Tottenham vs. Chelsea results, highlights and analysis as Skipp and Kane pile misery on Potter

Dom Farrell

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Tottenham vs. Chelsea results, highlights and analysis as Skipp and Kane pile misery on Potter image

Oliver Skipp's first goal for Tottenham Hotspur fired them on the way to a 2-0 derby win over Chelsea that piled more pressure on Blues boss Graham Potter.

Skipp illuminated the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a stunning strike in the first minute of the second half, following a fractious opening period where Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech had a red card overturned in stoppage time.

Kane poached his 20th goal of the season across all competitions eight minutes from time, when Eric Dier flicked on a right-wing corner from substitute Son Heung-min – a goal that chimed perfectly alongside the simplicity of Spurs’ overall task from the moment Skipp scored.

For Chelsea and Potter, there is a myriad of dire and damning statistics. They are now winless in six games across all competitions, scoring once in that period, and 14 points shy of Tottenham in fourth with 14 games remaining.

Tottenham vs. Chelsea final score

  1H 2H Final
TOT 0 2 2
CHE 0 0 0

Goals:

TOT — Oliver Skipp — 46th minute.

TOT — Harry Kane (Eric Dier) — 82nd minute.

There were six changes to the Chelsea XI that slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Southampton last weekend, and a front four of Ziyech, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz combined sharply during the opening stages.

Clear chances still proved elusive for Potter’s latest configuration and Pierre-Emile Hojberg came closest to a first-half opener for Tottenham when his shot from outside the box was deflected against the post by Wesley Fofana, an early replacement for the injured Thiago Silva in the Chelsea defence.

There was a major flashpoint midway through three allocated minutes of injury time as Havertz was booked for a foul on Emerson Royal, who exchanged shoves with Ziyech.

The Morocco winger's hand made contact with Royal's face after he shoved the wing-back in the shoulder but referee Stuart Attwell overturned a red card following his initial discussions with the VAR when he consulted the pitchside monitor.

Chelsea could not make the most of that let-off when Skipp lashed home a brilliant swerving strike from 20 yards. Kepa Arrizabalaga got a hand to the shot but was partially unsighted by Kalidou Koulibaly.

Chelsea sent on more attacking firepower in the form of Mason Mount, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mykhailo Mudryk but by the time the latter two came on, Kane had already made the points safe as Tottenham's visitors created nothing of note and finished the match with a solitary shot on target in each half.

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Why wasn’t Hakim Ziyech sent off during Tottenham vs. Chelsea?

Not for the first time in the VAR era, we appeared to reach the correct decision in an incredibly convoluted way as a tetchy game threatened to spill over during the closing stages of the first half.

PGMOL issued a statement stating Ziyech’s offence didn’t “meet the threshold” for a red card, but the fact his offence was seemingly reviewed, punished, reviewed again and then downgraded sewed plenty of confusion.

So let’s try to pick through that. Assistant referee Darren Cann told referee Stuart Attwell that Emerson Royal had been pushed in the face — a red card offence — but the officials were unsure of the culprit. VAR identified Ziyech, prompting his red card, but Attwell was asked to review the on-field decision he and Cann had made.

In summary, the on-field officials thought it was a red card, VAR didn’t and Attwell overturned on review. The mistaken identity element is what ended up making everything a bit messy.

Clear as mud?

How many goals has Oliver Skipp scored in his career?

Skipp’s derby day opener was a goal to savour in every sense. Quite simply, they don’t come around that often for the 22-year-old.

This was his first goal in 67 senior appearances for Tottenham. He also only managed one goal in 47 appearances on loan at Championship club Norwich City.

That’s not what he’s in the team for, though, and the youngster has superbly filled the considerable void left by the injured Rodrigo Bentancur over recent weeks.

Skipp made a team-high three interceptions against Chelsea, gaining possession five times overall as a vital cog in Antonio Conte’s counter-attacking machine. The absentee manager will have loved what he saw from Skipp as he continues to recover from gallbladder surgery at home.

