Chelsea vs Tottenham: A bitter but deserved defeat, Spurs can still take credit in Carabao Cup failure

Ultimately it was another test failed, but there were so many moments tonight when it looked like Spurs were about to get swallowed up and would not even make it that far

Tottenham had to taste the bitterest possible defeat at Stamford Bridge tonight, and yet the most remarkable thing about their evening is the fact that they made it to penalties at all. You can point to Spurs’ mental flaws, or the fact that the big moments always go against them, but it should not be forgotten just how close they got.

Because Chelsea were the dominant team over the two legs of football, far more than the 2-2 aggregate scoreline would suggest. They dominated the second half of the first leg at Wembley and here at Stamford Bridge they should have won by a distance. In the first leg Spurs looked tired, here in the second leg they looked exhausted. As they should be, a threadbare squad now here without their two most dangerous attackers.

It was only desperation defending, guts, and some imprecise Chelsea finishing that kept Spurs level here. That got them through to that penalty shoot-out that they lost. You can over-analyse how Eric Dier and Lucas Moura missed their kicks, but there was three hours of football before that point. And Tottenham digging in like they did is worthy of as much attention.

Even though Spurs looked like they were hoping for some stability here, trying to arrange their men to be hard to play against, in reality the game began differently. Even with Dier sat in front of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, Spurs often looked strangely ragged and open in that first half. Unable to put enough pressure on the ball to stop Chelsea’s midfield, and unwilling to defend in numbers, Spurs looked easier to cut through than Pochettino would ever want them to be.

From the very start there were moments when Tottenham looked as if they were hanging on in the last 10 minutes of the game. Because when Chelsea won the ball, and had Spurs on the turn, there was room everywhere for them to break into. In front of the two centre-backs, where Dier was meant to be, and in behind the full-backs, it was too easy for Chelsea to break through. As Eden Hazard and Cesar Azipilicueta found, working the ball cleverly around to make Chelsea’s second goal.

That goal felt like it would be the end of Spurs, given that they had not mounted a single proper attack in that first half. But the way Spurs held on, did not concede a third, and got back into the game, was testament to their grit.

Because sometimes desperation is the only option. Spurs’ defending was never controlled, but it was enough. Alderweireld had to cut Hazard down from behind and hope that he would not get punished. Vertonghen had to tackle Hazard and then throw himself in front of Olivier Giroud’s follow-up effort. The two Belgians did more near-post blocking and heading than they usually do in weeks, but they did everything they could. This frantic penalty box last-ditchery is not exactly the Tottenham way. But then this was a night where Spurs had to find a different way to play.

This Spurs team has always been built on speed, athleticism and energy and yet here they were forced to play a differnet game. With no Harry Kane, Dele Alli or Heung Min Son - for the first time since 2016 - their attack looked unfamiliar in its bluntness and predictability. Fernando Llorente proved his worth with that second half header but that does not change the aggregate story of the evening: that Tottenham are a lesser team with him up front rather than Kane or Son.

Llorente played well uptop, but he couldn't fill the void left by Harry Kane and Son Heung-min (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

There were times when Spurs would try to start an attack and then realise that they had no one running in behind, or that Llorente’s touch was not good enough to hold up the ball, or that they simply could not get enough bodies close enough to him to help. His last serious impression on the game, meeting Eriksen’s beautifully-weighted pass, he rushed it and shanked the ball meekly out of play.

And yet despite all of that, Llorente was still the man to provide that crucial moment for Spurs, the one that got them back into the game. He had won nothing all night but he could still push his way past David Luiz at the far post. Although perhaps the most important man for that goal was not Llorente but Rose. He had replaced the injured Ben Davies in the first half but provided more width than Davies ever did. And he made the run and delivered the cross that Llorente nodded in.

That was ultimately enough to take it to penalties, a test that Tottenham failed. But there were so many moments tonight when it looked like Spurs were about to get swallowed up and would not even make it that far.