Tottenham Hotspur boosted their Premier League top-four hopes with a 2-0 victory over rivals Chelsea on Sunday to pile more pressure on Blues manager Graham Potter.
Second-half goals from midfielder Oliver Skipp, one minute after the break, and striker Harry Kane, eight minutes from time, earned Spurs a deserved win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The victory opens up a four-point lead on Newcastle United in the last of the Champions League places, albeit they have played two games more.
The result leaves Chelsea languishing in 10th place, 14 points behind Tottenham, and continues a miserable run of form that has now been extended to one win in their past 11 matches in all competitions. It was also a third straight defeat without scoring a goal and the Blues are closer to the relegation zone, with 10 points separating them from 18th-placed Everton, than the top four.
“Overall, we were happy enough with our performance and then the start of the second half has made it really difficult for us," Potter said. "We huffed and puffed without doing enough to score but overall it is a disappointing loss for us."
Having spent more than £500 million ($600m) on players this season and the inevitable challenge of getting a new team to click, there is some sympathy for the position Potter finds himself in. But the lack of progress amid a prolonged downturn in form and little evidence to suggest that the team will soon turn a corner, mean concerns must be growing.
To compound the problems, Thiago Silva, Chelsea's leading central defender who has been consistently excellent this season, went off injured in the 19th minute.
"You can feel the desire of the players to turn results around," Potter said, "but sometimes you go through moments where you have to suffer."
The former Brighton manager spoke this week of the mental toll that run has taken as he has had to deal with abuse from supporters aimed at his family.
Chelsea's new owners have remained steadfast in their support of Potter, although patience must be wearing thin and the Blues chairman and co-owner Todd Boehly was in attendance to watch another toothless display from his club in North London.
Chelsea have scored only one goal in their last six games and never showed any fight for their beleaguered manager after falling behind just seconds into the second half.
Neither side hit their stride in a bad-tempered first period, which the visitors were lucky to finish with 11 men.
After consultation with his assistant, referee Stuart Attwell showed Hakim Ziyech a straight red card for a push into the face of Emerson Royal. However, Attwell then reversed the decision after viewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Chelsea did not take advantage of that let-off as they fell behind just 19 seconds after the break.
Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Emerson Royal's initial effort, but the Spanish goalkeeper should have done better than turning Skipp's shot in off the underside of the bar for his first Spurs goal.
"It was an unbelievable goal [from Skipp] and what a time to get your first," Kane said. "He has been working hard so it was nice to see that one fly in."
Tottenham were again without their manager Antonio Conte as the former Chelsea coach recovers from emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder, but Spurs have a 100 per cent record with his assistant Cristian Stellini in charge.
Kane made sure of his side's first league win over Chelsea in nine attempts – and first at the new stadium – when the England captain swept home Eric Dier's flick on from Son Heung-min's corner eight minutes from time.
"Chelsea have been a difficult opponent for us over the last few years, so it's a really important win to keep us around fourth," Kane said. "Overall I thought we deserved the win."
