Tottenham vs Chelsea LIVE RESULT: Cole Palmer scores Panenka as Blues fight back from TWO GOALS down to secure epic win
COLE PALMER scored a Panenka as Chelsea fought back from TWO GOALS down to win in a thrilling London derby!
Spurs had taken the lead after Marc Cucurella slipped over TWICE during the build-up to TWO Tottenham goals in a thrilling first half - immediately changing his boots in comical fashion.
Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski took advantage of the errors by the defender but Jadon Sancho then fired a goal back for Chelsea before Palmer levelled from the penalty spot and Enzo Fernandez smashed in a half-volley.
Thee was late drama as Son scored a late goal but the Blues held on for a vital three points that keeps them second in the league.
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Chelsea rated and slated
Unsurprisingly, Cucurella could only manage a 4/10 in SunSport's player ratings after that start.
Although reporter Lloyd Canfield joked Cucurella had been on a 0 for much of the first half, so he did well to recover really.
Here's how the rest of the players in Blue scored.
Get in the bin
Marc Cucurella endured a nightmare 10 minutes at the start of the game, slipping over on two separate occasions... with Spurs then scoring immediately after.
The farcical incident saw the Spaniard immediately change his boots and then later reveal what he did with his old ones.
Fans escorted out
In case you missed it yesterday, Chelsea fans had to be escorted out of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for celebrating a bit too vigorously while sat with home fans.
Chelsea upcoming fixtures
Chelsea fans will be absolutely licking their lips at their coming slate of fixtures - Enzo Maresca's team don't face any team in the current top seven until they visit Man City on January 25,. tough they do face tricky local derbies with Brentford and Fulham.
Despite all the talk about not being in a title race, this next set of fixtures should put Chelsea right in the mix come the end of January.
- Dec 15 - Brentford (h)
- Dec 22 - Everton (a)
- Dec 26 - Fulham (h)
- Dec 30 - Ipswich Town (a)
- Jan 4 - Crystal Palace (a)
- Jan 14 - Bournemouth (h)
Tottenham upcoming fixtures
We're now about to enter the busy Christmas period with Prem teams facing four fixtures before the turn of the year.
Tottenham next face a trip to struggling Southampton in what is an absolute must-win.
They then face Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Wolves before the turn of the year and then Newcastle and Arsenal to start 2025.
- Dec 15 - Southampton (a)
- Dec 22 - Liverpool (h)
- Dec 26 - Nottingham Forest (a)
- Dec 29 - Wolves (h)
- Jan 4 - Newcastle (h)
- Jan 15 - Arsenal (a)
Chelsea flying
Here's how the Premier League table looks after Sunday's action.
Chelsea are now just four points off Liverpool - although have a game in hand after the Merseyside derby with Everton was postponed because of the weather.
It's not such good reading for Spurs, who have now won just one match in their last five.
'Lots to improve'
The message coming out of Chelsea last night was clearly that the Blues have to keep their heads down and press on, despite their lofty position in the table.
Levi Colwill said: ""We have still got a lot to improve on, when we're ready to push for a title we won't be 2-0 down in the first 10 minutes.
"That's the level we need to be at and that's what we need to keep working on."
Merson on Palmer
Merson continues to be impressed with Cole Palmer who he described as "the big boy" of Chelsea.
The Arsenal legend said on Sky Sports: "First of all coming from Manchester to London is a big move in itself.
"Cole Palmer has come into the team and he's been outstanding.
"When you first come into the team and you're from Man City, a young kid and nobody really knows about him and he didn't play loads, so you get a bit of a free hit.
"The last six or seven months he's the big boy. The name of the game is stop Cole Palmer and then you might be able to stop Chelsea.
"You can't do it and that shows how good he is."
Sancho knew
Jadaon Sancho now has two goals in two games for the Blues after a slow start to his career at Chelsea.
And the winger said he "knew" his side would come back to win after he pulled one back in the first half.
He told the BBC: "Going 2-0 down in the first half was not ideal but I knew we'd come back into the game when we got that first goal.
"Going in at half-time, the gaffer was telling us we were in the game. I have so much belief in the players so I knew we'd come out firing.
"They're very aggressive and we knew we'd catch them if we broke the lines and beat the press. The gaffer told us to stay wide and create the one-on-ones.
"I've been working on my shooting a bit more. The staff and the players have been telling me otherwise."
Credit: Rex
Jackson assist
Eagle-eyed Chelsea fans have spotted the moment Nicolas Jackson helped Enzo Fernandez avoid a yellow card.
The midfielder wanted to rip his shirt off in celebration after putting the Blues in front but was stopped by the striker.
'They haven't got the best players'
Arsenal legend Paul Merson was particularly scathing about Ange's tactics and said they should've shut up shop a bit more having been 2-0 ahead.
Merson said on Sky Sports: "I don't mean to sound disrespectful but I'm watching the game, Spurs are 2-0 up against Chelsea and it's like they are playing against Kilmarnock or St Mirren and he's the Celtic manager and got the best players.
"They haven't got the best players at Tottenham, so they have to change it.
"You can't go, you have a shot, we have a shot and we can destroy you like they have over the years.
"You've got to be cute and say, 'we're 2-0 up here, let's counterattack.'"
Spursy
Today's defeat will continue to make grim reading for Tottenham fans, but they may be used to this kind of defeat by now.
In fact, the defeat to Chelsea was the ELEVENTH time in the Premier League era they've lost having been two goals ahead.
That is FOUR more such defeats than any other side in the Prem.
Credit: Reuters Perfect Palmer
Cole Palmer also now owns the best penalty record of any player in the Prem - 100 per cent from all 12 of his pens, overtaking Yaya Toure (11).
