Tottenham vs Chelsea final score, result and highlights as Jackson hat-trick ends brave resistance of nine-man Spurs

Dom Farrell

Tottenham vs Chelsea final score, result and highlights as Jackson hat-trick ends brave resistance of nine-man Spurs image

Nicolas Jackson completed a hat-trick in injury time as Chelsea belatedly ran out 4-1 winners over nine-man Tottenham in a magnificently chaotic London derby.

Dejan Kulusevski's deflected strike off Levi Colwill gave the hosts an early lead and Son Heung-min had a goal disallowed for offside amid a rampant start.

By the time Cole Palmer levelled from the penalty spot 10 minutes before halftime, Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero had benefited from VAR reprieves over possible red cards, Raheem Sterling and Moises Caicedo had goals disallowed and Romero was dismissed for the studs-first tackle on Enzo Fernandez that led to the spot kick. 

An utterly crazy half ended with Spurs suffering injuries to key men Micky van de Ven and James Maddison and a brainless challenge by Udogie on Sterling meant the hosts would have to play the final 35 minutes with nine, their unbeaten start to the Premier League season slipping away.

Tottenham vs Chelsea final score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Tottenham 1 Kulusevski '6
Chelsea 4 Palmer '35 (pen), Jackson '75, 90+5, 90+7

Lineups:

Tottenham (4-2-3-1, right to left): 13. Gugliemo Vicario (GK) — 23. Pedro Porro, 17. Cristian Romero, 37. Micky van de Ven (12. Emerson Royal), 38. Destiny Udogie — 29, Pape Sarr (30. Rodrigo Bentancur), 8. Yves Bissouma — 21. Dejan Kulusevski (4. Oliver Skipp), 10. James Maddison (5. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg), 22. Brennan Johnson (15. Eric Dier) — 7. Son Heung-min

Chelsea (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Robert Sanchez (GK) — 24. Reece James (27. Malo Gusto), 6. Thiago Silva, 2. Axel Disasi, 26. Levi Colwill (3. Marc Cucurella) — 25. Moises Caicedo, 23. Conor Gallagher, 8. Enzo Fernandez (10. Mykhailo Mudryk) — 20. Cole Palmer, 15. Nicolas Jackson, 7. Raheem Sterling (16. Chimuanya Ugochukwu)

MORE: English Premier League table 2023/24

Goalkeeper Gugliemo Vicario excelled in the immediate aftermath and Chelsea's composure deserted them entirely until Sterling sprung Spurs' high line and left Jackson with a tap-in.

There was more drama as Ange Postecoglou's inspired side refused to accept the inevitable. Dier had a volley ruled out for offside and Son stormed through the Chelsea defence to draw a stoppage-time save from Sanchez before Conor Gallagher and Palmer laid on Jackson to claim the matchball.

Fly goalie Vicario shows how fearless Spurs are the real deal

First of all, let’s get the bad stuff out of the way. Spurs squandered a winning position against rivals who looked to be there for the taking because Romero and Udogie collected needless red cards at points in the game where you could argue each was fortunate to be on the field. Maddison and Van de Ven have been transformative signings and their absences will be felt over the coming weeks. The Dutch centre-back’s hamstring injury looks like a serious one.

But Tottenham's performance after the loss of key personnel on the grounds of both stupidity and misfortune underlined what Postecoglou has managed to build during such a short period of time in north London. After two red cards and a full complement of substitutions, Spurs had three outfield players on the pitch who started the game at full-time. And yet, there they were still pressing, still unnerving Chelsea with a high line and still creating chances. A disparate and depleted team with a Frankenstein’s Monster defence continued to play with a common purpose and belief. Vicario was magnificent, making a string of fine saves as he patrolled his final third ravenously

True, the high line was their eventual undoing as Jackson claimed the matchball but Chelsea would have had a more straightforward night if the nine men had bedded in behind the ball to wait for the inevitable. Spurs must respond to a tough setback but the way they fearlessly stared down defeat suggested they have the capacity to do so.

Questions and answers for returning Pochettino

Much has been made of Chelsea’s impressive xG totals this season and the underlying numbers that suggest better results will follow. An xG in excess of four in Monday night's very particular circumstances continued that trend, but the eye test when the game remained locked at 1-1 was not pretty.

