LONDON — As the Tottenham supporters chanted "we want six," Jose Mourinho stood on the touchline with a grim look on his face, probably planning the predictable post-match ref rant that he subsequently delivered on cue.
Mourinho believed his side should have been awarded a penalty when it was 1-0 up for a handball by Jan Vertonghen in the penalty area and used it to as further evidence of the "campaign" against Chelsea this season. But nobody should be fooled by Mourinho’s attention-deflecting tactics after a humiliating defeat that has left Chelsea top of the Premier League table only on alphabetical order.
The Blues are level with Manchester City on points, goal difference and goals scored, and the title race is likely to remain neck-and-neck for the remainder of the campaign.
Hours after Chelsea legend Frank Lampard scored City’s winner in a 3-2 victory over Sunderland, the Londoners were torn apart by a rampant Tottenham team inspired by Harry Kane. Kane will likely haunt John Terry and Gary Cahill in their dreams for the foreseeable future after scoring twice and tormenting the visitors with his strength, technical quality and clinical finishing.
But what on earth happened to Chelsea? Ahead of its trip across London, the club had only conceded three times in its previous eight games. But everything fell apart here.
“I’m more shocked with other things than conceding five goals. That can happen,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference. “What I am shocked about is that is that in three days we had two incredible decisions that punished us in a very hard way. The one in the first half, which is clear, is the one that is difficult to accept. Managers and players win and lose. Mr. Dowd didn’t lose.”
Mourinho is scraping the barrel if he thinks referee Phil Dowd is to blame, especially given the incident in question was nothing like the clear kick on Cesc Fabregas in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Southampton. The manager should instead be working out how a team managed by him conceded five goals for only the second time in his career, and why Tottenham was so much sharper to the ball and able to slice open Chelsea’s defense.
It had started so well, with Diego Costa’s tap-in making it 1-0 after some brilliant work from Eden Hazard, who was comfortably the Blues’ outstanding player. But then Kane was allowed to muscle past Chelsea players and fire in the equalizer from 25 yards.
It became two when Nacer Chadli ran in behind the Chelsea defense and hit the post, with Danny Rose quicker than his opponents to slide in the rebound. Then on the stroke of halftime, Kane nipped ahead of Cahill and forced a foul in the penalty area from the England defender. Andros Townsend made no mistake from the box.
Chelsea started with real purpose in the second half but again. But seven minutes after the restart, Kane turned smartly away from Cahill in the penalty area and slotted expertly into the far corner.
Hazard and Terry scored for the Blues, sandwiching Chadli’s deflected goal, but Chelsea was on its heels throughout. Now the Blues have City and Lampard jostling for position ahead of the stretch run when the title will be decided.
Chelsea was brilliant in the first half of the season, and Mourinho will want to mark this down as a freak result. In that case, he will have to stop blaming the officials and make sure that there is no repeat of this woeful defending.
Mourinho believed his side should have been awarded a penalty when it was 1-0 up for a handball by Jan Vertonghen in the penalty area and used it to as further evidence of the "campaign" against Chelsea this season. But nobody should be fooled by Mourinho’s attention-deflecting tactics after a humiliating defeat that has left Chelsea top of the Premier League table only on alphabetical order.
The Blues are level with Manchester City on points, goal difference and goals scored, and the title race is likely to remain neck-and-neck for the remainder of the campaign.
Hours after Chelsea legend Frank Lampard scored City’s winner in a 3-2 victory over Sunderland, the Londoners were torn apart by a rampant Tottenham team inspired by Harry Kane. Kane will likely haunt John Terry and Gary Cahill in their dreams for the foreseeable future after scoring twice and tormenting the visitors with his strength, technical quality and clinical finishing.
But what on earth happened to Chelsea? Ahead of its trip across London, the club had only conceded three times in its previous eight games. But everything fell apart here.
“I’m more shocked with other things than conceding five goals. That can happen,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference. “What I am shocked about is that is that in three days we had two incredible decisions that punished us in a very hard way. The one in the first half, which is clear, is the one that is difficult to accept. Managers and players win and lose. Mr. Dowd didn’t lose.”
Mourinho is scraping the barrel if he thinks referee Phil Dowd is to blame, especially given the incident in question was nothing like the clear kick on Cesc Fabregas in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Southampton. The manager should instead be working out how a team managed by him conceded five goals for only the second time in his career, and why Tottenham was so much sharper to the ball and able to slice open Chelsea’s defense.
It had started so well, with Diego Costa’s tap-in making it 1-0 after some brilliant work from Eden Hazard, who was comfortably the Blues’ outstanding player. But then Kane was allowed to muscle past Chelsea players and fire in the equalizer from 25 yards.
It became two when Nacer Chadli ran in behind the Chelsea defense and hit the post, with Danny Rose quicker than his opponents to slide in the rebound. Then on the stroke of halftime, Kane nipped ahead of Cahill and forced a foul in the penalty area from the England defender. Andros Townsend made no mistake from the box.
Chelsea started with real purpose in the second half but again. But seven minutes after the restart, Kane turned smartly away from Cahill in the penalty area and slotted expertly into the far corner.
Hazard and Terry scored for the Blues, sandwiching Chadli’s deflected goal, but Chelsea was on its heels throughout. Now the Blues have City and Lampard jostling for position ahead of the stretch run when the title will be decided.
Chelsea was brilliant in the first half of the season, and Mourinho will want to mark this down as a freak result. In that case, he will have to stop blaming the officials and make sure that there is no repeat of this woeful defending.
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