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BATTLE AT THE BRIDGE

Hotheads Tuchel and Conte see red after furious dust-up

MARTIN SAMUEL at Stamford Bridge

It was an afternoon of red cards, blue-on-blue attacks, a 96th-minute equaliser, brilliant, highenergy football and wonderful, high-octane chaos. If todd Boehly did not previously understand the full, narrative pull of the Premier League, he does now.

Manchester United’s fall from grace and the spectacular arrival of Erling Haaland are fascinating plotlines, but this was the match that kick-started the season in earnest.

Bad behaviour, bad blood, yes, but good football and one of those occasions that demands to be watched. Chelsea, the better side, but tottenham with new resilience under antonio Conte.

Chelsea feel — with justification — that anthony taylor, the referee, missed two clear fouls before both tottenham goals. Certainly, the idea that spurs are too nice, too soft, was beaten into the ground. they will be watched more closely, seeing what taylor failed to spot.

Conte and thomas tuchel had already been booked for the fall-out after tottenham’s first equaliser when they clashed again on the final whistle.

Harry Kane had just levelled, again, for tottenham in the game’s last meaningful act. Chelsea were once more aggrieved by a foul that should have negated tottenham’s threat. and when the two managers

shook hands, tuchel would not let go. words were exchanged. Coaches from both sides dived in and some players, the numbers involved in the melee swelled.

suddenly, taylor appeared and, with him, two fleeting flashes of red. that seemed to calm matters, even if Conte could still be seen exchanging angry words with Cesar azpilicueta. the heat took a while to die down. the Fa will no doubt get involved, too, and understandably so.

the rest of us, however, will be torn between disapproval and relishing the spectacle. this league loves nothing more than a

managerial tort. arsene wenger and sir alex Ferguson; Jose Mourinho and everyone but sir alex Ferguson. tuchel, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp share mutual admiration, which is very adult of them, but no fun. tuchel and Conte, however, seems to be shaping up nicely.

their row should not overshadow the game, though, which was equally explosive and no less compelling. Chelsea probably thought they had it won twice. First in the opening 45 minutes which they dominated, taking a deserved lead, then after 77 minutes when Reece James put them 2-1 ahead.

that it took 99 minutes — including added time — for tottenham to get their point will be another source of frustration.

Chelsea had defended well for the most part, with thiago silva outstanding. they need a striker, though, to make their possession in games like this count. Chelsea were much the better team, but always one counter-attack or set-piece from surrendering points. so it proved.

this was the fixture that was considered the pointer to spurs’ progress under Conte and, ultimately, they passed the test. the result was stronger than the performance but more fully-formed teams than spurs will be happy with a point at Chelsea.

For the best part of an hour, Chelsea were much the better side, deserved their lead, and tottenham’s impression on the game was negligible.

tuchel knew the way he wanted to get at tottenham and was comically furious when N’Golo Kante chose to roll the ball wide rather than find a way through the middle. He span around, literally hopping mad and cursing audibly.

But Chelsea were growing in confidence. In the 18th minute a Kante through pass of the type that met tuchel’s approval found Raheem sterling who off-loaded it sharply to Kai Havertz, Chelsea’s false nine winning a corner. Marc

Cucurella whipped it in from the left and, helped by some desperate tottenham marking, it fell to an unguarded Kalidou Koulibaly, who struck a right-foot volley on the slice, which spun through a melee of players and in. Given he was recruited for his no-nonsense defending, it was quite the bonus.

the score stayed that way, until tottenham’s equaliser. Jorginho lost possession over-complicating in his own area and Hueng-min son eventually worked the ball through to Piere-Emile Hojbjerg, whose low shot defeated Edouard Mendy. Chelsea were already upset by earlier events.

at the other end, Rodrigo

Bentancur committed a fairly obvious foul on Havertz, that Taylor judged to be fair.

Tuchel was further angered that Conte then encroached into the Chelsea area with his celebrations. The pair squared up and both were booked.

When James restored Chelsea’s lead, running on to a pass from Sterling after a Tottenham move had broken down and lashing the ball as much through Hugo Lloris as past him, Tuchel’s celebration took him on a Mourinho-style sprint down the touchline and, no doubt intentionally, passing through Tottenham territory. Childish, yes, but highly amusing.

And so to the second equaliser. It followed a series of late Spurs corners which Chelsea claim should have been halted by a foul from Cristian Romero on Cucurella.

They have a point. The corner before the one that produced the goal, Romero pulled the Chelsea man’s long hair sharply. It is a clear foul and Taylor missed that, too.

So there should not have been another Tottenham corner, there should have been a Chelsea freekick. Instead, Ivan Perisic curled it in, Kane got the flick and James could not stop it at the far post.

High excitement, high energy and high tension. Not saying it was fair, but are we not entertained?

The Verdict

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2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

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