Ange Postecoglou made a triple-substitution in the second half at Chelsea as he looked to capitalise on an improved performance from his Tottenham side after the break but saw it backfire
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg came on with Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison after 64 minutes with Spurs trailing by a goal, as Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr and Richarlison were withdrawn
But the Tottenham boss was soon left with his head in his hands as Nicolas Jackson doubled the hosts’ lead eight minutes later after the new arrivals failed to have a positive effect, with Hojbjerg singled out by Gary Neville live on the Sky Sports match coverage for his unhelpful introduction
Neville said (2 May, 8
55pm): “Hojbjerg’s first three touches have been awful
” The Dane’s half an hour on the pitch was far from his best as, according to stats from SofaScore, he managed to lose possession five times and concede a foul, while completing neither his one ground duel or one in the air (0%)
Tottenham lose again at Stamford Bridge He was better passing as he delivered one key pass and 26 of his 30 attempts (87%), but his failure to adapt to the pace of the game early contributed to any momentum Tottenham had built up following a miserable first half quickly subsiding, and summed up a fairly awful team performance that all but threw away any Champions League hopes
The first 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge were rather bleak from Spurs’ perspective, and apart from Cristian Romero’s deflected header and a potential penalty for Emerson Royal, the visitors were perhaps lucky not to Scored any goals at halftime
behind
Postecoglou was particularly callous for much of his first season in the Premier League, but a defensive display before the break finally unnerved the Australian, and the team talk in the first half could perhaps be described as strong
The effect was a significantly better start to the second half, as Spurs eventually took the initiative and Chelsea were under siege more often, but Postecoglou’s reinforcements from the bench frustrated him and helped the club suffered another defeat at Stamford Bridge
Leave a Reply