Premier League: Dele Alli helps Tottenham Hotspur shrug off weight of history against lacklustre Chelsea

An exhilarating strike from Christian Eriksen and a stylish second-half brace from Dele Alli at Stamford Bridge on Sunday ensured Tottenham Hotspur opened up an eight-point lead above the defending champions Chelsea, all but securing the perch of UEFA Champions League qualification with just seven league games remaining. Tottenham’s 3-1 triumph at the home of their arch-rivals did not come as a surprise for either set of fans, considering the current form of Antonio Conte’s men, but it wasn’t a mere win against a top-six club for Mauricio Pochettino’s side — it was Spurs’ moment to reset history, it was Spurs’ moment to seize the glory against a club who have always been slightly ahead of them, in terms of legacy and silverware, sponsorships and transfers. [caption id=“attachment_4414711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Dele Alli shoots to score Tottenham Hotspur’s second goal against Chelsea. AFP[/caption] The derby rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur has been more understated than it has been in cases of Manchester United and their noisy neighbours or the Merseyside opponents. But over the years, the fixtures at Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane have gained immense significance not just to the local faithful, but also the novice fans watching in another continent. With Daniel Levy’s refusal to sell Luka Modric to Chelsea, Willian’s snub of the Lilywhites after he had completed a medical, Chelsea’s 2011/12 Champions League win which demoted a fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur into the Europa League, the bitterness between the supporters have only intensified in recent seasons. And the enmity was palpable on Sunday as the majority of Stamford Bridge was plunged into shock with Alli’s first goal while the raucous away support cheered vehemently. As the prodigious English midfielder — who has had a relatively quiet season so far — sprung to life, controlling a long ball from Eric Dier with exquisite ease, finding space between two Chelsea defenders and finished with an exuberant toe-poke past Willy Caballero, it was difficult to fathom that the 21-year-old is fighting for his spot in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Minutes later, Alli would kill the game off with his second of the night, as the Chelsea backline succumbed to yet another brainfreeze. The derby was an evenly contested one until Alli grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck and ensured Tottenham would no longer capitulate after taking a lead at the Stamford Bridge for the third consecutive season. Chelsea had started brightly — a rejuvenated Alvaro Morata leading the line with elan as Marcos Alonso became the most potent attacking threat for the Blues in the first half. The Spaniard could have had a hat-trick to his name, consistently getting into Spurs’ defensive third unchecked and pressing the visitors, especially the young Davinson Sanchez, to commit schoolboy errors. Unfortunately for Alonso, the rest of the Chelsea attackers were barely on the same page, the Blues simply lacking the killer edge which Alli provided on the opposite end. Things were not looking as rosy for Spurs when a Hugo Lloris mistake allowed Alvaro Morata to put Chelsea into the lead, but as has been the mandate this season for Conte’s men, they failed to capitalise on their chances and allowed Spurs to get a foothold back into the game through Eriksen, who picked up from right where he had left off before the international break. “To create a winning mentality, you have to get good results in big stadiums like the Bernabeu or Stamford Bridge. Four years ago when we signed (at Spurs), the idea was to reduce the distance to the top four. That was the first target and we’ve done that,” a jovial Pochettino told reporters after the game, clearly ecstatic that his time has finally broken through the proverbial mental sword which lorded over them every time they faced Chelsea, and that too without their star player, Harry Kane, who made a late appearance in the second half.

Chelsea’s star playmaker Eden Hazard, on the contrary, simply went through the motions, as did many of his teammates, starved of creativity, lacking imagination when on the ball and determination without it — a forlorn shadow of the previous season.

“I’m giving — the players are giving — everything. We are working very hard to try to have a good season but, in the end, we are deserving this season. It means our value is this. The commitment of the players is top. Despite this we stay in this position. We must be a bit worried about this,” Conte acknowledged after the game, but maintained his stance that he is “not worried” about his future at the club. Perhaps the fact that the manager is not worried about his future, the players about their place in the starting eleven, the board about the club’s plummet to mid-table is what is wrong at Chelsea. And unless the inertia evolves, Chelsea will continue to decline, much to the chagrin of their fans.