Tottenham supporters chanted ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ at Ange Postecoglou as their side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.
As their fierce local rivals boosted their Champions League qualification chances at Stamford Bridge thanks to Enzo Fernandez’s free header, frustration boiled over in the away end as the Spurs fans, who had been chanting against the club’s board throughout the game, turned their ire on their manager.
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Enzo Fernandez heads home Chelsea opener against Tottenham Hotspur
Postecoglou’s call to switch Lucas Bergvall for Pape Sarr drew boos from the travelling fans – and Postecoglou appeared to respond by cupping his ears after Sarr scored soon after, although that strike was ultimately ruled out. It follows Mathys Tel going into the away end to talk with supporters after the defeat at Fulham last time out, when Postecoglou was also caught on camera having a row with a fan.
The Spurs fans continued to air their anger after full-time when their players went over to them. Postecoglou stood well back, while Guglielmo Vicario punched the Chelsea tunnel in frustration as he made his way off the pitch.
Spurs are languishing in 14th in the Premier League and as a result their priority is their Europa League quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt next week. But any hope of building confidence and momentum from a big derby day performance disappeared. Tensions between fans, manager and players are now an increasingly concerning issue too.
The visitors were better after the break, following a first half in which Nicolas Jackson troubled Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven from the first minute, Destiny Udogie denied Enzo Fernandez on the goal-line, Vicario had to save brilliantly from Jadon Sancho and Spurs failed to have a shot on target.
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Tottenham Hotspur’s Guglielmo Vicario makes crucial save to deny Chelsea’s Jadon Sancho’s strike
However, Cole Palmer came up with his first assist since December 1 with a fine cross for Fernandez to nod home and, after Sarr’s long-range strike was ruled out following a VAR check on his tackle on Caicedo in the build-up and Robert Sanchez saved from Heung-min Son, it was Chelsea celebrating an important result and looking forward to their run-in with relish.
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VAR disallows Pape Matar Sarr equaliser VAR disallows Sarr equaliser for Spurs after challenge on Caicedo!
They had seen a second-half goal ruled out of their own – Moises Caicedo’s crisp volley scrubbed off after a four-minute VAR check judged Levi Colwill offside – but were deserved winners. A fifth home win on the spin has lifted Chelsea up to fourth in the table and their Champions League chase is looking good. They sit a point ahead of Man City and two clear of Newcastle, who have a game in hand.
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VAR denies stunning Moises Caicedo volley after close offside decision during Chelsea’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur
A Conference League tie with Legia Warsaw is also coming up and their fans will look to their decisive games ahead with more confidence now than their Spurs-supporting counterparts.
More to follow…
Spurs’ miserable stats
- Only the Premier League’s current bottom four teams have lost more games this season than Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs losing 16 league games in a campaign for the first time since 2003-04 under Glenn Hoddle & David Pleat (19).
- Tottenham Hotspur have failed to win any of their last nine Premier League games against teams starting the day in the top half of the table (D1 L8), since beating Manchester City 4-0 in November.