Chelsea took a huge step towards European qualification on Thursday night with an impressive victory against Tottenham.
The Blues are now two points adrift of Newcastle United, who occupy seventh-place – a position that will see whoever finishes there qualify for next season’s Europa Conference League. In what was a crucial three points for Chelsea, it also allowed them to seriously dent arch rivals Spurs’ hopes of finishing in the top four this season.
It was Chelsea’s first meeting with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League in 627 days. Twenty months had passed since Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte’s infamous touchline spat at full-time of the 2-2 draw in August 2022. So much has changed
So much has changed for both clubs since then. And while it was not quite the pulsating encounter we witnessed that day, or earlier this season even, it was a performance – and more importantly, result – that will delight Chelsea supporters.
Rather surprisingly, it ended up being rather smooth sailing for the Blues on the night. There were so many moments to reflect on the morning after the night before, but Bobby Vincent takes a look at some you may have missed.
Pochettino explodes at Jackson
It ended up being a really good night for Nicolas Jackson. The 22-year-old striker netted his 11th goal of the Premier League season – and his fourth against Spurs. A poacher’s goal from Jackson, who headed in the rebound after Cole Palmer struck the crossbar with the initial free-kick.
His all-round play was good once again but that has never been the issue with Jackson’s game. The problem has been his finishing, a lack of composure in front of goal. But that moment on 72 minutes, where the Senegalese forward headed the ball into an empty net, could not have come at a better time for him.
Mauricio Pochettino is a huge fan of Jackson. He has made that clear in countless press conferences this season when his striker has come under fire plenty of times. Pochettino always defends Jackson. But he was not happy with him in stoppage time in the win against Tottenham.
Spurs were applying pressure to the Chelsea goal as they searched for some sort of success going forward, but the Blues ended up winning the ball back with a great counter-attacking opportunity ahead of them. Jackson ended up with the ball on the halfway line and he had options to his left and a couple to his right.
He tries to play it to Palmer on the right wing but a lacklustre pass ended up with the ball being back with the visitors. Pochettino exploded on the touchline. The Argentine jumped up, while turning towards his bench and shouted something, that was inaudible from the press box.
Silva hints at coaching role
Earlier in the week, the sad, albeit inevitable, news broke of Thiago Silva deciding to leave the club at the end of the season. The 39-year-old made an emotional speech to supporters as he announced the decision to call time on his four-year stay at Stamford Bridge later this month.
Hopefully there will be the chance for Blues supporters to give him a proper sendoff but at the moment he is out with an injury. The severity of the problem remains unknown at the moment but he was still there at Stamford Bridge to support his teammates on Thursday evening.
Silva genuinely could not care more for Chelsea than he does. That much is clear for everyone to see. While not on the substitutes’ bench, Silva was sat in the dugout and he was barking out instructions as the game progressed.
At one point in the second-half, Chelsea had a corner and Silva rose to his feet, shouted at goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic to tell him something. While it was difficult to make out what the Brazilian was telling Petrovic, he was signalling with his arms for the goalkeeper to move closer to the halfway line.
It was perhaps a hint of what life will be like once Silva retires from professional football. Could we see Silva on the Chelsea coaching staff one day? He hinted just that in his message to supporters earlier in the week.
