Comment: Chelsea boss Antonio Conte holds his nerve as threadbare Tottenham unravel

So where does this leave Chelsea? Top of the table, certainly, having shown the invaluable ability to win despite being outplayed for large swathes of a game.

It is the mark of champions to grind out results on days like these, when Tottenham looked much more like their old selves, and were the better side for the best part of an hour.

But Chelsea got back into the game with a strike of brilliance from Pedro on the stroke of half-time, took control of the game in a 15-minute burst after the break, and then hung on to take the points.