A Few Delayed Thoughts on Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea
No great dugout rumpus; no touchline eye-pokery, hair-pulling or my-fringe- is-neater-than-your fringe fisticuffs from the Portuguese coaches. Instead, squirming against the tide of convention, it was the football that took centre-stage and a game of two markedly different halves was enjoyed by all. Points, goals, laughs shared; everyone getting on famously
Well, not really everyone– but, you know.
In a game cleaved neatly down the middle, a half of relative dominance each; it was Tottenham who took the early initiative. Andros Townsend typified the early ascendancy, with a succession powerful, super-charged runs from deep. And not just forays into the abyss, either. Or predictable cut inside, left foot, kick it out of the stadium routines that we’ve bared witness to in previous fixtures. This was a performance with added brain. The slip to Paulinho which eventually skimmed off the post was, to use a technical term, phwoaar!
In the early exchanges, Christian Eriksen floated and popped in dangerous areas, brilliantly occupying the space between Soldado and the deeper-lying Paulinho and Moussa Dembélé. Gylfi Sigurdsson marked another fine half with a well-taken goal, fashioned from good work from his Scandinavian cousin and the nimble feet and marshmallow-light touch of Bobby Soldier. All very much deserved and with the run of play. At this juncture it’s a shame Spurs didn’t hammer home their early control. 2-0 would’ve made the three points seem a darn sight safer bet. (Check the latest prices at http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-ca)
Mourinho, though, not to be undone, made the change at half-time. Michael Owen in the BT commentary called it a work of genius but I’d say it was just a classic Bring on Your Best Player scenario which, shock of shocks, improved Chelsea’s fortunes. However you’d care to label it Juan Mata’s presence turned the thing about face. Paulinho and Dembélé were suddenly reluctant to bomb forward for fear of leaving too much acreage for the Spaniard to operate in and Christian Eriksen no longer exerted the same kind of authority he had in the first half. As a result Chelsea began to take charge. John Terry’s headed equaliser was not only a terrible thing for football in general (no-one and I mean no-one likes to see that) it was all rather inevitable.
A curious subplot of the afternoon was Fernando Torres and Jan Vertonghen’s ongoing playground scuffle. Faces were scratched, shirts pulled and lunch money stolen. All stuff that we’re told no-one likes to see, when in fact, there’s a chance we do. The former striker eventually received his much sought after red card but, in all honesty, a lunchtime detention and a letter home to his mother would’ve sufficed.
Onward. To Russia!
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