Chelsea came far too close to fluffing their lines, consumed by nerves and the potential embarrassment of failing to beat nine men. They were only able to breathe easily when Jackson made it 3-1. During the final half hour, the Blues were often a torrid sight.

On the other hand, Chelsea responded impressively from going behind early on. Udogie’s two-footed lunge towards Sterling seemed to rouse them as they produced a focused intensity that Tottenham could not match in terms of temperament or output before the break. Palmer has scored three out of three penalties for his new club and is a stylish gem of a footballer who revels on this stage.

Once again, there is good and bad for Pochettino to unpick. It was a vital win insofar as not winning from the position Chelsea found themselves in was unthinkable. Up next, it’s Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, with the champions back on top of the Premier League after Spurs joined Arsenal and Liverpool in dropping points this weekend.
 

Tottenham vs Chelsea as it happened, highlights, and commentary

Fulltime: Jackson skies a chance to make it 5-1, which would have been awfully unjust. Spurs battled brilliantly but eventually ran out of road, having ultimately been sold down the river by Romero and Udogie's stupidity. The players are shaking hands and embracing, at which point it's only just occurred to me that Richarlison had no part in that and was an unused substitute. Can you imagine? Thanks for experiencing al of that with us. I'm off for a lie down.

90th minute+7GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Nicolas Jackson!!!!!

Weirdest hat-trick ever? Weirdest 4-1 win ever? That's where we are. Jackson through, unchallenged and rounds Vicario coolly.

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90th minute+5GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Nicolas Jackson!!!!!

That, surely, is that. Spurs' audacious high line has kept them in this contest as an attacking force despite their reduced numbers. But it's undone decisively here, with Gallagher streaming through to set up Jackson for his second of an utterly bizarre contest.

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90th minute+4Almost an equaliser for Spurs! Son runs at goal and the blue shirts in front of him dissolve. His shot towards the corner is just grasped by Sanchez. This is unhinged.

90th minute+3: Gusto manages to avoid giving a corner away by welting a clearance away. Who's got nine men here?

90th minute+2: Palmer with a silly foul, Porro pumps it into the box. Chelsea clear eventually but not convincingly at all. They look terrified of not winning this.

90th minute: There will be nine more minutes of this fantastic nonsense.

89th minute: Murdyk is late on Vicario, who comes out to mop up again, and he's the latest man into the book.

87th minute: Gusto charges up the other end now. That's right, lads, keep him away from his own goal. The cross towards Jackson is cleared behind and he's the only Chelsea player in the box for the corner.

86th minute: This game has been amazing because a lot of people have done stupid things. Step forward Malo Gusto, who gives away a needless free-kick and Spurs and can aim another into the box.... CLOSE!!! Oh Bentancur just can't get the decisive touch. Huge opportunity for the nine men.

79th minuteINTO THE NET FROM ERIC DIER! ARE YOU KIDDING ME... OFFSIDE! A Spurs free-kick from the left is licked on and Dier volleys sweetly into the top corner. But he strayed beyond the last man to convert. There's a VAR check, it's a long one, it's tight...NO GOAL.

75th minuteGOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Nicolas Jackson!!!!!

There it is. James slots a pass through to Sterling down the right and he's timed his run perfectly. There's been such a lack of composure from Chelsea but Sterling holds his nerve and squares to Jackson, who does likewise.

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73rd minute: Chelsea are panicking here, spraying passes all over the place. Now a silly foul from Cucurella. They've been dreadful since that flurry of chances after the Udogie red card.

68th minute: Chelsea left-back Cucurella is the furthest man forward because all of the Tottenham defence were on the halfway line. Cool. He also dallies and Vicario plunges at his feet, brilliant goalkeeping. Jackson is unable to do anything with the rebound. Now Vicario is down injured and nine-man Tottenham have used all their subs. NURSE!

64th minute: Mudryk looks for Sterling but Vicario is playing fly-goalie and doing it magnificently.

63rd minute: Sterling looks to be in behind again but Hojbjerg gets back to win the challenge. Chelsea's lack of poise in front of goal combined with the obvious fact that you really have to beat nine men could do funny things to them here.

