By George Sessions, PA
Cole Palmer struck two second-half penalties to help Chelsea come from two goals down to claim an outstanding 4-3 victory at Tottenham and pile the pressure on home boss Ange Postecoglou.
This latest impressive result for Enzo Maresca’s young team closed the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points, but it could have been very different after another thriller between the London rivals.
Postecoglou was involved in a heated exchange with a small number of Spurs fans after Thursday’s 1-0 loss at Bournemouth, but he watched his side make the ideal start with Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski on target inside 11 minutes.
Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella slipped in the build-up to both goals, but Jadon Sancho reduced the deficit soon after before visiting midfielder Moises Caicedo escaped a red card for a shin-high tackle on Pape Sarr in the 32nd minute.
It would prove a key moment as it was Caicedo who was chopped down by Yves Bissouma early in the second period to allow Palmer to equalise from the spot and the Blues talisman was involved in his team’s third when his cross was lashed home by Enzo Fernandez.
Fittingly, Palmer grabbed the eventual winner with a Panenka from the penalty spot in the 84th minute to earn Chelsea another memorable triumph at their rivals, despite a stoppage-time consolation for Spurs captain Son Heung-min.
This fixture last season produced a five-goal clash where, amid a rollercoaster 4-1 defeat, Tottenham lost Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven for contrasting reasons before half-time, but the duo returned from injury to provide a timely boost for Postecoglou.
After early corner-kicks were exchanged, Postecoglou got the quick start he wished for when Spurs broke the deadlock after five minutes.
Cucurella slipped deep inside his own half and Brennan Johnson latched on to the loose ball before his cross was poked beyond Robert Sanchez by Solanke for his seventh goal of the season.
Six minutes later and Cucurella experienced a horrible dose of deja vu when he again lost his footing and Tottenham made it 2-0.
The slip allowed Johnson to play the ball into Pedro Porro, who moved it on to Kulusevski and he dribbled across the area before rifling a shot into the bottom corner.
Spurs were brought back down to Earth as Romero limped off before Sancho reduced the deficit for the visitors in the 17th minute.
The Manchester United loanee, selected ahead of Noni Madueke, cut inside from the left and arrowed an effort beyond Fraser Forster from 25 yards for his second Chelsea goal.
The game continued in breathless fashion as Palmer missed his kick from close range after a Fernandez cut-back before Son blasted over.
Forster made a fine double save after 32 minutes when he got down low to palm out Palmer’s fizzing strike and then got up quickly to boot away Pedro Neto’s follow-up.
Chelsea were then perhaps fortunate when makeshift right-back Caicedo caught Sarr with a shin-high tackle, with referee Anthony Taylor’s decision to only award a foul backed up by a quick VAR check.
Tottenham could have grabbed a third soon after, but Sarr headed Son’s corner on to the crossbar from close range before home substitute Radu Dragusin made two last-ditch tackles to deny Nicolas Jackson.
Maresca sent on orthodox right-back Malo Gusto at half-time and Chelsea should have made it 2-2 in the 48th minute, but Forster produced a superb one-handed save to deny Sancho after Cucurella’s cut-back.
Fernandez curled wide for the visitors before Spurs lost winger Johnson to injury, but worse was to follow for the hosts as Bissouma hacked down Caicedo to leave referee Taylor with no choice but to point to the spot.
Palmer stroked home the penalty to draw Chelsea level after 61 minutes, yet Spurs responded strongly.
First Son raced away – after Chelsea players stopped for offside – only to inexplicably fire wide before Van de Ven headed wide.
Instead it was Palmer who settled the contest as he twisted and turned inside the area before his deflected cross was lashed in by Fernandez with 17 minutes left.
And then Palmer’s Panenka, after being tripped by Sarr, sealed the points for Maresca’s men despite a consolation for Son, who side-footed home after good work by Tottenham substitute James Maddison.