Will Chelsea sack Graham Potter?

Todd Boehly is reportedly very much committed to the Potter project after a drastic overhaul of the Chelsea squad over the past two transfer windows. Planning for the future is commendable and a long-term vision has been badly lacking at Stamford Bridge in the modern era.

However, it isn’t unreasonable to expect much more from such a talented squad than the occasional win and maybe even a goal every now and then. Chelsea now have just two victories in their past 15 Premier League matches, a run stretching back to October.

Relegation-threatened Leeds United are up next at in west London, but relegation-threatened Southampton won there last weekend. Then there’s the need to overturn a 1-0 Champions League deficit against Borussia Dortmund. If those matches don’t end in a positive fashion then it will be hard to escape the feeling that Potter is running out of road.

Tottenham vs. Chelsea lineups

Tottenham (3-4-3, right to left): 20-Fraser Forster (GK) — 17-Cristian Romero, 15-Eric Dier, 34-Clement Lenglet — 12-Emerson Royal, 5-Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 4-Oliver Skipp, 33-Ben Davies — 21-Dejan Kulusevski (7-Son Heung-min), 10-Harry Kane, 9-Richarlison (23-Pedro Porro)

Chelsea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1-Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK) — 24-Reece James, 6-Thiago Silva (33-Wesley Fofana), 26-Kalidou Koulibaly, 21-Ben Chilwell — 5-Enzo Fernandez, 12-Ruben Loftus-Cheek (20-Denis Zakaria) — 17-Raheem Sterling (9-Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang), 11-Joao Felix (15-Mykhailo Mudryk), 22-Hakim Ziyech (19-Mason Mount) — 29-Kai Havertz

Tottenham vs. Chelsea as it happened, highlights from the Premier League

Full-time: That's a wrap. Harry Kane's game-sealing goal was so simple. And that entire second half was really straightforward for Spurs from the moment Skipp found the breakthrough, worryingly so for Chelsea and Graham Potter, who are in the mire with no immediate route out. That's six games without a win in all competitions for the Blues and any lin lingering hopes of a top-four finish have now surely gone up in smoke.

90th minute+1: There'll be six minutes of injury/referee putting on a new headset time.

89th minute: Pedro Porro comes on for Richarlison, who looks devastated having again failed to find the net. But he's run himself into the ground and can be very happy with his efforts. Also, he has teammates who score, which is more than anyone in a Chelsea shirt can say right now.

86th minute: Mudryk smashes one way over from outside the box. He's giving it a go, I guess. But this is yet another hopeless cause for Chelsea.

84th minute: Mudryk is into the fray and skips down the left to cross towards fellow Chelsea sub Aubameyang. Ben Davies heads clear.

82nd minute: GOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!!! Harry Kane!!!

Meat and drink for Kane. Son delivers a corner to the near post, Eric Dier flicks it on and Tottenham's all-time record goalscorer converts at the far post. That's his 20th of the season in all competitions.

80th minute: Romero, who has left no doubt about his status as a full-on aggravation merchant today, has a push and a shove with Ben Chilwell after Kane is fouled.

79th minute: Here comes Son Heung-min in place of Dejan Kulusevski for Spurs. Who would bet against him having an impact off the bench.

78th minute: Another nice move featuring Sterling and Havertz that doesn't suggest too much threat wins Chelsea a corner. Chilwell's in-swinging delivery is cleared, Fernandez loops it back into the box and Forster helps himself to some more easy work in the Tottenham goal.

76th minute: Sterling and Mount combine for the former to stab a pass towards Havertz, but Romero muscles the Germany forward out of contention and Forster mops up.

75th minute: Richarlison takes aim for a similar spot to where Skipp opened the scoring but lifts his shot over. Spurs have been operating with renewed purpose since that unscheduled stoppage. 

72nd minute: Stuart Attwell's eventful outing continues. His headset has malfunctioned so he's strapping on some new technology.

70th minute: Skipp flies into Joao Felix, Romero blocks off Havertz with his shoulder. Let it flow!

