For just about the first time in a season that already seems far longer than its two-and-a-half weeks, Tottenham Hotspur showed an admirable consistency late into Tuesday night. Their performances may vary wildly from one half-hour to the next, but their penalty-taking works like clockwork.
For their first spot-kick in the shoot-out of their League Cup meeting with Chelsea, Eric Dier arrowed his effort in, hard and low, to the right of the goalkeeper. For the next, Erik Lamela produced a replica, albeit with his left foot. Lamela’s penalty followed the trajectory of Dier’s almost exactly.
So far, so formulaic. Most penalty shoot-outs have an element of bluff and double-bluff, and in Tuesday's, with a quarter-final place at stake, there were added unknowns. In goal for Chelsea was Edouard Mendy, a keeper making his very first appearance, since last week's transfer from Rennes, in English football.
That meant Tottenham, whose schedule has been frantically busy, and remains so with Thursday’s Europa League play-off against Maccabi Haifa, had limited briefing material on Mendy’s habits. But by the time Harry Kane stepped to take their fifth, at 4-4, they had learnt something, which is that Mendy tends to take an initial step to his left.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg detected it. Hojbjerg varied the Dier and Lamela formula only by the lightest of degrees, netting Spurs’ third penalty low into the bottom left-hand corner. For number four, Lucas Moura sharpened the angle by another small tilt, into the bottom-left corner via the side of the net.
Dier, Lamela, Hojbjerg, Moura: An utterly consistent quartet of spot-kicks, all low to the keeper’s right, Mendy moving the wrong way for each.
When the goalkeeper finally decided to go to his right, Kane did the opposite, scoring to Mendy’s left, the winning strike, as it turned out, with 5-4 on spot-kicks enough to beat Chelsea.
So much for the metronome reliability of their penalties. In most other respects, Spurs have been unfathomably inconsistent since mid-August. In the Premier League, they were drab in losing to Everton, spectacular in walloping Southampton, and then cursed in drawing with Newcastle United, their lead in that match erased when Dier was penalised under the severe new handball guidelines and a Newcastle penalty given against him. A schizophrenic Spurs also took to the field against Chelsea, outplayed for much of the first half, then dynamic and proactive in the second, when a late Lamela equaliser earned them the right to settle the contest with cool consistency from the penalty spot.
____________________
Tottenham v Chelsea player ratings
-
SPURS RATINGS: Hugo Lloris - 7: No chance with Werner goal and denied the German a second with a good stop in second half. No saves in shootout but Spurs still ran out winners. PA -
Japhet Tanganga - 6: Early error almost gifted Hudson-Odoi first-half goal. Worked hard, some decent challenges if not totally convincing. Reuters -
Toby Alderweireld - 7: A rock at the back for Spurs alongside Dier. The Belgian made crucial challenges on the ground and in the air. PA -
Eric Dier - 7: Gave Spurs a first-half scare when seemed to have picked up a knee injury but recovered to help mark Giroud out the game. Gave them another fright when he suddenly sprinted off the pitch in the second half – for a toilet break – leaving his team a man down and Mourinho charging down the tunnel after him. AP -
Serge Aurier - 6: Handed opportunity by Bergwijn early in second half but hit disappointing left-foot finish wide. Booked for poor challenge on Jorginho. AP -
Gedson Fernandes - 6: Rare start for Portuguese midfielder. Felt he should have had first-half penalty when Mendy and Zouma combined to deny him a shot at goal. Rightly turned down. Hooked just after the hour mark. PA -
Tanguy Ndombele - 6: Will have annoyed his manager when he failed to close down an Azpilicueta shot just before the hour mark. A decent performance, particularly in second half, but you still should be getting more for your £54 million. PA -
Moussa Sissoko - 7: Immense in the middle for Spurs, does so much work off the ball and is understandably a key player for Mourinho. AFP -
Sergio Reguilon - 6: Debutant was badly at fault for Chelsea’s goal when he lost possession in his own half and was then left for dead on the deck by Azpilicueta, who eased past his desperate diving challenge before setting up Werner. Should have done better with chance early in second half but side-foot finish easily stopped by Mendy. Cross set up Lamela’s equaliser. A mixed bag. EPA -
Steven Bergwijn - 6: Dutchman barely featured in disappointing first 45 minutes. Much more energy after break, slicing early shot wide and making more incisive runs up front. Reuters -
Erik Lamela - 8: Started up front alongside Bergwijn, in absence of Kane and Son, produced fine turn and low shot in first half but was denied by the boot of Mendy. Put in a shift and deserved his late goal – as did Spurs. Reuters -
SUBS: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - (On for Fernandes 63’) 7: Slotted straight into midfield as team were dominating. Reuters -
