Chelsea better without stroppy Costa

Diego Costa had a king-sized strop when he was named on the substitutes' bench for the game against Spurs, failing to warm up.

Diego Costa had a king-sized strop when he was named on the substitutes' bench for the game against Spurs, failing to warm up.

Published Nov 30, 2015

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In many ways it was a throwback, a return to a period of English football when two teams could kick lumps out of each other and still shake hands afterwards. Diego Costa would have loved it out there.

This brooding London derby was right up Costa’s street, with an air of menace about the place as Tottenham and Chelsea snarled at each other for 90 minutes.

Chelsea looked like a team again, stubborn and resistant to pretty much everything Spurs could muster after their long-distance trip to play Qarabag in Azerbaijan.

Costa had thrown a king-sized strop when he was named on the substitutes’ bench, failing to warm up or warm down with the rest of his team-mates at White Hart Lane. He is a stain on our game.

Chelsea looked better off without him, playing with a sense of spirit and togetherness that had been lacking since they paraded the Premier League trophy in May.

‘It was the best we have played this season, even though we did not win,’ said Chelsea boss Jose Mou-rinho. ‘We come away with one point but I think we deserved a bit more.’

The fallen champions are 14th, 10 points off Tottenham, and yet you know Chelsea will put together one of those relentless, winning runs somewhere along the line.

Spurs seduced us with that 5-3 win on New Year’s Day last season, when Chelsea defender Gary Cahill was left mangled by the match- winner Harry Kane. Kane came up short this time.

The result suited Chelsea more, as they avoided an eighth defeat in the Premier League this season against a Spurs team who have been piecing together an impressive sequence of results under their manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Mourinho relied on Eden Hazard, playing him in the central striker’s role in place of Costa. And the Belgian was tantalising at times, a real tease as he raced across the width of the pitch while exchanging passes with Pedro, Willian and Oscar at will.

In the second half Hugo Lloris had to be on his game in Spurs’ goal to get his fingertips to Hazard’s volley and divert the ball beyond his far post. It was Chelsea’s best chance to sneak ahead.

There had been others, with Hazard in the thick of the action when he missed the target after Oscar had made space down the left.

The combination of Nemanja Matic and Hazard set up another first-half chance for Pedro, but Lloris saved well.

Ultimately it was a classic Chelsea holding job, keeping Tottenham at arm’s length and restricting Kane, along with the supporting cast of Christian Eriksen and substitute Erik Lamela, from inflicting some real damage.

Kurt Zouma was excellent, responding to the challenge of replacing John Terry in a game of this magnitude with a solid and classy 90 minutes. It was probably his most accomplished performance in a Chelsea shirt.

Tottenham needed Kane on the ball, to find the feet of their talisman, to get him to turn on the ball and scare the Chelsea defence. He never really got the chance.

Son Heung-min failed to properly connect with Kane’s first-half cross, mis-directing his header into the path of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

Asmir Begovic, growing in stature with each game, saved well when Spurs’ Mousa Dembele launched another effort from long distance. It whipped up the White Hart Lane crowd, lifting them from their seats as their team pressed again and again. Alas, the goal never came.

At times events threatened to boil over, with Tottenham’s enthusiastic players taking it in turns to take chunks out of Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Matic and Pedro.

Danny Rose was the first booked, completely mis-timing his challenge by the corner flag when Hazard was racing down the wing. Kane, Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen followed.

Pochettino was forced into change, a positive one, when Ryan Mason went off with an injury 11 minutes after the break. He turned to Lamela for that little bit of magic, creating the chance for Son in the game’s outstanding move just moments after coming on.

Son swapped passes with Lamela and as he continued his run into the area, the Argentine flicked a lofted pass into his path. Begovic had to be at his best to deny him.

Once the fatigue set in, a legacy of their 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan in the Europa League on Thursday evening, Tottenham were pretty much spent.

Mourinho dug in, ignoring Costa’s goalscoring credentials by sending for Brazilian youngster Kenedy and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek to see the game out.

All in all it was a decent point for Chelsea, who kept a third successive clean sheet as they returned to the principles that turned Mou-rinho into the game’s ultimate trophy hunter.

Without them, they would have been there for the taking. – Daily Mail

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