67th minute: Having said that, Spurs needed goalkeeper Fraser Forster to be sharp there when Mount's clever flick sent Havertz darting into the area. He grasped the ball just before Havertz got there. Had Forster being second best we were looking at a Chelsea penalty or goal.

66th minute: A panicked combination of Kepa and James deal with the latest cross hurled into the Chelsea box. This feels an awful lot like Spurs' recent 1-0 win over Manchester City. The hosts are having far less of the ball but carry much more devilment when they break. Chelsea look like a team bereft of confidence.

62nd minute: Ruben Loftus-Cheek makes way for Zakaria and Ziyech's eventful afternoon is now definitely at an end as Mount replaces him.

60th minute: There's a double change coming up for Chelsea as Eric Dier snuffs out Joao Felix's latest foray. Mason Mount and Denis Zakaria will be the men to enter the fray. No sign of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as yet.

52nd minute: Royal and Skipp again find themselves as the unlikely leaders of a Tottenham attack. The latter biffs the ball into Koulibaly's hand. There wasn't much the Chelsea centre-back could do about that and it's right that no penalty is awarded.

50th minute: So the big problem for Chelsea here is they need a goal and they've kind of stopped doing those recently.

46th minute: GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!! Oliver Skipp!!!!!!

What a time to score your first goal for Tottenham! Spurs begin on the front foot, with Royal charging into the Chelsea box to put himself in the thick of things once again. The ball breaks out to Skipp, who is about 20 yards out to the right and he lashes a brilliant strike beyond Kepa. The Chelsea goalkeeper got a hand to it and might be disappointed with that, although Koulibaly left him slightly unsighted and Skipp really hit that one.

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46th minute: Here we go again...

Halftime: Stuart Attwell blows for the interval and is booed by the home fans, who have decided he's "not fit to referee". He hasn't presented the most compelling case for his defence just there. It's almost impressive to make the correct decision while simultaneously looking completely incompetent. Anyway, go and get some refreshments, moan about VAR in the appropriate WhatsApp groups and I'll see you back here soon.

45th minute+6: Hakim Ziyech's red card is overturned! Replays suggest that was more of a shove into the shoulder than a punch to the face, so we've reached the correct decision as Ziyech's punishment is downgraded to a yellow card. But, blimey, what a ludicrously around-the-houses way to arrive at this point.

45th minute+4: Hakim Ziyech is sent off! Or is he? Stuart Attwell has shown Ziyech a red card and is now going over to look at his monitor. At least this isn't a shambles.

45th minute+2: There's some caper here. It will not surprise you to learn Richarlison is involved. Emerson Royal was down on the turf after some pushing and shoving with Hakim Ziyech. He's back on his feet and gets booked, Kai Havertz also gets a yellow card. Ziyech's activities are still being assessed by VAR...

45th minute+1: Sterling's been the most impressive attacker on display but he's just fallen over and given away a throw-in to Tottenham. it's been that kind of half for the forwards, I guess. There'll be three additional minutes of it for them to enjoy or endure.

44th minute: Chelsea put together a patient and well-constructed period of possession. Ziyech aims one of those lovely, flat crossfield balls he has in his locker to quicken the pace. Here's Sterling, who cuts inside and fires goalwards. Forster fumbles but, as has been very well documented, Chelsea don't really do strikers right now so there's no one sniffing out the rebound.

41st minute: Richarlison's remarkable wait for a first Tottenham goal in the Premier League goes on as he busily cuts into the Chelsea box from the left and then blams a shot well wide.

35th minute: it's getting a bit spicy now. Kepa has instigated ill feeling by literally standing still and doing nothing, which suggests a rare talent for the dark arts. Romero goes charging into a challenge on Havertz and comes off worst by running into the Germany forward's chest. That was some impact. If this was Looney Toons, one side of Romero's face would now be entirely flat.