Harry Kane - (On for Tanganga 70’) 6: Early opportunity when he skipped past Tomori but could only blaze chance over bar. A player you want on the pitch for a shootout when he coolly slotted home. AP -
Lucas Moura - (On for Bergwijn 76’) 6: Scored in Shootout. Reuters -
CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy - 6: Debut for the big-money buy from Rennes saved well from Lamela after 35 minutes and made regulation stop from Reguillion just after break. Nervous moments on crosses that should concern Chelsea. EPA -
Cesar Azpilicueta - 7: Made Reguillion look silly before calmly setting up Werner’s goal. Blasted second-half chance over the bar. EPA -
Fikayo Tomori - 7: Vital tackle on Bergwijn to deny Dutchman shot early in second half. Chelsea’s defence has rightly been criticised but played well alongside Zouma. Reuters -
Kurt Zouma - 7: Desperate last-ditch challenge helped stop Fernandes grabbing a first-half goal. Other important tackles in a good performance. AP -
Ben Chilwell - 7: Another debutant for Chelsea, the £45m signing from Leicester found plenty of space down the left in first half but saw less attacking opportunities as the match wore on. Solid start and much-needed game time. AFP -
Jorginho - 7: Italian midfielder was his usual neat and tidy self, providing quality distribution and is a fulcrum for Chelsea. Hop, skip and goal in shootout. Reuters -
Mateo Kovacic - 6: Booked in first half for cynical trip to deny Lamela run on goal. Lost midfield battle after the break as Spurs took charge. AFP -
Callum Hudson-Odoi - 8: A constant menace down the right and helped give Reguillon a tough opening 45 minutes in English football. Fired first-half chance straight at Lloris. Smashed shot over the bar after break when teammates were better placed. AP -
Mason Mount - 6: Pushed and probed without any game-changing moment - until the bitter finale. Should have done much better in second half when Chelsea were two-on-one but gifted possession straight to Spurs. Miss in shootout sent Chelsea crashing out. EPA -
Timo Werner - 7: Cracked home quality low finish to put Chelsea in front after 19 minutes. Quiet after the break until a 70th-minute shot was saved by Lloris. AFP -
Olivier Giroud - 4: Disappointing night for the French striker. Could have done with more support at times as won a few challenges in the air and had no one to pick up the loose ball, but generally offered no threat to Spurs. EPA -
SUBS: Emerson - (On for Chilwell 66’) 5: Awful defending for Lamela’s late leveler. Redeemed himself by scoring in shootout. -
N’golo Kante - (On for Kovacic 70’) 6: Brought on to try and stem the Tottenham tide as Mourinho’s side were dominating all over the park. Getty -
Tammy Abraham - (On for Giroud 76’) 6: Scored in shootout. Getty
____________________
What version of Tottenham appears on Thursday, in the third of four matches in eight days and already the third European tie of their breathless campaign, will depend on how fatigue drags on certain individuals, and on the effectiveness of manager Jose Mourinho’s necessary rotation of a squad he still thinks is too thin in some areas.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mourinho described his fears of asking too much of his players in the strongest terms. Too much game time, in the packed fixture list, would be a “crime”, he said. He accused himself of “one crime” in demanding that Dier, who has played 90 minutes in five of Spurs’ six games so far, prepare for a possible third game in five days.
He fears for Kane’s endurance, although the striker was used only in the last 20 minute against Chelsea. “When Kane is fit he should start every game for Tottenham, but you just can’t do it.”
Mourinho noted the exhaustion in Tanguy Ndombele, smiling at the fact the midfielder had not run to join his celebrating teammates when Chelsea’s Mason Mount missed the last penalty. “That was because he was very, very tired,” said Mourinho, praising the France international, a player Mourinho was openly critical of last season. “There is no point in comparing this Tanguy with last season's Tanguy. He is playing amazingly, I am very, very happy. Physically he can be better and he will be. He can be really phenomenal.”
Mourinho congratulated Sergio Reguilon, the left-back signed this month from Real Madrid, for his Spurs debut. Reguilon had made an error that led to Chelsea's first-half goal; he later provided the cross for Lamela's equaliser. "He showed his character," thought Mourinho. "Some more experienced players, when something goes wrong, let their confidence go. This kid went the opposite way. He made a mistake for Chelsea's goal and, from that moment, he went up and up."
Spurs, with a very different starting XI, intend to keep their upward momentum rolling. If they overcome Maccabi Haifa they will reach the lucrative group phase of the Europa League. “These knockout matches of only one leg are very dangerous,” warned Mourinho, “and this is a competition that can give us an important amount financially, and one that we are motivated to have a go in, to try and go on and win.”
