Coach Mauricio Pochettino understands why Tottenham played tit for tat despite having two players sent off in their 1-4 loss to Chelsea in round 11 of the Premier League.
After Cristian Romero was sent off in the first half, and Destiny Udogie received a second yellow card in the 55th minute, Tottenham did not retreat deep into defence. The home side continued to push up the offside trap when the score was 1-1. The 0-7-1 formation was deployed many times to close down and limit Chelsea's attacking options. This reckless play helped Tottenham hold on until the 75th minute, before conceding three more goals in the remainder of the match.
Tottenham's nine-man squad against Chelsea. Photo: Joe
"When you are top of the table you can try anything," Chelsea manager Pochettino told Sky Sports after the 4-1 win over Tottenham. "Tottenham are confident and I know they can do that. If we were calmer and more confident, we could be in a different situation and maybe a different position on the scoreboard. We found a lot of space behind their defence and should have scored more than four goals."
Playing with a man up from the 33rd minute and two men up from the 55th minute, Chelsea only took the lead in the last 15 minutes. A hat-trick from striker Nicolas Jackson at the end of the match gave coach Pochettino one last piece of joy on the day of the reunion with his old team. Chelsea also forced Tottenham to accept their first defeat in the Premier League this season.
"They defended high and we didn't have the patience to play the ball from one side to the other and wait for our chance," added Pochettino. "We were disappointed after half-time not to be able to take advantage of the space they created. The team went into the game with more doubt than confidence. When you face an unbeaten team like Tottenham, you always have to double your effort. This young team needs to be confident if they want to go further."
Coach Pochettino was unhappy at times when Chelsea lacked discipline in the match at Tottenham on November 6. Photo: PA
Admitting that his players lacked composure and decisiveness, coach Pochettino said Chelsea deserved to win as they dominated the game after the 15th minute. The match also saw VAR intervene at least 10 times, causing the total playing time of the two teams to reach 110 minutes. The Argentine strategist supports the referees to check carefully, avoiding the case where VAR has caused injustice to some clubs such as Arsenal or Liverpool in recent rounds.
The win helped Chelsea move up four places to 10th on the table. Pochettino and his team have four more tough games in the Premier League, against Man City, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd.
Vy Anh
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