Chelsea outplay Tottenham with Willian double

Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger celebrates after the match on 22 December – Action Images via Reuters 

LONDON (Reuters): Chelsea enjoyed a timely return to form to outplay Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-0 away victory in the Premier League as Frank Lampard outwitted his former mentor Jose Mourinho in their managerial battle on Sunday.

Willian struck both goals for Lampard’s side in the first half as Chelsea consolidated fourth place while Tottenham’s dismal afternoon went from bad to worse as forward Son Heung-min was shown a red card just past the hour mark.

It was a dispriting day for Tottenham on and off the field with allegations of racist behaviour by one of their fans.

Chelsea coach Lampard, who won two of his Premier League titles in Mourinho’s first reign at Stamford Bridge, conjured a game plan that saw his side dominate from start to finish, aided by a woeful home performance. Willian punished slack defending to drive in the opener after 12 minutes as a labouring Tottenham quickly looked like blowing their chance of leapfrogging Chelsea into fourth spot.

A rush of blood from Tottenham keeper Paulo Gazzaniga gifted Chelsea a penalty, awarded by VAR and converted by Willian, just before halftime to put Chelsea in command. Tottenham’s hopes of a revival were scuppered when Son needlessly kicked out at Antonio Rudiger and was shown a red card, with the decision again being made by VAR.

If that were not bad enough for the hosts, Rudiger indicated that he had suffered racial abuse from the crowd, prompting several announcements over the public address system. An object was thrown at Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.