All good things must come to an end, and the same can be said for the last remaining undefeated team in this English Premier League Season, Tottenham Hotspur, who were beaten by Chelsea at home last night thanks to 22-year-old striker Nicolas Jackson’s late hat-trick. In the chaotic Matchday 11 game in 2023/2024 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ange Postecoglou’s men were down to nine players for much of the game and the Blues took full advantage to score three late goals, including a brace in the stoppage time.
The 4-1 loss and Nicolas Jackson’s treble not only put a halt to Tottenham’s impressive 10-game unbeaten run in the English top-flight football, it also gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side their fourth league win of the season.
Spurs Left with Nine After 55 Minutes
Apart from their penalty shoot-out loss to fellow Premier League outfit in the Second Round of the EFL Cup, Spurs had been invincible in their matches in 2023/2024, notching eight wins and two draws in total. The Postecoglou-led team hosted Chelsea last night, with the 58-year-old Australian opting for a couple of changes in his starting lineup this match from their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace last time around. The Blues had four changes in their first 11, as compared to the players who started in the 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup Fourth Round.
Right after the first whistle was blown, the in-form home side broke the deadlock thanks to Dejan Kulusevski’s strike. The Swedish footballer had his left-footed shot deflected hugely off Chelsea’s defender Levi Colwill, before it wrongfooted into Robert Sánchez’s goal. Nevertheless, that was as far as Spurs could go in this Matchday 11 fixture in the Premier League, since the following series of events completely altered the game and went against the last invincible team in the English top-flight football.
Spurs’ tragedies started when FIFA World Cup-winning player Cristian Romero was sent off for his reckless challenge on his Argentine compatriot Enzo Fernández inside the penalty box, prompting the referee to also award a penalty to the visitors as a result. Chelsea, who had two goals disallowed for handball and offside respectively in the game, went on to equalise from the corresponding spot kick via Cole Palmer. The 21-year-old winger was relieved that his shot had went in off the post, since Guglielmo Vicario successfully guessed the right direction of the strike.
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Nicolas Jackson Bagged His First Chelsea Treble
15 minutes into the following half, Spurs were again penalised for their second red card in the match against the Blues, this time occurred on Italian left-back Destiny Udogie. The 20-year-old Verona-born player was booked for his offence on Raheem Sterling in the 18th minute and his clumsy tackle against the same opposing player 37 minutes later meant he had played his last part of the match. From there on, the match became a Nicolas Jackson show, as the young striker from Chelsea went on to score three goals in the span of less than 23 minutes.
Nicolas Jackson’s first goal of the match came 20 minutes after Udogie received his marching orders, when Spurs failed at trapping the Chelsea attackers for offside. Skipper Reece James caught Tottenham’s high defensive backline off guard and unleashed Sterling with his pass, before the England international set up Nicolas Jackson for an easy tap in to give Chelsea their first lead in the game. The 22-year-old new summer signing from Spanish La Liga side Villarreal CF Nicolas Jackson would go on to score another two during the injury time of the second 45 minutes, one in the 90+4th minute, and another in the 90+7th minute.
An unsuccessful attempt from the nine-man spurs saw Chelsea broke away with a counterattack, before the unguarded Nicolas Jackson fired in his fifth goal in a Chelsea jersey. Spurs’ goalkeeper Vicario was forced to pick the ball from the net for the fourth time in the game during the closing stages, as another poor defensive display by the home side freed up Nicolas Jackson, and the Senegal international managed to keep his cool to dribble past Viracio for his first hat-trick in the English Premier League and Chelsea.
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⚽️ 6’ Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea
❌ 14’ Tottenham goal disallowed
❌ 21’ Chelsea goal disallowed
❌ 28’ Chelsea goal disallowed
🔴 33’ Romero red card
⚽️ 35’ Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea
🔴 55’ Udogie red card
⚽️ 75’ Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea
❌ 79’ Tottenham goal disallowed
⚽️ 94’… pic.twitter.com/QDIcg1f5ki— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 6, 2023
City Top of the League Table After Spurs’ First Loss of the Season
Nicolas Jackson’s first treble in the Premier League inflicted huge pain to Spurs in their aspirations to win major silverwares without former long-time forward Harry Kane, who completed a move to join Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga 1 earlier this year. Apart from losing for the inaugural time in the league yesterday, Nicolas Jackson’s heroics in the Chelsea clash also meant Spurs could not regain the top spot of the league table after 11 Matchdays, allowing Manchester City to go first with their 6-1 thumping over A.F.C. Bournemouth a few days earlier.
Postecoglou’s players will travel to the Molineux Stadium for a league encounter against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, with hopes of returning to the first place of the league table, while Manchester City is set to clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next time around, following their UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 fixture against BSC Young Boys in midweek.
Do you think the second-placed Tottenham Hotspur is playing better without their legendary striker Harry Kane, who is tearing teams apart with his 17 goals and 7 assists in 14 matches in all competitions for Bayern Munich this season thus far? Let us know about it down in the comment section below and be sure to stay tuned to WatchWorldCup.org for everything happening in the world of international and club football.
