Spurs' homegrown heroes leave Potter on the brink
LONDON DERBY WIN: Tottenham's Harry Kane, left, scores his side's second goal. Pic: AP Photo/Ian Walton
GRAHAM POTTER is under even more pressure after Tottenham took apart his Chelsea side to consolidate their place in the top four while leaving the Blues' season in ruins.
Oliver Skipp scored his first goal for Tottenham to set them on their way early in the second half, and another home-grown player, Harry Kane, finished off this expensively-assembled but dysfunctional Chelsea side.
Spurs, still without Antonio Conte on the touchline, were superior throughout and moved four points clear of fifth-placed Newcastle, and are now 14 points ahead of Chelsea, who have won only twice in their past 15 games. Chelsea's fans were calling for Potter to go after last week's home defeat by Southampton, and it was thought only victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they had never previously lost, would be good enough to save him.
With chairman Todd Boehly watching another goalless and gutless performance, the question has to be asked whether he will stick by Potter as the club's chances of European football ebb away.
The manager acknowledged afterwards that he has not won over the fans with a winning start, nor built up a reservoir of goodwill to see him through this tough period. “I haven't done enough at this club to have too much good faith. I accept that. My job isn't to worry too much about that. I understand the question but I have to keep focusing on the team and helping the players.
“I also know that we've had a tough period of time where confidence isn't massively high and we've had a bit of a tough situation, but I know the personality of the group and the dressing room. The response this week in training has been fantastic. We just haven't been able to transfer that into results on the pitch, it's frustrating. We're suffering, the players are hurting and I take responsibility for that.”
In a bad-tempered first half of few clear chances, Chelsea's best two fell to Joao Felix, who missed one from close range and then hit another shot straight at Fraser Forster. Spurs went closer when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's shot rebounded off the base of a post after grazing the boot of Wesley Fofana, who had replaced Thiago Silva when the Chelsea captain limped off with a thigh injury in the 18th minute.
Raheem Sterling then cut inside to force a save from Forster before the first half ended with a major controversy. Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz tried to trip Richarlison as he ran across midfield, and when the Brazilian went down, Attwell went for his pocket to show a yellow card to Havertz. A melee ensued with plenty of pushing and shoving, and it was soon clear that Ziyech had caught Emerson Royal in the face with his hand. Atwell presumably did not see it but was alerted to it by the VAR, who recommended a red card for Ziyech, which Atwell produced. Home supporters cheered, but were then baffled as Atwell trotted over to a pitchside monitor to watch the incident again. He then trotted back towards Ziyech and rescinded the red card, downgrading it to a yellow. “You don't know what you're doing,” rang out around the ground, and it was hard to disagree.
The frustration of home supporters soon turned to joy within 22 seconds of the restart. Spurs attacked the Chelsea backline and Emerson's shot was stopped but not held by Arrizabalaga. Enzo Fernandes hoofed a clearance but Skipp beat Felix to the ball and hit a sweet volley from 25 yards that Arrizabalaga could only push on to the underside of the bar and into the net.
It was his first goal for the club. Kane is at the other end of the goalscoring scale and hit his 19th of the season in the 82nd minute to finish off Chelsea. Heung Min Son, on as a substitute, sent a corner in from the right, Eric Dier headed on and Kane, incredibly unmarked at the far post, hooked the ball in from close range.
Cristian Stellini said the fact that two academy products scored the goals should be an inspiration for all the youth players at the club. "It shows it can be done. It's not easy but you need to look at players like Skippy.” He also suggested Conte could be back in the next week.
Some Chelsea fans started filing away quietly, for they knew the game was up. Their side has scored only one goal in their past six games, and 23 Premier League goals all season, half of Tottenham's total. Their only chance of a trophy is the Champions League, where they are 1-0 down to Borussia Dortmund after the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Even the most optimistic of Chelsea fans do not fancy their chances of winning it again.
The bigger question now is whether time is up for Graham Potter too.
Forster 7; Romero 7, Dier 7, Lenglet 7; Royal 8, Skipp 9, Hojbjerg 8, Davies 7; Kulusevski 8 (Son 79); Kane 8, Richarlison 7 (Porro 89).
Arrizabalaga 6; James 7, Silva 6 (Fofana 19), Koulibaly 5, Chilwell 6; Loftus-Cheek 6 (Zakaria 62), Fernandez 6; Ziyech 6 (Mount 62), Felix 6 (Aubameyang 83), Sterling 6 (Mudryk 83); Havertz 5.
Referee Stuart Atwell 5/10
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