Unlike Chelsea, Tottenham have not had too many good moments at Wembley. They haven’t beaten Chelsea there since the 2008 League Cup final and won just once in five tries last season in the various European and cup games they hosted there as they prepared to move out of White Hart Lane. Facing the prospect of having to play a full season’s worth of home games in the national stadium, they had been hoping to change that narrative. Chelsea were out to change a narrative of their own, that of the early-season crisis. Only one of those intentions could succeed in the end, and unsurprisingly, it wasn’t Spurs.
A derby of such importance demanded both managers to employ their best players available. For Antonio Conte, this meant pushing midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko into action perhaps a bit too soon as the Chelsea boss tweaked the usual 3-4-3 with the addition of David Luiz into midfield as well. This had Chelsea in a 3-5-2 against Spurs' 3-4-3 / 4-2-3-1, matching the physicality of the likes of Moussa Dembélé, Victor Wanyama, and Eric Dier. Initially the bet on Bakayoko starting seemed to be a losing one. The new signing won a few key headers, but looked out of place and short of fitness. But as the game went on, he got into good rhythm before tiring and giving away a couple cheap (harsh?) fouls near the box.
Chelsea started the match on the front foot, taking the initiative to Tottenham who were still sorting their pressing game out, and should have opened the scoring inside of five minutes. César Azpilicueta’s cross found Álvaro Morata free and clear six yards out, but somehow he contrived to head the ball wide instead of into the wide open net. It was an easy attempt that should have given the Blues the early lead.
What £75million gives you these days #chelsea #morata #tottenham pic.twitter.com/P29a02ZsOo
— Off Side M8 (@offsidem8) August 20, 2017
After that wake-up call, Tottenham decided to start playing as well, once again causing problems with their high-press and possession-oriented game plan just like last season. In response, Chelsea concentrated on keeping things tight at the back, with Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses dropping back to help the backline of Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen and Azpilicueta. David Luiz also helped in those duties by tracking Spurs' runs down the centre, with the ever-menacing Harry Kane demanding extra attention from the men in Blue.
As Chelsea settled into the business of keeping Spurs at arm’s length, the job was made all the more meaningful thanks to Marcos Alonso’s left foot. David Luiz was tripped by Dele Alli, giving Chelsea a free kick in the perfect position for Alonso. The Chelsea left back was amazing from these sorts of positions last season, and made no mistake this time either, hitting the ball with enough power and curve to clear the wall and give Lloris no chance. It was 1-0 Chelsea, and the "booming" home crowd aided by artificial drums piped through the PA went quiet.
#Golazo golazo golazo!!! @marcosalonso03 buried that one! pic.twitter.com/UK0bHC3JFR
— Al K (@AlKotero) August 20, 2017
As the half approached its conclusion, Spurs dialed up the pressure, thanks in large part to Harry Kane justifying Conte’s claims of being a £100m-striker. But despite a few misplays from Azpilicueta, Spurs were unable to crack the code, with Courtois and his goal post making a few crucial saves and a few other chances going begging for the hosts.
One of the major downsides of Spurs' high-press tactics, especially when facing quality teams like Chelsea, is how they fail to keep up their level of play and intensity after a first 45 minutes of tireless effort. We saw this play out to great effect in last year’s meeting at Stamford Bridge, and today was no different. Though Tottenham entered the second half as "the team mostly likely to score", as many pundits claimed on TV and social media, they lacked the sharpness and cutting edge to actually do so. They kept the ball well, but Chelsea weren’t too concerned with them doing so.
With Tottenham tiring, Chelsea looked to exploit the spaces left behind them, with David Luiz starting to set up attacks and breaks in addition to patrolling the midfield like the hungry shaggy dog that he is. As Spurs lackadaisically passed and shifted the ball from flank to flank, Chelsea were able to easily defend their efforts by holding their line and padding their "clearance" stats. All in all, it was a perfect set-up for the Blues; even the usual pattern of last season’s wasted opportunities on the counter were emerging once again as well (Willian, Morata, etc.).
Chelsea were cruising towards a win but as it can so often happen in football, one unlucky bit of play changed the entire mood once again.
Michy Batshuayi had been introduced by Conte for Morata at the 79th minute, along with Pedro who took Willian's place on the pitch. Eager to prove himself worthy of another shot as our starting striker after a poor game against Burnley last weekend, Michy had good intentions and good positioning on Eriksen's classic whipped cross, but the header went awry, to say the least. Eighty minutes of hard work gone in a flash and the pitchfork mob ready to go after the youngster once again.
But this was Chelsea at Wembley, facing Tottenham in a key game for our ambitions. There was only ever going to be one outcome. And so Marcos Alonso saddled up his horse, Wayne Bridge-style, and won the day for the Blues after David Luiz got the move started with yet another midfield win following an ill-advised throw from Hugo Lloris and Pedro played a perfect 1-2 with Chelsea’s Man of the Match.
Chelsea saw out the remaining few minutes on cruise control, prompting Antonio Conte to not do anything at all and thus finally complete the achievement of not using all three of his subs in a Chelsea match. After back-to-back losses to Arsenal at this venue, Chelsea’s Wembley dominance has been reasserted. Thanks, Spurs!
As the rest of the league continues their typical early-season fawning over the Manchester sides, Chelsea’s performance today, and the promise of Bakayoko and Morata and Christensen should serve as a reminder that it’s far too early to count Conte and his men out. Though if we can fly under the radar just like last season, despite being defending champions, that’ll do just fine.
After the opening day shambles, confidence should be restored for next weekend’s match-up against Everton at the Bridge, which will be followed by the first two-week international break of the season.
Forza, Chelsea!
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