Chelsea made a big statement in the Premier League title race as Cole Palmer inspired them to a 4-3 comeback win over Tottenham on Sunday.
In an epic battle between London rivals, Spurs raced into a 2-0 lead inside 11 minutes as Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski profited from not one but two Marc Cucurella slips.
However, Jadon Sancho hit back just six minutes later to keep Chelsea in the match and in the second half, they ran riot.
Palmer drew Chelsea level just after the hour mark from the penalty spot, while Enzo Fernandez pulled off an excellent left-footed volley to give the visitors the lead.
And it was Palmer who finished the job in the 84th minute, leaving Fraser Forster red-faced with a Panenka penalty, ensuring Son Heung-min’s late strike was nothing more than a consolation.
Chelsea now sit just four points adrift of Liverpool in the title race.
Read on for full player ratings from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Fraser Forster – 7/10 – Spurs would have been out of the game quite quickly without a couple of very smart saves from their stand-in goalkeeper.
Pedro Porro – 6/10 – Set up Kulusevski’s goal after Cucurella’s second slip. Got through a lot of defensive work, making seven recoveries, five clearances and a tackle, while winning 5/6 of his combined ground and aerial duels. However, he was too slow to get to Fernandez for Chelsea’s winner.
Cristian Romero – 6/10 – Barely had the chance to get going before he came off injured again.
Micky van de Ven – 5/10 – Headed a decent opportunity wide in the second half. Did okay but looked leggy at times. Would have benefitted from an early withdrawal but that wasn’t possible once Romero went off, and it resulted in another hamstring tweak.
Destiny Udogie – 4/10 – Didn’t influence the game going forward as much as Porro and was beaten far too easily by Palmer in the build-up to Chelsea’s third.
Yves Bissouma – 3/10 – What was he thinking with that lunge on Caicedo? From that moment on, you couldn’t see anything else but a Chelsea win in this match.
Pape Sarr – 3/10 – Rattled the crossbar with a header in the first half. Like Bissouma, went in for a ridiculous challenge from behind on Palmer.
Dejan Kulusevski – 6/10 – Took his goal brilliantly but was unusually quiet apart from that. Kulusevski completed just nine passes and failed to find his mark with all three attempted crosses.
Brennan Johnson – 6/10 – Reacted brightly to Cucurella’s slip to set up the first goal but like Kulusevski, was almost a passenger until coming off injured.
Dominic Solanke – 7/10 – Took his goal well and created a couple of openings but found himself too isolated.
Son Heung-min – 6/10 – Looked totally bereft of confidence in front of goals, missing another couple of big chances, but finally got on the scoresheet at the end. Still, he needs to up his game quickly to stop Spurs fading into obscurity this season.
Substitutes:
Radu Dragusin (15′, for Romero) – 6/10 – Not to be blamed for the goals and managed a few important blocks to stop things from getting any worse.
Timo Werner (53′, for Johnson) – 3/10 – Was he on the pitch for that long?
James Maddison (79′, for Kulusevski) – 6/10 – Not given long enough to get going.
Archie Gray (79′, for Van de Ven) – 6/10 – Did okay given the situation he was thrown into.
Lucas Bergvall (79′, for Bissouma) – 6/10 – As above.
Robert Sanchez – 4/10 – Didn’t cover himself in glory with the goals thanks to some awful positioning and his kicking was way wide of the mark at times.
Moises Caicedo – 8/10 – Improved drastically when moved into midfield, pushing Spurs back and helping Chelsea dictate.
Benoit Badiashile – 6/10 – Looked very uncomfortable playing on the right of the centre-backs but improved when switching to the left.
Levi Colwill – 6/10 – Missed a decent chance early on and lost Solanke on Spurs’ opener, but improved after that to make some important interventions.
Marc Cucurella – 5/10 – Can we rate his boots? They’d get a 1/10 if so! In all seriousness, fair play to Cucurella for what was an excellent performance after slipping twice to help Spurs go 2-0 up.
Romeo Lavia – 7/10 – Completed all 28 of his passes in the first half and was showing some real moments of class before being hooked to get Malo Gusto, a natural right-back, onto the field.
Enzo Fernandez – 8/10 – Controlled the tempo in the middle and took his goal brilliantly on his left foot.
Pedro Neto – 7/10 – Looked on the edge of brilliance but stood out most for his relentless work rate.
Cole Palmer – 9/10 – Took his penalties wonderfully, making a fool of Forster on the second one. Was devastating from open play, too, completing a match-high four dribbles and creating four chances.
Jadon Sancho – 8/10 – Scored a superb goal to get Chelsea back into the game and had Porro on the back foot throughout.
Nicolas Jackson – 4/10 – Provided a decent physical outlet but was way off the mark on the ball. Missed the target with all three of his shots, failed to complete any of his five dribbles and was unsuccessful with his one attempted cross.
Substitutes:
Malo Gusto (46′, for Lavia) – 8/10 – Caused havoc in the final third and helped Chelsea tremendously with the balance he provided.
Christopher Nkunku (76′, for Jackson) – 5/10 – Didn’t get into the game.
Noni Madueke (86′, for Neto) – 5/10 – Not given long enough to impact the match.
Renato Veiga (90′, for Cucurella) – N/A – Brought on at the end.
Joao Felix (90′, for Palmer) – N/A – As above.
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