Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to keep them in the hunt for European football – and deal a massive blow to their London rivals’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Trevoh Chalobah opened the scoring when the defender rose to meet a Conor Gallagher free-kick with a powerful header mid-way through the first half.
There was a lengthy video assistant referee check for a possible block by Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella on Brennan Johnson in the build-up, but the goal was given.
Spurs did not create many chances and Cristian Romero had their best opportunity when he headed wide inside the six-yard-box in the first half.
But Chelsea took control in the 71st minute when Cole Palmer’s free-kick from the edge of the area struck the bar and Nicolas Jackson headed the rebound into an empty net.
Victory sent Chelsea into eighth place, just two points behind Newcastle in seventh and a possible European spot.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are seven points behind Aston Villa with a game in hand in their battle for fourth place.
Their defeat means Liverpool have now clinched Champions League football in 2024-25.
Chelsea’s strong home form continues
Chelsea had only lost one of their 17 previous home games in all competitions and that defeat was back in February against Wolves.
They put in another good performance here and Jackson – a constant menace to the Spurs defence – had a great chance early on when he was played through but saw his shot half-saved by Guglielmo Vicario before Micky van de Ven then cleared off the line.
Van de Ven’s clearance went straight to Palmer but he could not steer the ball in from close range.
With 14 first-team players out injured and a substitute bench packed full of youngsters – the 21-year-old Cesare Casadei the oldest member – manager Mauricio Pochettino had to rely on his first XI to give him victory on his 400th game in English football.
Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke caused Tottenham plenty of problems on the counter attack but could not find the final ball to give Chelsea a third goal.
More to follow
Player of the match
GallagherConor Gallagher
with an average of 6.95
Chelsea
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Squad number23Player nameGallagher
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Squad number3Player nameCucurella
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Squad number14Player nameChalobah
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Squad number25Player nameCaicedo
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Squad number15Player nameJackson
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Squad number63Player nameAcheampong
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Squad number11Player nameMadueke
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Squad number10Player nameMudryk
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Squad number42Player nameGilchrist
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Squad number31Player nameCasadei
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Squad number49Player nameTauriainen
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Squad number5Player nameBadiashile
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Squad number28Player namePetrovic
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Squad number20Player namePalmer
Tottenham Hotspur
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Squad number37Player namevan de Ven -
Squad number17Player nameRomero
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Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-min -
Squad number23Player namePorro
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Squad number22Player nameJohnson
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Squad number13Player nameVicario
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Squad number8Player nameBissouma
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Squad number21Player nameKulusevski
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Squad number9Player nameRicharlison
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Squad number29Player nameSarr
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Squad number12Player nameEmerson Royal
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Squad number10Player nameMaddison
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Squad number30Player nameBentancur
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Squad number5Player nameHøjbjerg
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Squad number18Player nameLo Celso
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Squad number11Player nameGil
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 28Petrovic
- 42GilchristSubstituted forAcheampongat 85′minutes
- 14Chalobah
- 5Badiashile
- 3Cucurella
- 25Caicedo
- 23Gallagher
- 11Madueke
- 20Palmer
- 10MudrykSubstituted forCasadeiat 75′minutes
- 15JacksonSubstituted forTauriainenat 90+4′minutes
Substitutes
- 13Bettinelli
- 31Casadei
- 36de Souza Eugênio
- 46Sturge
- 49Tauriainen
- 54Castledine
- 63Acheampong
- 67George
- 78Dyer
Tottenham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 13Vicario
- 23Porro
- 17Romero
- 37van de VenBooked at 67mins
- 12Emerson RoyalSubstituted forLo Celsoat 86′minutes
- 8BissoumaSubstituted forHøjbjergat 63′minutes
- 29SarrSubstituted forMaddisonat 63′minutes
- 22JohnsonSubstituted forGilat 78′minutes
- 21Kulusevski
- 7Son Heung-min
- 9RicharlisonSubstituted forBentancurat 63′minutes
Substitutes
- 4Skipp
- 5Højbjerg
- 6Dragusin
- 10Maddison
- 11Gil
- 18Lo Celso
- 30Bentancur
- 40Austin
- 59Moore
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea 2, Tottenham Hotspur 0.
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Attempt missed. Bryan Gil (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left is too high. Assisted by James Maddison.
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Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Moisés Caicedo.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Jimi Tauriainen replaces Nicolas Jackson.
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Attempt missed. James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Giovani Lo Celso.
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Attempt missed. Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Son Heung-Min following a fast break.
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Attempt blocked. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Giovani Lo Celso with a cross.
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Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Moisés Caicedo.
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Attempt blocked. James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
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Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Conor Gallagher.
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Attempt blocked. Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Bryan Gil with a cross.
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Son Heung-Min (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Benoît Badiashile (Chelsea).
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Attempt saved. Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Son Heung-Min.
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Guglielmo Vicario.
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Attempt saved. Cole Palmer (Chelsea) left footed shot from long range on the right is saved in the top centre of the goal.
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Foul by Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur).