61st minute: Fresh legs for the nine men as Bentancur and Skipp replace Kulusevski and Sarr.

60th minute: James clatters across goal and just wide. With everything that's going on it's worth pointing out that Chelsea are playing against nine men, no winning and looking frankly abysmal in front of goal.

59th minute: Mykhailo Mudryk comes on for Enzo Fernandez. It's through traffic down there but Jackson hesitates and can't beat Vicario one-on-one. The ball breaks to Palmer and his shot is saved too. Every successful piece of Spurs defending is being cheered like a goal.

57th minuteJackson header from about a yard out and Hojbjerg clears it off the line and over! Mercy!

56th minute: RED CARD FOR UDOGIE AND SPURS ARE DOWN TO NINE MEN!!! I mean, come on. Really? What in the world are you doing? Sterling leads the Chelsea break again. It's three-on-two in their favour. Sterling somehow manages to go down a blind alley and turns away from goal... and Udogie blunders into him from behind. The most obvious second yellow you'll see.

54th minute: Spurs will keep playing their high line and Sterling will keep taking Porro to the cleaners. The full-back ends up on the seat of his shots and Emerson heads out of his goalmouth. Hojbjerg leads the charge on the break. Bissouma has a shot. Such courage from Spurs, but they're exposed on the break again...

52nd minute: Foul from Bissouma and Chelsea can swing one in from the left-hand corner of the penalty area. James' delivery misses everyone and Pochettino looks less than enthralled.

49th minute: Fernandez is caught in possession by Kulusevski, Sarr picks up the pieces but his attempted pass through to Son is cut out by Desasi. That's the sort of chance the 10 men have to make more of.

47th minute: Palmer, who is playing with his customary swagger, drops a shoulder and flashes a shot wide from the edge of the box. He got the execution all wrong there but he's a huge problem for this makeshift Spurs defence.

46th minute: We go again! A change for Chelsea, with Cucurella replacing Colwill, probably because the latter completely lost his head in first-half stoppage time.

Halftime: We've made it. Now go and calm down, everyone.

45th minute+12Another red card check! For crying out loud! James has swung an arm towards Udogie's head as they chased a bouncing ball. Probably not a lot of contact and enough eyes on the ball that you could argue it was an accidental collision. No red card. 

45th minute+9: James around Udogie and Emerson gets back to scramble out of the goalmouth. Now it's all kicking off again. Jackson gets his customary booking for a pull back on Sarr. Then Colwill and Sarr go at with some pushing and shoving. Colwill went from nought to 100mph of fury. Both men are booked.

45th minute+7: Sterling has Porro backpedalling, trouble for Spurs. Down goes the England winger but Michael Oliver decides against a penalty and the VAR agrees. Sterling is probably fortunate to avoid a booking for diving there, if we're honest.

45th minute+5: Dier gets in the way again, this time from a James cross. If Spurs can get through this extended period of added time it will feel huge.

45th minute+3: Sterling gets in down the left, Spurs persisting with their high line. Dier stretches to clear behind. As a bonus, he manages not to injure himself and the hastily assembled defence deal with the corner.

45th minute+1: Emerson Royal comes on for Van de Ven. And it gets worse for Spurs, Maddison is coming off. Hojbjerg comes on. Where's everyone going to play? Well they've got 12 minutes of additional time to work it out!

44th minute: Maddison is back on, but oh no... Jackson stretches the Spurs defence in behind and Van de Ven stretches his hamstring too far. One of those injuries where you can almost hear it go "TWAAANG!". The Dutchman is down as if he's been shot and that's his evening done.

42nd minute: Blimey, this really is unravelling for Tottenham. Maddison is down having seemingly rolled his ankle. He looks to be in a fair amount of pain.

40th minute: Postecoglou has an exchange of views with the officials and is booked. You're going to have to tell them to calm down in bit, Ange!

38th minute: Jackson has the ball in the net but that's a nice clear offside. Carry on!

37th minute: Porro has a kick at Gallagher and turns his ankle in doing so. To say Spurs need to collectively calm down is an understatement.

