Gary Cahill singles out Tottenham midfielder for praise: He caused us 'a few problems'

As Chelsea took home six wins and six clean sheets in our previous six Premier League matches, not once was the Blues' resolve to come from behind tested.  Chelsea did fall behind in the League Cup and would go on to lose eventually with a much-changed lineup, so when Spurs took the lead on Saturday, it was hardly a foregone conclusion that Chelsea would be able to come back.

While the initial response was a bit tepid — Spurs' high press, high energy scheme was working amazingly well — but once Pedro leveled the score and Antonio Conte got to have his half-time chat, it was business as usual for Chelsea once again.

Afterwards, captain Gary Cahill reflected on the "massive three points" and highlighted the key role that stopping England teammate Dele Alli played in changing the flow of the game.

"It is a massive three points for us against a rival with a lot of history in this game. It was a big fixture and three points is all that mattered to us."

"Tottenham started very well, very bright, and we started poor which gave them a lot of momentum in the game. They got the early goal but we went in at half-time knowing we could find that second gear. I don't think we clicked in the first half, going forward or defensively, and Dele Alli between the lines caused us a few problems early on."

"It was an unbelievable finish, a touch of class from Pedro. He whipped it into the top corner and that is the sort of player we have got, ones to change games like that. That was vital going in at half-time. We have been on the other side of that and it is not nice. The momentum shifts our way and we felt that, but coming out for the second half we knew we could play better and we did."

Once Chelsea found the proper gear in the second half, it took only a matter of minutes to settle the score — Victor Moses grabbing the eventual winner and Marcos Alonso missing a wide open chance for the insurance goal.  Restricting Spurs largely to long shots and set piece chances, Chelsea looked "reasonably comfortable", according to the stand-in Captain.

"We felt we were losing a lot of duels and second balls all over the pitch, the scrappy part of the game. Tottenham were on top in that so we needed to make sure we tied that up in the second half. We dropped into our formation, got to grips with Dele Alli and in the second half we were reasonably comfortable."

"I am delighted for Victor to get the second goal. He has been fantastic this season and it is another goal from him, an important goal."

-Gary Cahill; source: Chelsea FC

Having passed this latest toughest test, now we get to prepare for a most anticipated match in six days, away to Manchester City.  The toughest test.