“We’ve got our Chelsea back, we’ve got our Chelsea back, we’ve got our Chelsea back, we’ve got our Chelsea back…”
When the chant first rippled around the away section at St Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday, revelling in the 5-1 rout of a destructively naive and hopelessly outmatched Southampton side, it all felt more than a little premature. With a trip to face arch-rivals Tottenham only four days away, you could have argued it was positively dangerous, a mass display of hubris.
The first 11 minutes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium played out as the most brutal karmic retribution imaginable: two slips from Marc Cucurella in costly but not immediately fatal areas, two goals conceded, 2-0 down in a cauldron of noise.
But less than 90 minutes later it was the travelling Chelsea supporters who were bouncing up and down with glee, lording it over a stadium sent into a state of disgusted evacuation by Cole Palmer’s delightfully disrespectful Panenka penalty in the 84th minute.
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For the vast majority of those who trekked across London, nothing says “we’ve got our Chelsea back” more than beating Tottenham on their own pitch — and bantering them off in the process.
Enzo Maresca greeted the final whistle like a man fully aware of the significance of this moment: turning to his bench, fists clenched at his sides and a roar of triumph directed into the sky, before corralling his backroom staff into a huddled group embrace. He has been waiting for a signature win to punctuate Chelsea’s encouraging progress and made sure to accompany his players in a jubilant walk over to the fans who are rapidly bonding with their head coach.
The manner of Chelsea’s comeback — the first time they have fought back from two goals down to win a Premier League game since April 2018 — was truly the product of players and staff. Signs that the ship had been righted, or at least steadied, were evident before Jadon Sancho jinked infield and curled a sublime shot in off the far post to quieten the stadium.
“I think the plan first-half was working well,” Maresca said in his post-match press conference. “We were attacking, in control of the game, but conceded two goals. I was very happy.
“In the first half, we had Cole Palmer on one side and Enzo Fernandez on the other side. In the second half, we had Cole Palmer on one side and Cucurella on the other side. We changed something in behind (the attacking line). It was just for this reason. I think it worked well in the end and we won the game.”
Tweaking a plan that is working is the sign of a coach with courage to match his acumen and Maresca’s tactical reshuffle bolstered Chelsea’s balance.
Romeo Lavia’s hamstring discomfort at the interval forced a certain degree of change upon the visitors, but switching Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill at the heart of defence was a more significant shift than the introduction of Malo Gusto. It removed the corridor of uncertainty in the build-up between Robert Sanchez, Badiashile and Pedro Neto, and also allowed Cucurella to invert from left-back into attacking midfield, where Tottenham struggled to account for him.
Chelsea’s stranglehold on possession and territory tightened in the second half, giving Tottenham supporters ample opportunity to radiate the kind of anxiety that has infected their team so many times previously in this fixture. The two penalties that followed were as much the result of an imbalance in composure as a gulf in quality.
The latter became more prominent as the match wore on. Moises Caicedo, perhaps fortunate not to see red in the first half for a studs-up tackle on Pape Matar Sarr, bullied the Spurs midfield with physicality and poise in the second half. Palmer steadily got to grips with the man-marking of Yves Bissouma and rediscovered his trademark swagger as well as his goal threat in the final third.
More significantly, Sancho prodded and probed brilliantly from the left and Fernandez continued his recent trend of picking the right moments to arrive in the opposition penalty area and an appropriately clinical finishing touch when the ball finds him there.
This was supposed to be Chelsea’s most difficult test in what remains of 2024 and it played out that way. Maresca’s team did not necessarily pass it in the most convincing fashion (at least in terms of the scoreline), but they did so in a manner that is arguably the most encouraging for their future development.
“When we’re ready to push for a (Premier League) title, we won’t be 2-0 down in the first 10 minutes,” Colwill said in an interview with Sky Sports after the game. “That’s the level we need to be at and that’s what we need to keep working on.”
By the time they are serious Premier League title contenders, they will probably also not concede late goals as softly as Son Heung-min’s close-range consolation from a well-worked Tottenham short corner kick in the 96th minute either — not that anyone on either side seriously believed that it augured one last seismic twist.
“After the game, my message to the players was to be focused day by day, in our session, the next game on Thursday and then Sunday,” Maresca added. “The main focus has to be to enjoy the day off and when we come back, 100 per cent train well, go for the game.
“The fans can dream because from the outside, it is quite clear and inside, the reality is we are not ready but the important thing is we improve day by day.“
Whether or not they are dreaming just yet, the Chelsea supporters who made themselves heard at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are relishing simply having a team they recognise again.
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(Top photo: Chelsea celebrate their third goal; by Shaun Botterill via Getty Images)