The unstoppable Blue machine

 

It was a day when Tottenham Hotspur lost one of their greatest heroes – Jimmy Greaves, whose influence in North London and English had been immense. It was a day to mourn and transform the sadness into strength in the memory of the great Greaves. But it turned out to be yet another sweetest day for the Blue machine of Thomas Tuchel – Chelsea.

There is a unity among the boys, who are now feeling the value of donning the Blue shirt and paying justice to their reputation by displaying the football, which is a treat to watch.

Sloppy and vulnerable during a testing first half, Chelsea were transformed once N’Golo Kante entered the fray. Tottenham, their early adrenaline fading, were overrun. Chelsea were creating chances at will and although Lukaku did not manage to join in the fun.

Once again Tuchel had taken control, outwitting Nuno Espírito Santo with his tweaks during the interval. Spurs had played well until that point, threatening to end Chelsea’s unbeaten run, but they were outclassed in the second half. Denied that move to Manchester City, Kane simply looked sad and irrelevant in the Spurs attack.

Chelsea made a lot of errors with their distribution during the early stages. Kepa Arrizabalaga, in for the injured Edouard Mendy in goal, looked susceptible with the ball at his feet and the home fans roared when Rudiger was rushed into an early mistake.

Spurs, boosted by the return of Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso from their spells in quarantine, had an intriguingly fluid attacking system. Son Heung-min lined up through the middle, Kane pulled to the left to throw Tuchel’s defenders, Giovani Lo Celso schemed and there were times when Chelsea looked confused by Nuno’s approach, giving away more chances than usual.

Andreas Christensen clearing from Kane in the six-yard box, Sergio Reguilon surged through from left-back. Chelsea were cut open at times, with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic unable to exert control in midfield, and they were fortunate to escape when Lo Celso played in Son, whose heavy touch allowed Arrizabalaga to smother.

At one point Mason Mount skipped through the middle with options to his left and right after Eric Dier left his fellow centre-back, Romero, exposed with a reckless lung.

Mount was removed at halftime – entered Kante!

Jorginho and Kovacic began to dictate the flow and Spurs escaped when Marcos Alonso, sprinting behind Emerson Royal on the left, drew a sharp save from Hugo Lloris with a spectacular volley on the stretch.

The Spurs were on the retreat and the breakthrough arrived four minutes into the second half, Thiago Silva was given a free run to charge onto Alonso’s corner and head past Hugo Lloris.

Lo Celso was at fault, carelessly squandering possession. Kovacic calmly played the ball to Kanté, who had space to shoot from 25 yards - A huge deflection off Dier left Lloris stranded!

The substitute Timo Werner, for all his misses, though, still came up with an assist for Rudiger to finish calmly in added time- a comprehensive victory at North London.

The Blue Machine is unstoppable.

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 19/09/2021 The unstoppable Blue machine

Thank You

Faisal Caesar