London drama: 9-man Spurs lose to Chelsea in chaotic match

London, November 7

Tottenham’s players lost their heads and the remaining unbeaten record in the English Premier League.

A late hat-trick by Nicolas Jackson sealed a 4-1 victory for Chelsea in a chaotic London derby on Monday featuring two red cards – to Tottenham defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie — five disallowed goals and a maverick tactical approach by Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou in his unlikely bid to survive with nine men.

Jackson broke the resistance of Tottenham with his three goals from the 75th minute, settling a frantic game that defied logic at times as hosts survived for a while despite playing a high defensive line following the sending-offs of Romero in the 33rd and Udogie in the 55th.

“It is pretty hard to process,” Postecoglou said. “It’s almost impossible to analyse the game because it just seemed to get out of control.”

Dejan Kulusevski gave Tottenham a flying start by scoring off a deflected shot in the sixth minute, only for the derby to turn fiery amid a blaze of wild challenges and crazy incidents.

Amidst all the madness, Cole Palmer equalised from the spot after Romero conceded a penalty — and earned a fourth red card — for a dangerous lunge on Argentina teammate Enzo Fernandez

And when Udogie collected a second yellow card, Tottenham faced an uphill battle to preserve their undefeated start to the season.

Chelsea initially failed to get past Tottenham’s brave but possibly naive high line but did so eventually to devastating effect. Jackson’s final two goals came deep into stoppage time to clinch a memorable win for visiting manager Mauricio Pochettino on his return to the club he coached from 2014-19 and led to a Champions League final.

Postecoglou had no regrets regarding his tactics while his team was down to nine men, saying: “It is just who we are. It is who we are and who we will be for as long as I am here.” — AP