Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie Tottenham red card response proves Postecoglou message right
Ange Postecoglou has transformed Tottenham since his managerial appointment over the summer, however his tenure hit its first significant blip this past Monday. Spurs headed into a London derby against Chelsea unbeaten in the league where a win would take them back to the top, however 90 minutes of chaos elapsed and nine-man Spurs were beaten 4-1 by at home by their bitter rivals.
Dejan Kulusevski's deflected effort gave the Lilywhites a dream start and Son Heung-min would have made it two moments later had he not been offside by mere millimetres. Nonetheless, Spurs were in control of the game until several moments of madness took place with Cristian Romero sent off, Chelsea given a penalty and Destiny Udogie booked for a dangerous challenge on Raheem Sterling that could have easily been a red.
With a man advantage, after levelling from the penalty spot following Romero's foul, Chelsea were certainly favourites to go on and win the game and those odds were slashed when Udogie was shown a second yellow card. Spurs continued to play the Postecoglou way, with a staggering high line deployed even though Micky van de Ven had gone off with a serious hamstring injury, that saw a backline consisting of Eric Dier, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Emerson Royal and Pedro Porro deployed.
Nicolas Jackson, despite missing a bundle of chances, went on to net a hat-trick with the Blues running out 4-1 winners. Ultimately, the game was in the hands of Tottenham until Romero and Udogie got themselves sent off needlessly, similarly to Yves Bissouma's dismissal against Luton Town in October.
The Mali international was shown a second yellow card for simulation in the first half, although Spurs were able to still pick up the three points. After the game,
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