Chelsea traveled to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur in Matchday 15 of the 2024-25 Premier League season, but defender Marc Cucurella‘s performance came under scrutiny after two costly mistakes led to Spurs’ early goals. In response, the Spaniard opted to change his boots during the match.
Tottenham took the lead in the 5th minute, capitalizing on Cucurella’s first error. The left-back failed to control a pass from center-back Levi Colwill in midfield. As he tried to recover, Cucurella slipped, allowing Brennan Johnson to steal the ball and deliver a perfect cross into the box for Dominik Solanke, who finished clinically to make it 1-0.
But the mistakes didn’t stop there. Just five minutes later, in the 10th minute, Cucurella was caught out again during a Chelsea buildup from the back. A pass from Enzo Fernandez was played back to the Spaniard, but under pressure from Johnson, Cucurella slipped once more. Johnson pounced on the loose ball and squared it to Dejan Kulusevski, who made a sharp move and finished expertly, doubling Spurs’ lead to 2-0.
After the second goal, cameras caught Cucurella sprinting to the sideline, where he quickly changed his boots. Both of his earlier slips had resulted in Tottenham goals, and with the scoreline in Spurs’ favor, the change seemed like a necessary adjustment to rectify the situation.
With 28 points from 14 matches, Enzo Maresca’s side currently sit in third place in the Premier League, just one point behind Arsenal. The match against Spurs represented a crucial opportunity for the Blues to close the gap in the title race, while the home side, currently in 12th place, will be looking to push for a return to European competition spots.
Despite taking an early lead, Spurs suffered a significant setback in the first half when star defender Cristian Romero was forced off in the 15th minute with an injury. He was replaced by Radu Dragusin.
Romero had shown signs of discomfort early in the match, but it was a run to challenge midfielder Moises Caicedo that led to him going down, clutching his leg. Romero was able to walk off the pitch unaided and was later seen on the bench, which suggests the injury is not as severe as initially feared.
This marked Romero’s first appearance since his previous injury, which kept him sidelined for Spurs’ matches against Manchester City, AS Roma, Fulham, and Bournemouth. After suffering a ligament injury to his right toe, Romero was recovering, but now he faces another potential setback, though the nature of this injury has yet to be confirmed.
