Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino explains how infamous 'Battle of the Bridge' experience helped Blues players remain composed during 'crazy' Tottenham win

On Monday, Chelsea handed London rivals Tottenham Hotspur their first Premier League defeat of the season.

WHAT HAPPENED? Pochettino revealed that past experiences of the 'Battle of the Bridge' helped allow his players to stay composed even after going a goal down to the in-form league leaders. Chelsea defeated Tottenham 4-1 in a wild encounter in which they fell behind early and then roared back after the home team received two red cards.

WHAT THEY SAID: «I learned a lot from the Battle of the Bridge, I got a lot of criticism after the 2-2 because people said to me it was my fault because I don't teach the player how to control their emotions,» said Poch referring to his loss with Spurs in 2016 [via Football London]. «What I can say is this type of game is about tactics, it's about form, the approach of the game and also it's to control the emotion. One thing my players managed well was the control of the emotion. We played 10-12 minutes not in a good way, when we conceded the goal it was a big hit for us and we provided them the possibility to play. Then we started to control the game, force them to make a mistake. We play 120 minutes and I think we deserved to win. Crazy but fair. All the decision the VAR was fair. Tell me one decision that was not fair and even a few decision more Tottenham was lucky. When you watch the game again and try to learn from the game, Tottenham was very lucky because they finish with only two less than us.»

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The loss meant Ange Postecoglou's men suffered their first defeat in the league and brought their lead at the top of the table to an end with defending champions, and Chelsea's next opponents, Manchester City, taking over at the top.

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WHAT NEXT? Pochettino