Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham: Player ratings as Blues claim comfortable win over Spurs | OneFootball

Chelsea claimed an easy 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge to move to eighth place in the Premier League.

Tottenham arrived at Stamford Bridge looking to keep their top-four hopes alive.

However, Chelsea were excellent from the start. Mykailo Mudryk split Tottenham’s backline with a pass to find Nicolas Jackson, but Micky van de Ven cleared his effort off the line.

Chelsea were all over Tottenham, and Noni Madueke put an effort just over the bar before the Blues eventually put it in the back of the net.

Spurs are the fourth worst team in the Premier League at defending set-pieces, and Chelsea took advantage of their opponent’s failings.

Conor Gallagher delivered a gorgeous free-kick that Trevoh Chalobah buried beyond Guglielmo Vicario after 24 minutes.

Mudryk was proving to be a handful for Pedro Porro and came agonisingly close to doubling his side’s lead a few moments later.

Tottenham’s only chance in the first half came from a set-piece, but even though Cristian Romero dominated Alfie Gilchrist in the air, he could not direct his header on target.

The visitors came out more motivated for the second half but couldn’t create clear-cut chances to get back in the game. Chelsea punished them for their failings.

Chelsea won a free-kick in front of the Spurs box in the 73rd minute. Cole Palmer stepped up and struck the bar, but Jackson was on hand to head in the rebound.

Chelsea saw out the game and claimed their eighth win from their last 11 games against Tottenham. Manager Mauricio Pochettino won his 400th game as a coach.

Player Ratings

Djordje Petrovic (6/10) – Petrovic barely had any work to do as Tottenham’s blunt attack floundered. He still needs to be more commanding of his box.

Alfie Gilchrist (6.5/10) – Apart from when Romero dominated him in the air, Gilchrist coped well with Heung-min Son. His positioning was good, and he kept the Tottenham captain quiet.

Trevoh Chalobah (8.5/10) – MOTM – The Cobham academy graduate has been one of Chelsea’s better defenders over the past few weeks and delivered another solid showing against Spurs. He also scored an excellent goal to boot.

Benoit Badiashile (7/10) – Badiashile put in another sturdy performance after his Villa showcase. The Frenchman has bounced back from poor form and is beginning to show the levels he displayed last season.

Marc Cucurella (7/10) – Cucurella has been rejuvenated since Pochettino started using him as an inverted full-back. He kept Brennan Johnson quiet and helped the midfield with control and defensive cover.

Moises Caicedo (7/10) – Caicedo was typically excellent in the base of midfield, helping to cut out Tottenham attacks with well-timed tackles and interceptions.

Conor Gallagher (8/10) – The Tottenham transfer target was everywhere today, pressing and hassling Spurs’ midfield to surrender the ball. He recorded his seventh league assist of the season today.

Noni Madueke (7/10) – Madueke has now completed successive 90-minute games for Chelsea. Hallelujah. He was bright and wanted to have a go at Emerson Royal every time he had the ball. It was an impressive performance.

Cole Palmer (7/10) – Palmer was not at his best today, but played a crucial role in the second goal and was a threat when he had the ball.

Mykhailo Mudryk (6.5/10) – The Ukrainian winger was electric but still struggled to deliver the goods in the final third. Nevertheless, today was one of his better performances in blue.

Nicolas Jackson (7.5/10) – Jackson showed excellent link-up play and took his goal well. He is now up to 11 goals and four assists in 31 league games.

Substitutes

Cesare Casadei (N/A)

Jimi Tauriainen (N/A)

Joshua Kofi Acheampong (6.5/10)