33rd minute: Kepa Arrizabalaga. An under-rated, well, let's say s-house for the potential family audience on a Sunday afternoon. The Chelsea goalkeeper just stood with the ball at his feet for ages then. The Spurs players protested to referee Attwell, but the ball was in play, so it wasn't really time-wasting. Kepa picks it up and throws to Ben Chilwell, the ball comes back his way and Harry Kane ploughs into a very late tackle on the former Athletic Bilbao man. Pantomime stuff.

28th minute: A bit of confusion here. The referee played advantage as Fernandez clattered into Richarlison after he passed to Hojberg. The Brazil forward wants the free-kick but Spurs get a corner from which nothing much happens.

27th minute: Spurs hit the post! It would have been against the run of play but the hosts are agonisingly close to going in front. They finally enjoy a steady passage of possession. It's a slick move and Richarlison pops a pass off to Hojberg. The shot spins off Fofana and strikes the base of the right post.

25th minute: More sharp work from Sterling around the Spurs box. He's injected some much-needed impetus to Chelsea's play. The attack ends with Fernandez having a shot blocked.

21st minute: Romero nutmegs Havertz while playing out form his own byline. Normal behaviour. The Spurs fans lap it up.

20th minute: Kane is the latest forward to take aim from outside the box and he drags harmlessly wide.

19th minute: Thiago Silva is down on the turn again and his race is run. Wesley Fofana is into the action for the visitors.

18th minute: Lovely work from Kai Havertz gives Joao Felix room to bear down on the Chelsea penalty area. His left-footed effort is well hit but doesn't cause Fraser Forster undue problems.

13th minute: Tottenham get the chance to break but Ben Davies more conservative tendencies at left wing-back thwart their ambition. Kane picks up the pieces and brilliantly sashays past Reece James to win a corner. Thiago Silva was part of the clean-up operation. Kane landed on him awkwardly and the centre-back needs some treatment.

11th minute: Not much to encourage Spurs so far, but Harry Kane spies some shafts of light when he breaks up play in midfield and makes for the Chelsea penalty area. Ever the wily veteran, Thiago Silva reads the England captain's intentions and wins the tackle without getting his kit dirty. 

9th minute: Brazil vs. Argentina beef. A footballing tale as old as time. Thiago Silva's elbow catches Cristian Romero high on the chest at an attacking Chelsea setpiece. Referee Stuart Attwell decides there's no need for any action aside from telling everyone to calm themselves down.

7th minute: Chelsea's only goal in their past four Premier League games came from a raking Enzo Fernandez pass to Joao Felix at West Ham. They try the same move again here and it almost comes off. Not for the first time in the dour run, Graham Potter's side have started brightly.

2nd minute: In that central position, Raheem Sterling takes a tumble as Oliver Skipp clips him on the ankle when trying to make a clearance. VAR has a look and concludes that does not clear the much discussed "high bar" for overturning the referee's on-field call.

1st minute: We're underway. In the early knockings, it looks like Sterling is playing up front alongside Havertz in a front two.

5 mins from kickoff: Here come the teams. We're ready for lift-off. This really is a big one for both teams, far beyond bragging rights. I could set the course for the remainder of their campaigns.

25 mins from kickoff: Cristian Stellini will be on the touchline once again in Conte's absence. He has a 100 percent record when directing operations from the dugout, having helmed the 1-0 win over Manchester City earlier this month. Conte then returned against medical advice for defeats to Leicester City and AC Milan, before he returned to his sickbed for the win over West Ham. Historically, however, this fixture is a bit of a problem for Spurs, as the statistics below show.

Spurs' injury list still features a host of key stars, with Yves Bissouma and club captain Hugo Lloris both at least a month away from a return. Son Heung-min is a substitute again despite scoring off the bench in last weekend's 2-0 win over West Ham.

Tottenham starting XI (3-4-3): Forster (GK) — Romero, Dier, Lenglet — Royal, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Davies — Kulusevski, Kane, Richarlison

Tottenham subs: Austin (GK), Pedro Porro, Sanchez, Sarr, Tanganga, Lucas, Perisic, Danjuma, Son

Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta is missing after requiring hospital treatment for a head injury he sustained in last weekend's 1-0 defeat to rock-bottom Southampton, with Raheem Sterling returning to the attack as one of six changes from that humiliating setback.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is back among the substitutes and could be called up on to address Chelsea's goal struggles.

