Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea Match Report as Thomas Frank and co get booed by home fans

It’s only four points from five home games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season for Spurs, following their latest 0-1 defeat to Chelsea.

The pain of not having won a London derby against a fellow big six side continues for Tottenham fans, and this one might just go down as the worst performance under Thomas Frank so far.

While the scoreline might suggest otherwise, Spurs, once again, have got Guglielmo Vicario to thank for keeping the numbers respectable on a rather grim night.

Joao Pedro punished one of the few moments Vicario couldn’t bail out his teammates, which proved enough to send Chelsea back to winning ways after their 1-2 home defeat to Sunderland last weekend. For Spurs, it’s now back-to-back losses following their Carabao Cup exit to Newcastle midweek.

It was an injury-hit Spurs side that started the game, and with the club’s new habit of announcing lineups in squad-number order, nobody had a clue what formation Frank was trying to run. On the bright side, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, and Wilson Odobert all returned to the bench after short spells out.

First half: Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea

The match started scrappily with both sides fouling, hoofing long balls, and failing to find any rhythm. Things went from bad to worse for Spurs when Lucas Bergvall suffered a concussion within five minutes and had to be replaced by Xavi Simons.

After Reece James blasted over and Alejandro Garnacho fired straight at Vicario, the Italian had to pull off a brilliant stop, denying Joao Pedro after a poor clearance from Pedro Porro left the ball sitting up dangerously.

Tottenham’s insistence on playing out from the back finally caught up with them when Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven were far too casual in possession, allowing Moises Caicedo to intercept twice and nick the ball to Joao Pedro, who made no mistake in smashing his effort into the top corner past Vicario to put Chelsea ahead.

The Brazilian forward could’ve had a second before the break when he met Malo Gusto’s cross on the volley, only for Vicario’s quick reflexes to tip it over.

Tottenham’s only real chance came when Randal Kolo Muani linked up with Kudus, who forced a diving save from Robert Sanchez, and there was nobody around to pounce on the rebound. Before that, Rodrigo Bentancur was lucky to stay on the pitch after a reckless lunge on Reece James.

Second half: Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea

Xavi Simons struggled to get near Chelsea’s box, constantly brushed aside by blue shirts, while Kolo Muani kept dropping deep in frustration.

Spurs did have one golden chance to equalise. Kevin Danso’s long throw somehow found Bentancur free in the box, but the Uruguayan did everything but swing a foot at the right time.

Frank brought on Cristian Romero just past the hour mark for Danso, and the Argentine’s return seemed to bring a little more control in Spurs’ build-up, although the midfield and attack kept losing possession.

James Bynoe-Gittens got into good positions late on, first teeing up Pedro Neto whose strike was parried away by Vicario, before missing a sitter himself, blazing over from close range with just the keeper to beat.

Vicario had to intervene again soon after, racing off his line to deny Neto one-on-one after Fernandez slid him through a 2-man Spurs’ backline. Against almost any other keeper, it’s 0-2 there.

That proved to be the last bit of action as Chelsea sealed their fifth straight win over Spurs.

FT: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0-1 CHELSEA

Spurs Web man of the match: Guglielmo Vicario

What’s next for Spurs?

Since data started being recorded in football, Tottenham’s xG this game (0.05) was their lowest ever in a Premier League match. And to produce that in front of a home crowd against a big rival is simply unacceptable.

There’s clearly something missing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs haven’t won a single home league game since that 3-0 win over Burnley on the opening day, and supporters can’t really be blamed for their frustration.

They’re being made to watch clueless football, and that’s been a problem for Frank’s side since the start of the season, made even worse by the long-term absences of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

It often feels like every attack Spurs build has to end in a corner before they even look like scoring. Even then, all of their corners in this game were nothing more than catching practice for Robert Sánchez.

With a crucial Champions League home tie against FC Kobenhavn coming up, Thomas Frank will need to find a solution to their growing creativity problem.