Chelsea and Tottenham hit the heat.

First round. total domination

The confrontation between Chelsea and Tottenham is of particular interest, as these teams are seen as the most realistic candidates for the role of “third force” in Premier League. Because few people doubt Liverpool and Manchester City’s ability to dominate everyone again.

Round one made it clear that Tottenham most likely had a better chance of becoming a confident third force. However, already the first half of the match against Chelsea put this position into question. The Blues were in control and outperformed the Spurs in every way, with 68% possession, 88% pass accuracy at 79, landing eight shots against Tottenham’s only two.

But at the same time, Chelsea managed to score only one goal. In addition, the lens was created exclusively by beginners. A corner kick from Cucurella closes Lloris Coulibaly’s door. With a sense of satisfaction and anticipation of a powerful win, Chelsea went on hiatus. But Tottenham turned out to be the hero of a Hollywood action movie himself, who in the first part of the film gets slapped, then spits blood and broken teeth and begins to take revenge.

Second round. Revenge on the brink

Antonio Conte, in fact, managed to make Tottenham stop falling in the second half and start drawing. And not only in the contents, but also in the scoreboard. It took half the time to complete this task. As a result, Heibjerg managed to equalize with Davis’ transfer.

After this goal, the game could not resume for long, because the coaching staff and the players clashed almost in close combat. Because at Chelsea, led by Thomas Tuchel, everyone was sure of the mistake of head referee Anthony Taylor. Indeed, before the combination of goals, Bentancur played hard against Havertz and the referee ignored the episode and did not notice the foul. Conte and Tuchel were forced to cool down only by the yellow cards for them. But the sediment, as they say, remained.

By the way, it took Chelsea less than ten minutes to get the lead back. This time the goal was scored by Rhys James, assisted by another newcomer to the Blues, Raheem Sterling. It all went to Chelsea’s victory, which, however, according to the statistics, must have seemed logical. The Blues were even better and had more possession, shot more often, seemed to be in control of the situation.

So far, in the last seconds of recovery, Perisic, who entered the final stretch, did not hang on the corner right on Kane, who with the last action of the match brought the ball into the goal, saving Tottenham from defeat. Emotional connection. True, that wasn’t all.

Third round. Fight

We have already said that after Tottenham’s first goal a fight broke out on the pitch and in the positions of manager. It wasn’t some kind of spontaneous release, not caused by anything. During the match, the emotional tension grew and each intersection, each referee’s decision only added gunpowder to the future tipping point.

After all, even when, in the 63rd minute, Taylor showed Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy a yellow card for tightening time, even Tottenham didn’t understand. Such small episodes, from which great impressions were formed, contributed to the accumulation of negativity. The story of the foul before Heibjerg’s goal angered Tuchel. Furthermore, Chelsea believed that before the corner, from which Kane equalized, there was a violation on Cucurella, which the referee did not notice. Romero pulled him by the hair. Yes, the actions of the coach-opponent also spurred the opponent on. When James got Chelsea back in the lead, Tuchel overtook a sad Count, furiously celebrating the goal. When Kane scored, so did Antonio.

So, after the final whistle, when Conte went to shake hands with Tuchel, a new conflict broke out between them. Coaches emotionally expressed a lot of unnecessary things, for which each of them received a red card. This doesn’t happen often. But you can also understand these emotions: the script of the game itself pushed for it. Like the status of the derby, like the referee’s decisions, like the personalities of the coaches themselves.

Fourth round. Awareness

Tuchel was terribly offended, as his team demonstrated superiority for most of the match and dictated the terms, and missed the win a second before the final whistle. Conte was more emotional than usual throughout the match. It was the duel with Chelsea, with his former team, the separation with which it was not very nice, which was very important for him.

However, in the end, both coaches can find enough reasons not to get angry. Conte can rejoice in how his team showed character, how he fought until the end and how it came out of defeat. This is extremely important for a high position contender. Tuchel, on the other hand, can be satisfied with how his tactics worked, with his scheme, with his newcomers. They really largely determined that dominance. Meanwhile, the coaches blame each other and arbitrate. Thomas Tuchel:

My elimination? I thought that when you shake your hand, you look into your eyes. Conte had other reflections on this topic. And I have to say about the bad decisions of the referee. Both Tottenham goals shouldn’t have happened. Only one team deserved to win. And this was us.

I don’t know how many tactical fouls Haybjerg and Bentancur committed. Since when is it legal to pull out a football player’s hair during a game? And they pretended nothing happened. I can’t understand it, nobody on the team can understand it. I’m disappointed that the players didn’t get what they deserved. Perhaps it would have been better if Taylor hadn’t refereed Chelsea. But there is the VAR.

Antonio Conte:

I think it’s best to talk about the game. I don’t want to talk about the problems between me and Tuchel. This should remain between us. The referee showed me a red card, but I didn’t understand what happened. All right. It can be accepted. I don’t see a problem.

But isn’t it for these emotional moments and clashes that we love the fight of our main rivals? The essence of the attitude towards such episodes was noticed right after the game by its commentator Jamie Carragher:

People say they don’t like these scenes, but I have to say I love watching them. I want more of this! What league do we have? This characterizes the Premier League on and off the pitch. Absolute fantasy. You can’t look away for a minute.