Chelsea revel in ‘dirty, ugly’ win

Blues boss Enzo Maresca believes Thursday night’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Tottenham is necessary to get back to being title-contenders

Chelsea climbed to fourth place in the Premier League as Enzo Fernandez sealed a 1-0 win that piled the pressure on beleaguered Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on Thursday. 

Fernandez’s thumping header early in the second half settled a bruising London derby at Stamford Bridge. The Blues’ victory lifted them one point clear of fifth-placed City and two ahead of sixth-placed Newcastle. 

Chelsea, who have now lost just one of their past 13 league games against Tottenham, had been far from convincing recently, with boss Enzo Maresca criticised for his cautious tactics. However, on the day, they were more dynamic against Tottenham, if only lacking a cutting edge.

Enzo Maresca

The result brought a smile to Maresca’s face. “Tonight was very important, first of all because of the performance. If we want to become an important team we need to win in a dirty way, ugly way, so I’m quite happy,” he said.

The Chelsea boss was also full of praise for the talismanic Cole Palmer and goal-scorer Fernandez, with the former returning from injury to assist the latter’s winner.

‘The pass for Enzo [Fernandez] was a top assist and Enzo was in the right position [to score], so I am very happy for both of them,” Maresca said.
For Postecoglou, it was another dispiriting loss in a wretched season that could end with his sacking. Tottenham are without a victory in their last four league matches and have won only one of their last six games in all competitions. 

The north Londoners are languishing in 14th place after a 16th defeat from 30 league games. The last time they finished as low as 14th was in 2003-04. 

Tottenham fans have grown increasingly frustrated with their side’s decline, staging a series of protests against chairman Daniel Levy. 

They turned on Postecoglou as well during the second half, chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” at the Australian following a round of substitutions.

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