A Nicolas Jackson hat-trick and Cole Palmer’s spot kick saw Chelsea hammer nine-man Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in a chaotic Monday night clash.
Jackson becomes the third Chelsea player after
Tore André Flo (1997) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (2002) to score a hat-trick against Spurs.
Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected shot put Spurs ahead after six minutes but it went into reverse at alarming speed from the moment Cristian Romero returned to his old reckless ways.
The Argentine was fortunate to escape a sending off for kicking out at Levi Colwill but could not resist following through on international team-mate Enzo Fernandez, picking up a red card and allowing Cole Palmer to equalise from the spot on 35 minutes.
Spurs’ night went rapidly downhill from then on as Van de Ven, one of the Premier League players of the season after his arrival from Wolfsburg, collapsed clutching his hamstring as he raced back to halt a Chelsea attack, before Maddison also went off after appearing to pick up an ankle injury.
Van de Ven and Maddison are very near the top of players Postecoglou could not afford to lose. The Dutchman’s injury looked serious while Spurs will hope Maddison is not sidelined for too long.
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Like Romero, Destiny Udogie was lucky to escape a red card for an early lunge on Raheem Sterling but a rash, late dive into another tackle early in the second half on the same player left referee Oliver no option but to send him off.
This meant that, after just over an hour of play, only three of the outfield players who started the match for Spurs were still out there.
Chelsea took advantage and went 2-1 ahead through Jackson in the 75th minute.
In the 94th minute Jackson grabbed his second of the night to put Chelsea 3-1 ahead.
The Senegalese then completed his hat-trick as he netted on 97 minutes.
A win for Spurs would have seen them return to the top as they remain in second place on 26 points while Chelsea move up to 10th on 15 points.
