar for what constituted an improved Spurs performance could barely have been set any lower. And even then Chelsea always looked more likely to extend their advantage than Spurs did to equalise. It was only the fine goalkeeping of Hugo Lloris – and a last-ditch tackle by Serge Aurier to deny Timo Werner – that kept the score to one.

Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela replaced Steven Bergwijn and the subdued Tanguy Ndombele with just over 20 minutes remaining. The Argentine, in particular, added some much-needed thrust to Spurs play. 12 minutes from time, he cut infield before hitting a swerving shot towards the bottom corner which finally required Mendy to dirty his hitherto unsoiled kit when making a diving save.

That Gareth Bale remained an unused substitute in a match where Tottenham desperately needed a goal underlines just how little faith Mourinho currently has in the Welshman.

Those that Mourinho opted to keep on the pitch did almost rescue a point at the death. Sissoko set a ball wide for Aurier to whip in a cross from the right-wing. The Ivorian’s teasing delivery to the back post was met by Vinicius who had outjumped Azpilicueta. But the Brazilian – who endured a difficult night – failed to find the net from six yards with the goal at his mercy.

Following this latest loss, Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham future now seems inextricably linked with how quickly Harry Kane recovers from injury. So dire has the situation at Spurs become, however, rescuing this season may even prove beyond Tottenham’s talisman.