That was certainly the case for Chelsea on a miserable evening at Stamford Bridge as they lost 2-0 to Tottenham in a game where they were described as "awful" by Gary Neville. Spurs had won only one of their previous 36 league visits to Chelsea but dominated Xabi Alonso's side from start to finish, with an own goal from Mike Penders and a stunning late strike from Mathys Tel securing a well-deserved win for Roberto De Zerbi's side. To add to their woes, on an evening where the dismal weather matched their performance, Cole Palmer was sent off for a second bookable offence after already escaping a straight red card earlier in the game, having barged into Spurs midfielder Mateus Fernandes.
"Tottenham outplayed Chelsea. None of us expected Tottenham to come here and win today, but after 10-15 mins, that confidence did start to grow," Gary Neville said while on commentary duty, in a game that was also described as the worst performance of Xabi Alonso's short tenure so far. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "Chelsea have been awful, really.
On the ball, they've been well short. I am stunned." Chelsea started the game without a recognised striker due to the surprise absence of regular starter Joao Pedro. Both Danny Welbeck, who started as the striker in the 3-0 loss to Brentford when Joao Pedro was also absent, and Estevao were on the bench.
Welbeck was not introduced until the 88th minute, when Chelsea were 2-0 down. Neville added: "Welbeck must be thinking 'how do I get a game here?' Disciplinary problems have cost him [Alonso] today, but I don't think that's the biggest problem. "This is collective, this is a team thing.
"We are all disappointed, but we need to move on." "The biggest problem is that Tottenham have come and outplayed them. They've made them look really ordinary. "Where Tottenham have absolutely battered Chelsea is in midfield.
Cole Palmer, [Morgan] Rogers, [Jordan] Henderson and [Moises] Caicedo have been able to get nowhere near. Spurs' midfield has run the game. "They absolutely bossed the game.
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