34th minuteGOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!! Cole Palmer!!!!

Ooofffff!!!! Probably a converted penalty fit for this entirely daft game. Palmer drills it towards the bottom right corner, Vicario gets both hands to it to tip it against the inside of the post. The ball ricochets into the side netting on the other side. Dier has come on for Johnson and will slot in at centre-back.

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31st minuteNO GOAL BUT PENALTY FOR CHELSEA AND RED CARD TO ROMERO! VAR ruled that Jackson, in Vicario's line of sight, impeded the Spurs goalkeeper and prevented him from saving the shot. The challenge on Sterling is waved off, no foul. However, Romero's challenge on Fernandez is clearly a foul and he is sent off.

28th minuteOH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHAT'S GOING ON? Right, bear with me... Tottenham give the ball away haphazardly inside their own third. Chance for Sterling, who cuts inside and goes down. Penalty? Maybe. Romero, who is on one, is then high and plunges studs into Fernandez. Palmer works the ball back to Caicedo, who fizzes in a fabulous shot from outside the box... but the flag goes up for offside.

26th minute: As is often the case when these things happen with decisions, it's all getting a bit spicy out there. Players are leaving a little bit in challenges. Chelsea are fired up and Palmer is over a free-kick a little over 30 yards out. Romero makes a hash of a headed clearance, Gallagher nods into the goalmouth and Porro does just enough to stop Desasi from converting.

23rd minuteNO GOAL FOR STERLING! It looks like Romero is allowed to continue. Blimey.

21st minuteGOOOAAAALLLL??? Sterling has bundled the ball into the net but it bounced up and hit his hand before he managed to do so. This will be disallowed. Earlier in the move, Spurs' attempts have themselves reduced to 10 men continued apace with Romero appearing to kick out at Colwill. That'll be checked too.

19th minute: Check complete and Udogie is a lucky boy. Sterling taking smart evasive action has probably saved him there. Brainless stuff.

18th minute: Corner to Spurs after more mischief from Johnson. Chelsea need to get a handle on that flank. Maddison's delivery skips across the six-yard box. Fernandez muscles Kulesevski out of the way and... oh dear, Destiny Udogie. What have you done? The Tottenham midfielder dives in with two feet off the floor and munches into a tackle on Sterling. Sarr is booked but the VAR is looking at this. It might be upgraded.

13th minuteGOOOOAAAA...no! A sumptuous, sweeping, sublime move from Spurs ends with Son tucking home Johnson's low cross. It looks like Son strayed just offside, though, and the VAR is having a look.

12th minute: Disasi heads goalwards and that's some far more straightforward work for Vicario.

11th minuteFabulous save from Vicario! Sterling catches Porro napping and plays the ball to Jackson. The forward nimbly evades a couple of challenges and digs out a shot destined for the bottom right corner. At full stretch, Vicario tips around his post.

10th minute: Palmer drops deep to take possession inside his own half. He checks inside, shields the ball and wins a foul off Maddison. Impressive work to take the sting out, although Chelsea shouldn't really have needed their right winger to come back and do it.

7th minute: Rasping shot from Porro that dips awkwardly in front of Sanchez, who does well to hold on. Chelsea need to get a foothold here. They look in danger of being blown away.

6th minuteGOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!! Dejan Kulusevski!!!!!

Breakthrough for the hosts! Colwill backs off a little too much, allowing Kulusevski to get into shooting range inside the box. He's still unfortunate to feel the shot deflect off his back and leave Sanchez with no chance. The sort of goal a team in Tottenham's form tend to score and one a side in Chelsea's slump tend to concede.

5th minute: An early sight of goal for Son as Bissouma slots a pass through the Chelsea defence. He drags the shot wide and replays suggest he was offside in any case.

1st minute: Off we go. Chelsea burrow deep into Spurs territory but the home defence see them away without too much fuss.

4 mins prior to kickoff: A light show, booming music and here come the teams. A big embrace from Pocettino and Postecoglou on the touchline. No surprise that Big Ange is a hugger.

