Chelsea had kept Tottenham at arm’s length for 77 minutes on Sunday. Then their goalkeeper Mike Penders rose to punch away a Mateus Fernandes corner, caught it badly, and sent the ball into his own net under pressure from Jan Paul van Hecke.

Nine minutes later Mathys Tel ran from the left, cut inside and slotted low into the bottom corner. By then Chelsea were a man down and the scoreline, 2-0, matched a date buried deep in the archive.

Spurs had not kept a clean sheet in a league win at Stamford Bridge since December 1986, when the score was also 2-0. Their only other Premier League away win against Chelsea in 35 attempts came in April 2018.

Palmer’s first career dismissal

Cole Palmer had been booked earlier for an off-the-ball incident with Fernandes. On 86 minutes, with Chelsea chasing the game, he caught an opponent with a stamp and collected his second yellow.

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It was Palmer’s first dismissal in professional football, and Chelsea’s 100th red card in Premier League history, a tally bettered only by Everton and Arsenal.

De Zerbi points to Marbella trip

For Tottenham the result reset a season that had opened with six games without a win. Their only victory before Sunday had come days earlier, against Coventry in the Carabao Cup.

Roberto De Zerbi, speaking to Yahoo Sports after the match, credited a recent squad trip to Marbella for a change of mood inside the dressing room.

“Now it is a complete team,” the Italian said. “When we stay for dinner and stay together in the dressing room I see a different group, a different relationship and different atmosphere among the players.”

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De Zerbi pointed back to two 17th-place finishes in three seasons as the recent history his new squad was working to leave behind.

Alonso owns the defeat

Xabi Alonso, in his first season as Chelsea head coach, accepted the collective verdict in his post-match comments reported by Naija News.

“We all take the blame for the result and for the performance,” Alonso said. “Today we were not at our best. I felt that in the second half, the game was even and could have gone either way. Once we conceded that first goal, and then with the red card, it was difficult.”

Chelsea were without a recognised centre-forward, with Joao Pedro injured. Alonso started 19-year-old Geovany Quenda for the first time and used Morgan Rogers through the middle. The home side mustered seven shots, their fewest in a league match this season.

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Penders’ error also sat inside a wider pattern. Chelsea have conceded eight set-piece goals this season, double any other Premier League side, and the Belgian became only the second Chelsea goalkeeper to score an own goal in the competition, after Petr Cech against Everton in December 2009.

The win lifted Spurs to 12th in the Premier League table, their highest position of the season.

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