Chelsea consolidated top spot in the Barclays English Premier League with an impressive 4–2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in Saturday’s early kickoff.
Any hopes Andre Villas-Boas may have had of putting one over on the club that sacked him last March were ironically dashed by a man of the match performance from a player that he himself had brought to Stamford Bridge. Spanish international (although not during the most recent break) Juan Mata scored two and set up his team’s fourth for substitute Daniel Sturridge to turn the game around after Spurs had gone ahead 2–1 10 minutes into the second half.
“We are a team with belief in our confidence and level. We are playing really well with the ball, trying to give assists and movement for midfielders,” Mata told ESPN after the match.
“[It’s] too early to think of winning the Premier League,” Mata cautioned.
A London derby that is always one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures on the calendar was given extra spice on this occasion being the first time Villas-Boas had faced Chelsea since his unceremonious departure. The fact that his assistant, Roberto Di Matteo, had been appointed his replacement and then gone on to win the FA Cup and European Champions League must indeed have been a bitter pill swallow.
The task of the Spurs manager was not made any easier by the loss of star player Gareth Bale whose wife is expecting their first child. The Welsh international is one of those players that cannot really be replaced.
Tom Huddlestone got the nod, but would look to solidify midfield rather than playing in Bale’s position wide on the left. It would be Icelandic international Gylfi Sigurdsson who would slot in on the left side of midfield and attempt to provide some width down the left in Bale’s absence
Chelsea skipper John Terry was of course absent, so Gary Cahill joined Mata as the second Villas-Boas signing in the Chelsea lineup. One of the Portuguese manager’s most controversial actions while at Chelsea was his persistent tendency to leave Frank Lampard on the bench. So it was something of an irony that Ramires was preferred to the England man for this lunch time derby in the capital.
First Blood to Di Matteo
The game was open from the outset and played at high pace in keeping with Premier League tradition. Chelsea looked the more dangerous going forward during the opening 15 minutes, whereas Spurs initially appeared somewhat lacking in inspiration.
In fact, the scoring began on the quarter-hour mark when an ill-directed William Gallas defensive header went back into a central position right into the path of Cahill who was lurking on the edge of the Spurs area. The England international connected with one of the sweetest and most powerful volleys you will see this season—and that from a central defender.
Brad Friedel, who had been preferred to French international Hugo Lloris between the posts, stood no chance and the visitors were one up.
