Chelsea came from behind to beat nine-man Spurs 4-1 in a frenzied game on Mauricio Pochettino’s return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Nicolas Jackson fired a hat-trick in a final crazy 20 minutes to cap a breath-taking game that will go down as one of the most eventful to be played in the Premier League, with five goals disallowed, multiple VAR checks and two red cards shown.
The drama arrived just six minutes into this thrilling encounter when Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected effort gave the hosts the lead.
On a busy night for technology, Son Heung-min’s goal was chalked off for offside following a VAR check, before Raheem Sterling suffered similar fate at the opposite end.
Moises Caicedo’s rifled shot from distance was then ruled out following a lengthy intervention by VAR which also saw Tottenham defender Cristian Romero shown a straight red card for a foul on Enzo Fernandez in the build-up, with the referee Michael Oliver subsequently pointing to the spot. Cole Palmer converted the penalty to level the scores.
Ange Postecoglou’s pain was compounded when Romero’s centre-back partner Micky van de Ven was forced off with a hamstring injury, and to make matters worse, James Maddison also picked up a knock and had to be replaced.
Tempers continued to rise in the 12 minutes of added time – and there was more drama to come after the restart as Destiny Udogie, who was fortunate not to be sent off in the first half, was shown a second yellow card for a late foul on Sterling.
Eventually The Blues found the breakthrough with just 15 minutes remaining when Jackson tapped in from Sterling’s pass.
Tottenham’s biggest chance for an equaliser fell to Son who was repelled by Sanchez in stoppage-time, and on the counterattack, Jackson grabbed his brace and moments later, his hat-trick.
The result means Spurs remain in second place, a point behind leaders Manchester City, while Chelsea climb to 10th.
