Tottenham pull off shock at Stamford Bridge after goalkeeping blunder and red card for Cole Palmer
Tottenham Hotspur stunned Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. Roberto De Zerbi's side went ahead through an own goal by goalkeeper Mike Penders, before Chelsea star Cole Palmer was sent off shortly afterwards. Mathys Tel settled the London derby late on with a superb individual run.
At Chelsea, manager Xabi Alonso named Jorrel Hato in the starting XI and handed Penders his first start in place of the injured Emiliano Martínez. Geovany Quenda started up front in place of the injured João Pedro. For Tottenham, Dutchmen Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven formed the heart of the defence, while De Zerbi opted for Tel, former Ajax player Mohammed Kudus and Omar Marmoush in attack.
Tottenham had the better of the opening exchanges. Chelsea posed the first serious threat after 14 minutes, when Palmer forced goalkeeper Antonín Kinsky into a fine save with a placed shot. At the other end, Kudus went close to the opener, but his curling effort went just wide.
After 29 minutes, Tottenham's pressure brought an excellent chance. Andy Robertson combined neatly with Tel and cut the ball back to Marmoush, whose shot from around nine metres Penders saved. Shortly afterwards, the Belgian goalkeeper also denied Tel, although that effort was ruled out for offside.
As half-time approached, Chelsea recovered and Jordan Henderson had a big chance. Kinsky saved the midfielder's shot, then stopped Pedro Neto's follow-up with his feet. Soon after, the Tottenham goalkeeper had to intervene again to deny Morgan Rogers, although a goal would not have counted because of offside.
James Maddison went off injured after the break, with former Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher replacing the playmaker. Chelsea then had a good opportunity through Pedro Neto, who struck powerfully after Tottenham carelessly lost possession but was again denied by Kinsky. Alonso made a change after 64 minutes, replacing Hato with Marco Palestra.
In the 70th minute, Palmer collided heavily with Mateus Fernandes, who was lying on the ground. A scuffle broke out involving Van de Ven, among others, and Palmer, Fernandes and the Dutchman were booked. Seven minutes later, Tottenham struck when Penders inadvertently punched a corner from the left into his own goal: 0-1.
Palmer received a second yellow card for a foul on Gallagher three minutes later, leaving Chelsea a man down. Tottenham made their numerical advantage count in the 87th minute. Tel intercepted the ball in his own half, went on an impressive run and scored from 18 metres: 0-2. It was only Tottenham's second league win at Stamford Bridge since 1990.
