Given the way how these games often go, Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last night was practically an outlier. Just one goal. Clean sheet! Sure, a bit of aggro at times. And two disallowed goals by VAR. So not entirely free of drama, but certainly not quite on the level of some of the more famous encounters.
Not that I’m complaining. Given the way how so many of Chelsea’s recent games have gone, this game was thankfully also an outlier in the sense of tactical approach and execution. Obviously, that had something to do with the way Spurs themselves approached the game with their die-hard fascination with Ange-ball, but it was heartening to see some direct attacks and even, if you can believe it, long goal kicks towards the end of the game.
This isn’t something Enzo Maresca likes to see, per se, but even from him, this game called precisely for the sort of pragmatism we saw in his setup, his tactics, and his substitutions.
“I think tonight the performance was very good and we are happy. [...] It was a different game compared to before the international break [...] the last four games at home were Leicester, Southampton, West Ham, and Wolves. Four teams that they sit back and wait for us. Tonight...Tottenham is a different kind of game, so for us in some ways it’s better.
“[That said] we don’t work every day to win the game in the way we win and play in the last ten minutes in terms of waiting for them and giving the ball to them. But if you want to become, I think you need also to learn and to play in the way we played in the last ten minutes: win a game in a dirty way.
“Because I think for 90 minutes until the extra time, we were in control, we created chances enough to win the game, we created chances enough [in the] first half. But then [I made a] mistake because I did the change before I saw the extra time, and when I saw 12 minutes, I saw that probably was too early to make that kind of change. But fortunately, we won the game.”
-Enzo Maresca; source: YouTube via Reddit