Tottenham Hotspur and their Korean captain Son Heung-min have dropped their third straight match in the Premier League, as their hopes of qualifying for the top European club tournament faded further.
Son played the entire match but couldn’t keep Spurs from losing 2-0 to their local rivals at Stamford Bridge in London on Thursday (local time).
Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur, right, tries to run past Alfie Gilchrist, left, and Cole Palmer of Chelsea during the clubs’ Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London, May 2. EPA-Yonhap
With the top four clubs in the top English circuit securing spots in next season’s UEFA Champions League, Spurs remained stuck in fifth place with 60 points, seven back of Aston Villa with four matches remaining.
Spurs have one match in hand, but their recent form suggests it will be difficult for them to overcome that seven-point gap.
Spurs have equaled their longest losing streak of this season, having earlier lost to Newcastle United 4-0 and then to Arsenal 3-2.
Tottenham began the season by winning eight of their first 10 matches but have since only won 10 of 24.
Son leads his club with 16 goals and nine assists this season but couldn’t add to those totals in the deflating loss.
For Chelsea, Trevoh Chalobah headed in the opening goal in the 24th minute, and Nicolas Jackson netted the dagger in the 72nd minute. (Yonhap)
Tottenham missed a golden opportunity to up the pressure on Aston Villa in fourth after slipping to a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. Second best across the 90 minutes, Spurs’ wretched record at Stamford Bridge goes on after only winning one game at the home of their rivals in the Premier League era.
Spurs had really struggled to create any meaningful chances on goal but they really should’ve equalised not long before the interval when Cristian Romero headed Pedro Porro’s free-kick wide of the target. Tottenham were much better after the restart but did very little to test Djordje Petrovic in the Chelsea goal.
Unable to restore parity, Chelsea made them pay as Jackson headed home from close range after Cole Palmer’s free-kick had rattled the crossbar and bounced kindly for him. Here is how we rated the Spurs team in the game in west London:
