It was a evening to forget for Chelsea fans as their proud home record against Tottenham Hotspur came to an end with a jarring 3-1 defeat in their Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The result had far-reaching implications beyond the ‘standard’ bragging rights, for it also meant that the Blues found themselves a considerable seven points behind the fourth-placed Lilywhites with just seven games left in the season.
While there were a few notable individual errors, thankfully all players involved kept their heads and spectators were treated to an intriguing clash that will forever be etched in the memory of the Spurs faithful.
For their first win over the Blues since 1990 at Stamford Bridge will undoubtedly be a highlight of their season while Chelsea have to go back to the drawing board to analyse what went wrong.
Don’t miss: 5 talking points from Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
Here are The Statesman’s player ratings from the eventful tie in West London:
Chelsea
Willy Caballero
Apart from ‘that’ moment when Christian Eriksen managed to bamboozle him, the Argentine did an admirable job of stepping in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
However, all his good work before and after that was a relative footnote for his blunder, yes it was a goalkeeping error more than anything, allowed Spurs back into the tie and from then on, they never looked back.
Rating: 5/10
Antonio Rudiger
Apart from a glorious pass to find Victor Moses in the build-up to Chelsea’s opener, the German didn’t do anything of note.
For a central defender, that’s not necessarily the worst thing but could the German have done more to prevent Spurs’ third?
Probably.
Rating: 6/10
Cesar Azpilicueta
Chelsea’s Mr Dependable had another relatively solid outing which may seem strange considering they shipped three goals at home, but the redoubtable Spaniard wasn’t really at fault for any of the goals.
Rating: 6/10
Andreas Christensen
Not a day to remember for the young Dane, who’s largely been a standout player at the back in what has been a difficult season for the Blues.
Rating: 4/10
N’Golo Kante
A rare off-day from the energetic Kante, who should have closed down Eriksen when the Dane was pulling the trigger for the equaliser.
A poor game for the diminutive Frenchman, especially if one considers the lofty standards he’s set over the past three seasons or so.
Rating: 5/10
Cesc Fabregas
Fabregas continues to not pull his weight in the middle and while his quality on the ball is undeniable, his passes got cut out too often on Sunday and while’s worked on the defensive side of the game, he couldn’t quite give Kante enough support against the likes of Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier.
Rating: 5/10
Marcos Alonso
A real live wire on the left flank, especially in the first-half, Alonso caused Spurs plenty of problems with his sizzling crosses.
Thought he had scored too, only to see it chalked out due to offside. Had his teammates been on the top of their game, could easily have got a couple of assists.
Rating: 6/10
Victor Moses
Moses’ efforts are never in doubt, he’s a player who always gives his all but the Nigerian wing-back’s application in the final third has been questionable, to put it politely, on a number of occasions.
Thankfully, on Sunday, it wasn’t so as he helped himself to an assist and while he couldn’t quite wreak havoc in the Spurs defence from then on, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Rating: 6/10
Willian
Arguably Chelsea’s most in-form player this season, the Brazilian was a pale imitation of himself at the Bridge as the Blues’ best moves involved their wing-backs, not their wingers on the night.
Rating: 5/10
Eden Hazard
One has to wonder what’s wrong with Eden Hazard.
Is it the manager or is the Belgian tired of playing for the Blues?
One would hope it’s the former for the winger was a virtually non-existent for the entirety of the tie.
Rating: 5/10
Alvaro Morata
Not his best showing in a Blues shirt, but that goal will give him confidence to end the season on a high.
Yes, Lloris made a grave error, but somebody still had to jump and score, didn’t they?
Rating: 6/10
Substitutes
Olivier Giroud
Came on in the 82nd minute to replace Moses, but it was too little too late.
Rating: 6/10
Emerson
A bright cameo in the closing stages as he replaced Alonso, but it was all for nought.
Rating: 6/10
Callum Hudson Odoi
Considered as Chelsea’s future, the 17-year-old didn’t get much time to strut his stuff, much to the dismay of the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Rating: N/A
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris
For all his fine reaction saves and aggressive sweeper-keeper style of play, Lloris is prone to the odd blunder and his erroneous decision could have cost Spurs the match on another day.
Rating: 5/10
Ben Davies
Moses comfortably beat him in their duels all game long and while the Welshman gamely stuck to his task, Danny Rose looks like a far better option at left-back.
Rating: 5/10
Davinson Sanchez
Perhaps understandably, the Colombian ducked when Loris came out and Morata took full advantage to open the scoring.
To his credit, the South American recovered and shackled the Spanish striker family well from then on.
Rating: 5/10
Jan Vertonghen
Decent all-round game, tried to get forward couple of times but his final ball was lacking.
Defensively solid though, made a number of key stops to deny the Blues.
Rating: 7/10
Kieran Trippier
Trippier held his own on the flank, although Alonso did manage to deliver a few crosses.
When he did manage to get forward, let himself and his teammates down with poor decisions, though.
Rating: 6/10
Mousa Dembele
Took his time, but grew into the game.
Initially a few stray passes caused concern but was an effective shield for his defence afterwards.
Rating: 6/10
Eric Dier
Assisted Alli for the 2-1 with an exquisite clipped pass over the Chelsea defence and had a solid game in the middle of the park apart from that.
Rating: 7/10
Erik Lamela
Ran himself into the ground and while he couldn’t quite affect the game as he would have wanted to, did mange to disrupt the hosts’ rhythm at key moments.
However, was lucky not to get sent off for his unseemly tangle with familiar foe Cesc Fabregas.
Rating: 6/10
Heung-Min Son
The in-form winger’s been on fire this season and while he wasn’t on the top of his game on Sunday, thankfully his teammates pulled through.
Rating: 6/10
Christian Eriksen
While Caballero did make a mistake, take nothing away from Eriksen’s strike, for the ‘knuckleball’ effect was on full display.
Big-game players love coming up big when the chips are down and the Danish maestro did just that against the Blues.
Rating: 8/10
Dele Alli
After the barrage of unwarranted criticism that’s come his way, Alli needed a big performance and with an excellent brace against Chelsea, the 21-year-old did just that.
That first touch to bring the ball down was just something else and the finish wasn’t half-bad either.
Man of the match by a mile.
Rating: 9/10
Substitutes
Harry Kane
With thoughts of catching Mohamed Slaah on his mind, Kane came on but couldn’t add to his season’s tally although he did look quite sharp, which will bode well for Spurs and England both as the campaign nears to a close.
Rating: 6/10
Victor Wanyama
The Kenyan was brought on as Spurs sought to see out the tie and he did job fairly well.
Rating: 6/10
Moussa Sissoko
Replaced Lamela towards the end of the tie and didn’t really see much action.
Rating: N/A