It has been a while since we last saw the three-man defence being employed by Chelsea. Today we were happy to welcome it back, as the tactical change made by Frank Lampard was one of the key factors behind Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Tottenham today.
With Tottenham on the 3-5-2, it could have been an equal match between Chelsea players and our opponents. But it was rather lopsided in the first few minutes, with the hosts clearly getting the best out of their ball control and created chances.
15 minutes in, we would get our first score. Oliver Giroud’s first attempt was parried by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, and the rebound from Ross Barkley hit the crossbar. The ball fell again to Giroud, whose goal would not be denied by VAR this time around.
Chelsea’s domination was carried over to the second half. Another well-placed shot, this time by left wing-back Marcos Alonso, doubled our lead over Tottenham at the Bridge.
Unfortunately we did not get out of the encounter with a clean sheet, as a late own goal from Antonio Rüdiger took that away from Wilfredo Caballero. Nevertheless, we were able to hold onto the lead, taking the three points away from the match.
Carefree!
- Caballero still in goal despite flubs since taking over the position from Kepa. Meanwhile, plenty of changes upfront with the attacking trio that faced Manchester United earlier this week (Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro) completely changed (Mount, Giroud, Barkley).
- Loftus-Cheek on the bench. A nice sight, to say the least.
- Giroud finally gets his first Premier League goal of the season. Last time he scored for Chelsea was in August last year, in our UEFA Super Cup match against Liverpool (2-2 in extra time, 5-4 loss in penalties).
- For all the criticism Alonso suffers, every now and then he shows why he was picked up by Chelsea (and Conte) back in 2017. Today was one of those days.
- Subs are Tammy Abraham for Giroud, and Willian for Ross Barkley.
- Next up: Bayern Munich at the Bridge for the Champions League.
- KTBFFH!