Chelsea 2 Tottenham 1 - Where does this leave Spurs? What will Alonso have learned?

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Roberto De Zerbi’s side only needed a point on Tuesday night to stay up — and relegate West Ham — but succumbed to a Chelsea trying to find a positive end to a season of disappointment. Tottenham started the game strongly and Mathys Tel hit the post with an early header from a Pedro Porro cross but all that early momentum was lost when, on 18 minutes, Enzo Fernandez scored with a long-range shot that swerved and dipped, catching goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky wrong-footed. Spurs’ lack of quality in the final third was a problem throughout, and Chelsea might have extended the lead when a Fernandez free kick from wide on the left hit the frame of the goal. With 67 minutes played, the home side got their second, Fernandez setting up Andrey Santos for a close-range finish. With the game drifting away from them, Tottenham rallied — helped by a dose of good fortune, when Pape Matar Sarr’s sliced back-heel found Richarlison to score at the far post. The Brazilian striker was narrowly onside. Spurs poured forward in search of an equaliser — James Maddison going close after coming off the bench — but they could not find the goal that would have preserved their Premier League status. Tottenham will now play Everton at home on Sunday, with a two-point cushion over West Ham, who host Leeds United just a few miles away across London. Jay Harris, Simon Johnson, Cerys Jones and Jack Pitt-Brooke analyse the key talking points. But Tottenham put in an unconvincing, patchy performance under pressure. And lost the game 2-1. They put some good moves together but were always let down by a lack of quality in the final third. They conceded two goals from switching off in the middle of the pitch. And their late fightback was not enough to rescue a point. For all that De Zerbi has improved Tottenham, this game was a reminder of how hard his job is. Spurs are short on quality and depth. And they also appeared to lack conviction in the biggest moments. An early goal might have turned the crowd. Of course their position is still preferable to West Ham United’s. One point against Everton would still be enough. They could even lose if West Ham do not beat Leeds. But now they face the intense pressure of needing a result to stay up, in front of a naturally anxious home crowd. It is a situation they wanted to avoid. But they were not good enough here to do that. Xabi Alonso may have opted against being at Stamford Bridge tonight, but this game will have provided another valuable exercise for him to watch. Alonso was officially appointed as manager for next season on Sunday and will have already taken great interest in the FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, having already accepted the post. Chelsea’s win over Tottenham will have given him caused for optimism as well as seeing the areas for improvement. Midfield stood out the most in terms of good things. Enzo Fernandez took his goal involvement tally for the season in all competitions to 21 (15 goals, six assists) with a superb strike. But his influence was everywhere, as was Moises Caicedo. Andrey Santos, a Brazil international of some promise albeit left out of their World Cup squad, scored Chelsea’s second goal. It is clear the attack and defence needs a lot of Alonso’s attention. Liam Delap who has one league goal all season, disappointed again leading the line. Pedro Neto, who has gone quiet in the second half of the campaign, provided little threat on the wing. It does not matter who Chelsea pick to play at the back, they just can not keep a clean sheet. Their last one in the Premier League was on January 17 versus Brentford. Even going 2-0 up against an underwhelming Tottenham attack was still not enough to see this one out. They switch off too easily.Levi Colwill is their best defender but he has been out for most of the season with a knee injury. He started the last two matches, however Chelsea were never going to ask him to put his body on the line again so soon after the FA Cup Final display. Jorrel Hato is a player of great promise and there is Marc Cucurella of course. But the other positions are to be fought over as far as Alonso will be concerned. Conor Gallagher came through Chelsea’s academy but he left in acrimonious circumstances two years ago. The midfielder was frustrated by the length and conditions of the new contract on offer so he departed for Atletico Madrid. 18 months later he did the unthinkable and joined Spurs. There was only a small chorus of boos when Gallagher took his first touch at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night but he was the pantomime villain by the end. Gallagher was involved in a series of flashpoints which cranked up the tension. It all started with Andrey Santos who kept pinching the ball off Gallagher. In the 39th minute, the England international dropped to the floor in pain after a collision with Santos. While he was rolling around, Marc Cucurella ran past and shouted something at him. Roughly a minute later, Gallagher clattered into Cucurella and conceded a foul. He then shoved the full-back and pointed angrily in his face. Micky van de Ven was then booked for dragging down Liam Delap and the Chelsea bench jumped up when Gallagher escaped a booking for a late tackle on Caicedo. Spurs substitute Guglielmo Vicario had to tell his team-mates to remain calm and kept pointing to his head. The bad blood continued in the second half with Destiny Udogie picking up a yellow card for a tackle on Wesley Fofana and Richarlison tangling with Moises Caicedo. In the closing stages, Spurs assistants were furious with the referees when Marc Cucurella pulled down Van de Ven at a corner but the ball was not in play. It led to a brief argument between the benches. On Chelsea’s next attack, Delap caught Djed Spence in the face with his elbow. It was a tense game and Spurs were guilty of allowing their frustration to get the better of them as they chased in vain for an equaliser. Cole Palmer has not lit up Stamford Bridge in the way fans have grown accustomed to this season. A persistent groin injury limited the 24-year-old’s involvement in the first half of the season and the man providing the flair for CHelsea has, most of the time, been Joao Pedro. With the Brazilian absent from the squad through injury against Spurs, it was a timely moment for Palmer’s spark to come back out. Palmer registered Chelsea’s first effort of the game, a shot from range that forced a good save from Antonin Kinsky. But it was his creative contribution that really shone. He switched on the turn of pace that has been missing at times this season to nick the ball on the right wing, drawing Tottenham players away from Pedro Neto before flicking the ball inside to his teammate. Neto passed sideways to tee up Enzo Fernandez’s superb finish. It was Palmer who started the move for Chelsea’s second goal, too, but there were other signs of the instinctive maverick that Stamford Bridge has rarely seen this season. In the first half inside Tottenham’s box, he showed excellent control to chip the ball up and side-foot it to the waiting Liam Delap, who scooped his shot into the stands. As he stood over a free-kick in the second half, anticipation built, with a chorus of ‘Palmer again, ole ole’ from the home support. He carried the dangerous spark and fear factor that has been dulled for much of this campaign. On his way off in the 88th minute Palmer looked disappointed — but unlike many times this season, that felt more like disappointment not to be able to stay on longer, to create another massive moment, than at an underwhelming performance. Palmer’s flair has been dimmed this season; with the World Cup on the horizon, it is the perfect time for it to re-emerge. We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference. We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference. Sunday, May 24: Sunderland (Away), Premier League, 4pm UK, 11am ET Sunday, May 24: Everton (Home), Premier League, 4pm UK, 11am ET Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms