Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea: Player ratings as Pochettino wins on return to nine-man Spurs
FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Chelsea ended Tottenham's unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a 4-1 win in an action-packed London derby.
Spurs received red cards in both the first and second half and were eventually punished for sticking to their attacking principles.
Mauricio Pochettino's return to north London somehow became a sub-plot amid the on-pitch chaos as the Blues held their nerve and picked apart their hosts down the final stretch.
With only six minutes on the clock, Tottenham took the lead. The hosts baited Chelsea into pressing them deep in their own half, allowing them to quickly move the ball through the thirds. Pape Matar Sarr played in Dejan Kulusevski down the right channel, and the Swede cut in to fire at goal, with his effort deflecting in at the near post off of Levi Colwill.
Chelsea nearly found themselves level soon after when Pedro Porro cheaply gave the ball away following a throw-in. Nicolas Jackson advanced into the area and held off the challenge of Micky van de Ven, but was denied by a fine low save from Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs thought they had scored a second with their next attack when Son Heung-min converted a low cross from Brennan Johnson, but the South Korean was ever so marginally offside and the goal was ruled out.
Midway through the first half, Chelsea themselves thought they had grabbed their equaliser only to be denied by VAR. Tottenham were caught cold by a swift counter attack which saw Cristian Romero dragged up the pitch and Raheem Sterling put the ball in from close range, but the ball struck his hand when Porro tried to tackle him and the goal was chalked off.
Minutes later, Chelsea again were denied a leveller. Moises Caicedo's sweetly struck shot from distance
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