Game ends goalless at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea couldn’t be separated at White Hart Lane this lunchtime as the London derby ended goalless.
It was an eight-goal thriller in this fixture last season, with Spurs thrashing Chelsea 5-3, but there wasn’t to be the an encore this lunchtime as the two sides failed to impress in front of goal.
The main talking point beforehand was Jose Mourinho‘s decision to drop Diego Costa and use Eden Hazard as a false number-9 for the game.
Costa hasn’t been in great form recently and with reports emerging off the pitch that his future is in doubt, maybe Mourinho has grown fed up of the Spaniard.
Summary
It was a fast-pace start with Spurs enjoying the opening 15-20 minutes, but they failed to create any clear-cut chances, with Son coming close from a header and Harry Kane‘s deflected shot nearly taking Asmir Begovic by surprise.
At the other end, Hazard had a glorious chance but could only header over, while Pedro curled over from just outside the box.
The two teams went in level at half-time, with the visitors probably edging the game.
Nothing changed in the second-half with both teams enjoying spells of possession, but failing to do anything with it.
Hazard came closest when his stunning volley was saved superbly by Hugo Lloris.
The game ended 0-0 with Spurs extending their unbeaten run to 13-games, leaving them fifth in the table and four points behind leaders Manchester City.
For Chelsea, the point climbs them up to 14th on 15 points.
Match Reaction
Chelsea forward Eden Hazard: “It’s always difficult to play here, last season we lost 5-3 and we tried to get revenge. It is a good result, we didn’t have many good chances but Hugo Lloris made a good save from me.
“A beautiful save, the game could have been a win for us if that goes in.”
Jose Mourinho said: “I am more than happy with the performance. I am happy with the team collectively. It was the best Chelsea performance of the season, against a dangerous team. My players did everything to try and interpret my defensive ideas the with ball.
“We had control of the game and had the best chances.
“My team deserved more than a point.”
Tottenham boss Maurico Pochettino said: “Chelsea had only one shot on target and it was a good save from Hugo Lloris. They did not do much to win the game, we deserved more, we tried to win it. I think Chelsea will be happy with the point. It is more important to them than us.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