20 mins prior to kickoff: Player turnover at Spurs has been significant in the three years since Pochettino left the club, to the extent that Son Heung-min is the only player in the starting line-up who he managed. Son has been in scintillating form since Harry Kane's departure to join Bayern Munich. He's joint second in the Premier League scoring charts this season with eight alongside Mohamed Salah, three shy of Erling Haaland.

Son Heung-min celebrates for Tottenham against Arsenal
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40 mins prior to kickoff: It's a big night for Brennan Johnson, who get his second Premier League start for Spurs and first since suffering a hamstring injury on his full debut against Arsenal. Given Richarlison's struggles to provide a consistent goal threat since joining Spurs, if the Wales international impresses this evening it could be his shirt to keep.

55 mins prior to kickoff: This is the Chelsea team. Just three changes from last week's Carabao Cup win over Blackburn Rovers, with Levi Colwill, Thiago Silva and Moises Caicedo in for Marc Cucurella, Benoit Badiashile and Lesley Ugochukwu.

1 hour prior to kickoff: The teams are in. Destiny Ugdogie is fit to start at left-back for Spurs, who have Brennan Johnson in the starting XI from kickoff.

1 hr 20 mins prior to kickoff: If Pochettino had returned at any other time since his 2020 departure, there might have been overwhelming tides of sadness and regret in this corner of north London. Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo (remember that?!) and Antonio Conte were hardly big feelings and good vibes guys. At odds with their gleaming new surroundings, Spurs had come to feel like a chore for all involved. But Ange Postecoglou has restored those peak Pochettino-era levels of positivity with a swashbuckling style of play that has swept all before them so far.

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1 hr 40 mins prior to kickoff: Mauricio Pochettino was much loved at Tottenham, with the club persistently punching above their weight during a five-year tenure that took in top-four finishes, unlikely title challenges and a dramatic run to the 2019 Champions League final. As such, his decision to take charge of one of Spurs’ most disliked rivals was hard for many to stomach. However, the Argentine has no interest in pretending there’s any animosity on his part, even stating during his pre-match media duties that he still has “emotional links and feelings” towards Tottenham, who he would not rule out managing again.

After another weekend of rancour, controversy and weird club statements in the Premier League, these are welcome sentiments. However, they’re also risky ones to voice out loud. If Chelsea lose tonight they’ll have taken 12 points from the first 11 Premier League matches of Pochettino’s reign. Such form only makes the business of establishing new links with the fanbase of his current employers harder.

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2 hours prior to kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Tottenham versus Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino makes his return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where he might be advised to brace himself for a mixed reception. Ange Postecoglou's Spurs are aiming for a win to capitalise on dropped points by Arsenal and Liverpool over the weekend and return to the top of the table above Manchester City.

Tottenham vs Chelsea lineups, team news

Tottenham had a headache at left-back as both Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies faced late fitness, although the former was cleared to start.

Elsewhere, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon remain sidelined through injury for the home side.

Tottenham lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Vicario (GK) — Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie — Sarr, Bissouma — Kulusevski, Maddison, Johnson — Son

Chelsea are buoyed by the return of winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who is on the bench for this one, but the visitors too have a lengthy list of players missing through injury. 

Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku are all unavailable as Pochettino looks likely to shuffle his pack in search of a winning formula.

Chelsea lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Sanchez (GK) — James, Silva, Disasi, Colwill — Caicedo, Gallagher, Fernandez — Palmer, Jackson, Sterling

Tottenham vs Chelsea live stream, TV channel

The Tottenham versus Chelsea match from the Premier League kicks off at 8:00 p.m. local time (GMT) from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Here's how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:

IN CANADA: Watch this match in 4k on Fubo Canada (on 4k devices)

Region TV Streaming
USA Peacock
Canada

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UK Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League Sky Go
Australia Optus Sport
India Star Sports Select 1 Hotstar VIP,
JioTV
Hong Kong Now Premier League (Ch. 620-621) Now TV
Malaysia Astro Go
Singapore 221 Hub Premier 1 StarHub TV+
New Zealand Sky Sport NOW

USA: This game is available to stream via Peacock.

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

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

UK: This match is being shown on Sky Sports TV and streaming services.

MORE: Watch Premier League matches live with Fubo in USA

Dom Farrell

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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.