Everything that could go wrong for Spurs did on Monday night as Mauricio Pochettino won on his return to north London
Well, what a completely bonkers game of football that was. Tottenham vs Chelsea is rarely a quiet night in at the library, but even considering this fixture's storied history, Monday's meeting between the bitter rivals was fractious, chaotic and dramatic in equal measure.
By the time Michael Oliver drew the circus to a close, there had been two Tottenham red cards, endless VAR drama and that rarest of Premier League sights: a Nicolas Jackson hat trick.
Chelsea would eventually triumph 4-1, but it wasn't just the one-sided scoreline that left Ange Postecoglou fuming. He also lost a host of key players to suspension or injury; a crushing blow that may derail his side's title bid before it's had the chance to build up a head of steam.
And what of Chelsea? The three points were welcome, especially for Mauricio Pochettino personally, but this was far from a swaggering display. Even with Spurs playing a ludicrously-high line with their eight outfield players, they did not look like scoring for a long while, which is a serious concern.
Once you've recovered your breath from that insane contest, sit back as GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Guglielmo Vicario
In an unprecedented summer, four top Premier League sides opted to spend big on new goalkeepers. Manchester United dropped €51 million (£44m/$57m) on Andre Onana, Arsenal palmed off Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya and Chelsea sold two stoppers before ending up with Brighton's backup between the sticks.
Each of the aforementioned arrivals have endured mixed (at best) starts to life in the Premier League, including Sanchez. And on Monday his manager might have been left wishing that he shopped in Italy for his new goalkeeper in the summer.
Continuing a recent trend, Guglielmo Vicario was superb on Monday night – even if he did end up conceding four goals. Remaining remarkably cool under pressure when Micky van de Ven played a hospital pass to him early on, he soon followed this up with a world-class save to deny Nicolas Jackson a first-half equaliser.
He then came so close to keeping out Cole Palmer's penalty and prevented Jackson opening his account in the game early in the second half with a pair of great stops.
The Chelsea star eventually got the better of him, but Vicario – and Spurs' recruitment department – can hold their heads up high following this performance.
AdvertisementGLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty ImagesLOSER: Match-going fans
Yes, VAR may have made the correct decision in the end, but the time it took to get there was completely unacceptable. For five minutes, both sets of fans stood there in ignorance as three blokes in a box in Stockley Park took an age to review a string of incidents.
And, in the end, a significant portion of their work was rendered obsolete when they uncovered a red-card offence from Romero in the box.
Partway through the endless check, the travelling Chelsea fans – who would eventually benefit from the technology – expressed a sentiment that is gaining more and more traction as this crazy season's progresses: 'F*ck VAR!'.
Having already been shafted by having to travel on a Monday night, those match-going fans spent too much of their evening gazing up as various VAR messaging appeared on the four big screens at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Perhaps this would be tolerable if the interferences produced unarguable results. But it just didn't. Reece James, Destiny Udogie and Romero – for a separate offence – were all lucky to stay on the pitch after their infractions from referred to VAR. There was then another lengthy pause as Eric Dier's excellent volley was checked for offside at the end too.
It's not a new issue, of course, but it's worth repeating until we're blue in the face. Do we really need VAR?
GettyWINNER: Nicolas Jackson
Jackson experienced a rollercoaster evening. Early on, his direct runs in behind asked Spurs some questions. The real issues started when he was presented with chances to score.
Due to an injury to Christopher Nkunku, Jackson has – perhaps unfairly – been thrust into the spotlight this season, playing far more minutes than likely he and Pochettino expected. Coming into this one, he'd only scored twice and it's been abundantly clear in recent matches that the pressure of this limited goal return had begun to get to him.
That was evident in the first half, when the Senegal international did excellently to create space in the box before striking his effort too close to the impressive Vicario.
There were worse misses after the break, but something finally clicked when he met Raheem Sterling's inch-perfect cross to make it 2-1. Soon after he netted a near carbon copy of this goal, and, quite unbelievably, he completed his hat trick in second-half stoppage time when Vicario went down too early.
It wasn't the flashiest hat trick, and he should have scored more, but tonight will do wonders for his confidence. The raw talent is probably there, he just needs to find that killer edge.
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GettyLOSER: Cristian Romero
When the VAR cogs finally stopped whirling and Romero was shown a red card, the Spurs fans warmly applauded him off the field. All you could think was, why?
Romero has been an important part of his side's backline this season, but he let himself down here. He is not the most sanguine footballer at the best of times, but whipped up into a frenzy by the febrile atmosphere in north London, he chopped down compatriot Enzo Fernandez with an entirely unnecessary, studs-up challenge in the box. He was lucky not to have been sent off even earlier too, as he petulantly kicked out at Levi Colwill.
His moment of madness left his team in the lurch against a Chelsea side low on confidence. He needs to show more maturity moving forward.