Manager Enze Postecoglou was furious.
Tottenham Hotspur lost 0-2 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London, England, at 3:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday in the 26th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League (PL) season. The loss leaves Spurs (60 points) without a win and unable to close the gap on fourth-place Aston Villa (67 points).
Spurs were in trouble early on. In the fifth minute, Nicholas Jackson found himself one-on-one with the keeper, and his shot between the legs was tracked down by Micky van der Penn, who managed to tip it away.
Another set-piece conceded a goal. In the 24th minute, Chelsea took the lead on a free kick, with Connor Gallagher’s cross being headed home by Trevor Chalobah at the far post.
After the goal, Chelsea continued to dominate. The Blues continued to create threats on the left and right flanks, with Mikhail Mourinho and Noni Madueke constantly rattling the Spurs defense. Tottenham, on the other hand, finished the half with a lackluster offense.
Tottenham pushed for an equalizer in the second half, bringing on Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
But Chelsea would add another goal. In the 27th minute, they conceded again from a set piece. Cole Palmer stepped up to take the free kick that Chelsea won just behind the penalty box. The ball deflected off the post and into the path of Jackson, who rattled the net with a header. The game ended with a 2-0 victory for Chelsea.
The loss was Spurs’ third straight league defeat, and another set-piece concession reignited the recent set-piece controversy. Spurs conceded two of their last three goals against Arsenal from set pieces.
This has led to criticism of the set-piece defense. “If I thought fixing our set-piece defense was going to close the gap, I would put all my time and effort into it,” said Postecoglou. But that’s not what we need to focus on, we have a lot of other things to fix,” he said, shrugging it off.
Son Heung-min, on the other hand, felt differently. “When you concede a goal like this in a game like this, it’s hard and painful. They were strong in the air. It was a big game, so we had to be strong at set pieces. Of course, they are good players, but I think everyone has to step up. Now we have to be strong from set pieces and start again,” he emphasized.
After the set-piece point, Spurs were brought to their knees by another poor set-piece defense. It has become Spurs’ Achilles heel. After the Chelsea game, Postecoglou said, “It’s not enough. I have to take responsibility for that. I’m the manager, I’m the one who picks them, and I wasn’t 토토 satisfied at all. I have to look at myself and see if I can have more influence,” he said, commenting on the team’s recent performances.
There was even anger. “Postecoglou sounded visibly annoyed when asked about his message getting through to his players,” the UK’s The Sun reported the comments. Postecoglou said: “Come on, mate. We didn’t play well, and you want me to sit here and fill out a paper on where we went wrong?” Postecoglou responded angrily.
“Like I said, I’ll take responsibility. We were poor in the first half, I still think their goal was a foul, but nobody cares about this,” he added, unable to control his emotions.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s chances of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League (UCL) have been effectively eliminated with the loss. This is because the top four finishers in the PL can qualify for the UEFA UCL. Spurs will spend the rest of the season fighting to secure a UEFA Europa League (UEL) spot.