ANTONIO CONTE can count himself lucky to have missed his first win over Chelsea since getting sacked by them five years ago.
A dodgy gallbladder would have been the least of the combustible Italians problems compared to his heart-rate and blood pressure as Tottenham secured a fractious victory over their fierce London rivals.
Midfielder Oliver Skipp set Spurs on their way with his first goal for the club in the 47th minute and Harry Kane sealed it with eight to go.
Three points cements their top four place in the push for Champions League qualification.
Tottenham boss Conte is at home resting up after surgery and assistant Cristian Stellini took his place in the dugout and retained his 100 percent record while stepping in.
This is Tottenham’s first win over Chelsea since November 2018 – Conte had only been sacked by The Blues four months earlier to underline how far back the miserable run goes.
Spurs are now four points ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle and ended a run of two tough London derbies in a week with maximum points having beaten West Ham by the same score previously.
In a bizarre match the performance of ref Stuart Attwell was among the main talking points.
The official showed Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech a red card at the end of the first half for appearing to shove Emerson Royal in the face, only to downgrade it to a yellow after consulting the pitchside monitor.
Attwell was also forced to come off briefly in the second half to change his shirt as he threatened to steal the show from a game which only really kicked into life in the second half.
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British-record signing Enzo Fernandez tried to clear the danger in front of his goal but only succeeded in pumping the ball straight to Skipp and the Tottenham academy graduate smashed home a shot from the edge of the area.
And in the 82nd minute Tottenham sealed a memorable win from a set-piece.
Eric Dier flicked on a corner from Heung-Min Son and Kane was waiting at the back post to hook the ball home from six yards out.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter is now under serious pressure after yet another disappointing showing from his expensive team.
He made six changes from the side which lost at home to bottom club Southampton last weekend but got the same result – lack of energy and cohesion and a thoroughly deserved defeat.
Chelsea have now lost three games on the spin and won only one Premier League game this calendar year despite a massive investment in eight new players during last month’s transfer window.
They barely threatened Fraser Forster in the Tottenham goal and lost captain and highly experienced defender Thiago Silva to injury after only 17 minutes.
Potter’s team is now 14 points off the top four and they have scored only one goal in the last six games.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