Chelsea starting XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa (GK) — James, Silva, Koulibaly, Chilwell — Fernandez, Loftus-Cheek — Sterling, Joao Felix, Ziyech — Havertz

Chelsea subs: Bettinelli (GK), Badiashile, Fofana, Zakaria, Madueke, Mount, Mudryk, Gallagher, Aubameyang

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50 mins from kickoff: Probably nothing underlines the contrasting predicaments of these two sides right now than the Tottenham team sheet. They're unchanged from last week's 2-0 win at West Ham.

1 hour from kickoff: Here's the Chelsea XI and Graham Potter has pretty emphatically rung the changes from the dispiriting 1-0 defeat to Southampton last time out. Six alterations in total, including a start for Raheem Sterling in that misfiring attack.

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: When these sides met in August, Spurs boss Antonio Conte and Potter's predecessor Thomas Tuchel famously got right in one another's faces. The touchline today will be a much quieter place, with Conte still recuperating from gallbladder surgery. Even if he had been there, things would probably have been cordial.

“I spoke to him when I was at Brighton and we’ve had conversations," Potter told reporters, reflecting on his previous exchanges with Conte. “We have kept in contact from a distance. He’s someone I’ve admired a lot as a coach. I like how his teams are organised and then when you meet him, he’s a gentleman."

Thomas Tuchel Antonio Conte
Getty Images

1 hr 40 mins from kickoff: According to the old cliche, the formbook goes out of the window on derby day. Chelsea and their under-fire head coach Graham Potter will be dearly hoping that is the case at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today. In around October last year, they more or less stopped winning Premier League games. In their past 14 top-flight matches, Chelsea have won twice. Over recent weeks, they've pretty much left goals behind. Joao Felix's opener in the 1-1 draw at West Ham is the only time the Blues have found the net in the past four matches.

2 hours from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the London derby showdown between Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League

Tottenham vs. Chelsea lineups

Spurs' injury list still features a host of key stars, with Yves Bissouma and club captain Hugo Lloris both at least a month away from a return. Son Heung-min is a substitute again despite scoring off the bench in last weekend's 2-0 win over West Ham.

Tottenham starting XI (3-4-3): Forster (GK) — Romero, Dier, Lenglet — Royal, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Davies — Kulusevski, Kane, Richarlison

Tottenham subs: Austin (GK), Pedro Porro, Sanchez, Sarr, Tanganga, Lucas, Perisic, Danjuma, Son

Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta is missing after requiring hospital treatment for a head injury he sustained in last weekend's 1-0 defeat to rock-bottom Southampton, with Raheem Sterling returning to the attack as one of six changes from that humiliating setback.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is back among the substitutes and could be called up on to address Chelsea's goal struggles.

Chelsea starting XI (4-2-3-1): Kepa (GK) — James, Silva, Koulibaly, Chilwell — Fernandez, Loftus-Cheek — Sterling, Joao Felix, Ziyech — Havertz

Chelsea subs: Bettinelli (GK), Badiashile, Fofana, Zakaria, Madueke, Mount, Mudryk, Gallagher, Aubameyang

MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fuboTV in Canada

How to watch Tottenham vs. Chelsea

  TV channel Streaming
USA USA Network, Telemundo Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, NBC Sports website/app
Canada — fuboTV Canada
UK Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League Sky Go
Australia — Optus Sport
New Zealand Sky Sport Premier League Sky Sport NOW
India — Jio TV, Hotstar VIP
Hong Kong Now Premier League TV (Ch. 620-621) now TV
Malaysia Astro SuperSport 3

Astro GO, sooka
Singapore — StarHub TV+

UK: This match will be broadcast live in the UK via Sky Sports' TV and streaming services.

USA: This match streams on the NBC USA Network platform for subscribers in both English and Spanish.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via fuboTV in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.