A last-gasp equaliser from Harry Kane saw Tottenham claim a barely deserved 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
Kalidou Koulibaly was free to thump in the opener Chelsea warranted before Tottenham drew level in the second half through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s strike from distance.
Chelsea went ahead again in the 77th minute as they capitalised on some chaos in Spurs’ defence for Reece James to steer in at the back post.
However, Ivan Perisic’s corner was attacked by Kane to equalise in the 95th minute, with the England captain gliding a header into the far corner with a slight touch off James.
Managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte were hostile throughout the game and clashed at full time following a contentious performance from referee Anthony Taylor.
A surging N’Golo Kante sent Raheem Sterling chasing a through ball and he pulled it back to Kai Havertz, who brought a finger-tip save from Hugo Lloris with the game’s first big chance.
The Blues took the lead in spectacular fashion from the resulting corner, with Marc Cucurella’s floated ball in finding an unmarked Kalidou Koulibaly to lash in on the volley.
Chelsea dominated possession during the first half, keeping a flat Spurs penned in their own half, though they did have Eduoard Mendy to thank for keeping Ryan Sessegnon at bay after the wing back had sprung the offside trap.
Tottenham started the second half quicker as Kane picked out Son Heung-min over the top, but the South Korean couldn’t get any power behind his strike.
The terrific Ruben Loftus-Cheek nearly slalomed his way through to the Spurs goal and it eventually fell to Sterling, who lifted over amid some frantic six-yard box defending from the visitors.
Just moments later, Spurs should have drawn level. Kane rolled through the Chelsea defence to get in on goal, but uncharacteristically dragged wide.
Having grown slightly into the game beyond the hour, Antonio Conte’s side drew level in controversial fashion.
Kai Havertz looked to have been fouled on the counter by Rodrigo Bentancur, but referee Taylor pointed to a touch from the Uruguayan and played on. From the resulting play, Spurs moved up the field and Ben Davies teed up Hojbjerg to drive in from outside the box for the equaliser.
That altercation stoked the fire in Stamford Bridge and Chelsea took advantage of that hostile atmosphere to take another deserved lead.
Spurs were caught completely out of position at the back and Sterling played in James, who lifted the ball beyond Lloris to give Chelsea what looked to be a deserved win.
However, Kane stole in at the death to level things up at 2-2, with the full-time whistle sparking scenes of hostility on the touchlines, with Tuchel and Conte exchanging pleasantries.
The result steers Tottenham into fourth with four points, three places above Chelsea due to their superior goal difference at this early stage.
GK: Edouard Mendy – 6/10 – Made himself big to deny Sessegnon. Booked for time-wasting.
CB: Reece James – 8/10 – Played deeper to combat Tottenham’s counter-attacking threat. Booked for bringing down Son. Moved to right wing back and grabbed the winner, finishing well from Sterling’s pass.
CB: Thiago Silva – 6/10 – Showed his composure to steadily shut out some Spurs attacks. Went missing at the final corner as Spurs stole a point.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly – 8/10 – Completely free to fire in brilliantly for his first Chelsea goal. Played some nice passes into the channel for Sterling.
RWB: Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 7/10 – Shined as a competent outlet on the right, giving Sessegnon plenty of grief with some tidy dribbling.
CM: Jorginho – 7/10 – Influential in the opening 45, knocking the ball around and recovering it quickly.
CM: N’Golo Kante – 8/10 – Gave Hojbjerg a tough afternoon with his energy and forward running. Dominated in central midfield before his hamstring gave up.
LWB: Marc Cucurella – 7/10 – Precise corner picked out Koulibaly for an assist. Really solid on the left, getting the better of Kulusevski.
RW: Kai Havertz – 7/10 – Missed a glorious, glorious, glorious opportunity to put Chelsea 2-1 ahead. Neat enough with some nice touches in Chelsea’s build-up play.
ST: Raheem Sterling – 7/10 – Pressed hard from the front, often drifting wide before cutting in to attack. Grabbed an assist with a well-weighted pass to James.
LW: Mason Mount – 7/10 – Dropped deep to open up space for others and looked dangerous around the edge of the box.
SUB: Cesar Azpilicueta (73′ for Jorginho) – 6/10 – On to steady the ship for the final 20 minutes.
SUB: Conor Gallagher (85′ for Kante) – N/A – Finally a home Chelsea debut for the midfielder.
SUB: Christian Pulisic (85′ for Sterling) – N/A – On for the closing stages.
SUB: Armando Broja (88′ for Havertz) – N/A – A very late introduction.
Manager: Thomas Tuchel – 6/10 – The move to drop James into the back three held Spurs at bay for most of the game. Was excitable on the touchline and made his issues with Conte known at full time.
GK: Hugo Lloris – 5/10 – Good stop from Havertz but powerless to stop Koulibaly’s effort. Went down and almost avoided James’ strike which he could have stopped had he stayed big.
CB: Cristian Romero – 6/10 – Made some robust challenges but was caught out on position from time to time. Pulled Cucurella’s hair and might have been sent off on another day.
CB: Eric Dier – 6/10 – Made some decent interventions and mopped up well at the back.
CB: Ben Davies – 6/10 – Was well forward to grab an assist for Hojbjerg’s strike
RWB: Emerson Royal – 5/10 – Was marking no one from the corner where Koulibaly scored. Could be dropped next week.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 5/10 – Was chasing Chelsea’s midfield until the second half, when Spurs started to get a little more control.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7/10 – Ran around waving his arms in the first half but couldn’t establish any sort of control in midfield. An unlikely figure to draw Spurs level with a great shot from distance.
LWB: Ryan Sessegnon – 5/10 – Missed Tottenham’s best chance of the first half when his strike was saved by Mendy.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – 5/10 – Just nine touches in the first half. Could have slipped in Son with a better pass. Not the attacking threat he has been since January.
ST: Harry Kane – 6/10 – Very quiet in the early stages but started to get on the ball more frequently in the second half. Wasted a brilliant chance when in on goal. Came up trumps at the end with a fine header.
LW: Son Heung-min – 4/10 – Touch was off as he struggled to control the ball. Had his first sniff of goal in the second half but scuffed his effort. Brought off having struggled to contribute.
SUB: Richarlison (57′ for Sessegnon) – 6/10 – His introduction saw Tottenham change to a 4-4-2 formation. Provided some bite but didn’t get any chances.
SUB: Yves Bissouma (79′ for Bentancur) – 6/10 – Should have been introduced earlier.
SUB: Ivan Perisic (79′ for Son) – 7/10 – Took a corner or two, with his last being the assist for Kane’s header.
SUB: Lucas Moura (82′ for Emerson) – N/A- A brief cameo.
Manager: Antonio Conte – 7/10 – Picked his favoured XI but would have been disappointing with the set-piece defending. His changes ultimately earned Spurs a point they had no business getting. Lost his cool.
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