Ugly scenes
It wasn't all rosy in Tottenham as there was a bit of misbehaviour from both sets of fans inside the stadium.
First, Spurs fans could be seen continually throwing missiles at Chelsea players in the form of screwed up cardboard - they had been used for the tifo pre-game.
Palmer brilliance
Just to put Cole Palmer's ridiculous stats into perspective, only three players have reached 50 Premier League goal involvements for one club quicker than the Chelsea superstar.
Palmer now has 50 involvements - 33 goals, 17 assists - in just 48 matches.
He is beaten by Erling Haaland (a frankly ridiculous 39), Andy Cole while he was at Newcastle United (43) and Mo Salah for Liverpool (46).
Credit: EPA
Home time
Then, Chelsea fans could be seen being escorted out of the home end after celebrating the goals a bit too vigorously.
More from Son
The South Korean added: "We've got to stick together in such difficult moments, it's very important and it's why we need big support.
"The players are very young and they need support more than before and more than we had.
"The fans were always supporting amazingly but I think it's time the players also need to step up.
"We need some big support and big cheering up."
'Very sloppy'
Spurs captain Son Heung-min scored a late goal but it was not nearly enough in a match that Tottenham will feel they threw away.
He told Sky Sports: "It's very disappointing. I don't know what to say at the moment. We did such a good game in the first half an hour. We conceded very sloppy goals.
"It feels like we lost because of these small details. On such a big stage, you need to step up and score in these moments. I feel like I let the team down and I feel very sorry for the team.
"We can't concede goals like this. We can't dive into this situation. I can stay here all day talking about the mistakes but I'd rather blame me with the chance and I'd rather take the blame.
"I had a bit of a different thinking when I was running to the ball. I'm also human and I miss. I feel the pain because it's such an important moment of the game. The team tried."
Chelsea ratings
No surprises that Marc Cucurella got a poor score given his early troubles - although it could have been lower given his response.
Here's how SunSport's Lloyd Canfield rated the rest of the Chelsea players after the 4-3 win.
More from Ange
Postecoglu also appeared unimpressed by the decision not to send off Moises Caicedo - and spoke on yet more injuries.
He said: "That's what is happening in the game now, referees are leaving it to other powers that be to make decisions.
"There were a couple that didn't go our way but there's nothing we can do about that. It's out of our control."
Cristian Romero, Brennan Johnson and Van de Ven all went off seemingly nursing injuries.
Ange added: "Obviously Romero was really disappointing. He felt something in his quad after 20 minutes and couldn't continue.
"Brennan [Johnson] wasn't well and he tried to sort himself out at half time but he just wasn't up to going out there.
"Micky [van de Ven] was just a bit of tiredness. The plan today was always to try and give him 60 or 70 minutes."
Credit: Rex 'A painful one'
Ange Postecoglu cut a rather more forlorn figure after that defeat with pressure continuing to mount given the recent poor run in form - bar that brilliant Man City win.
He told the BBC: "It is a sore one, a painful one.
"We started the game really well but as our season has been going, we lose [Cristian] Romero after 20 minutes and that disrupts us a bit and they score straight after.
"We had moments to get our third and at half-time we were in a decent position. The second half is a ding dong, especially at the start, they scored but we had a big chance with Son, we didn't take it and then they go 3-2 up.
"I thought both penalties were poor decisions by us, we have to show more discipline. In the end the critical moments got us.
"I think there were quality opportunities but I don't think there was an abundance of them. I can't remember the keepers making a load of top quality saves.
"We more than matched a good side in that department and when there is quality out there you are going to have moments.
"There were things we could have done better for sure."
More from Maresca
On the peerless Palmer, he said: "I know Cole from a long time ago and I always trust him in every aspect. He is a fantastic guy.
"He is learning how to play games when he is marked man-to-man, [Yves] Bissouma was with him all the game.
"He is learning, improving and scoring goals. That makes him happy and makes us happy."
Maresca also said the team want to keep high levels and claimed Chelsea are far away from teams like Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool: "The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They can not drop because they know another player is waiting to come in."
On keeping pace with title rivals: "Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don't slide - like Cucurella did. To be serious, we are not ready, we are far from these teams but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team."
Credit: Getty 'We deserved to win'
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was clearly delighted with the win - and could even joke around about Cucurella's boot issue.
He told Sky Sports: "For the fans and for us, I said in the week that we were working to make the fans happy, and today they can be happy."
On Cucurella, he added: "He said to me after the game that he was trying to bring emotion to the game.
"No, being serious, to come this stadium against this team and be 2-0 down, but continue then with the same plan on and off the ball and then second half we changed things tactically. I think overall we deserved to win.
"It's more a question for Marc. They are mature enough to decide what boots they need for the game. The most important thing is that we were 2-0 but we continued the same way to create chances."
In the bin
Marc Cucurella endured a nightmare first 10 minutes at Tottenham, slipping over TWICE in the build up to two Chelsea goals - then immediately switching boots after the second goal.
With Chelsea earning all three points, the Spanish left-back could have a laugh about it after the game...
Better than Zola?
Jamie Carragher made a bold claim after the game, stating Palmer has already done more than the Italian magician did in his iconic years in Blue.
Carragher said: "He gets the penalties and he is involved in the Enzo Fernandez goal as well. People fear when he has the ball.
"He hasn't been playing for the best team. When you look at Chelsea over the years, you look at flair players you look at Gianfranco Zola and Eden Hazard. He has probably done more than Zola already in his 18 months at the club.
"He is going to go down as one of the biggest players for Chelsea if he keeps doing what he is doing. He is a very special player, and that's not just in the Premier League it is in Europe and world football as well."
Credit: instagram @premierleague
