Chelsea’s 2-0 victory against Spurs was a welcome boost for a club in the midst of some unsavoury news headlines.
A transfer ban from FIFA was followed with the League Cup final debacle, in which Kepa Arrizabalaga refused a substitution late in extra time.
Maurizio Sarri’s position at the club had started to look increasingly precarious, and the victory against an opponent of Spurs’ standard was a nice distraction from things happening elsewhere.
A tense first half saw the teams go into the break at 0-0, and Sarri revealed where the impetus came from to modify his tactics for the second period.
The Italian is quoted by West London Sport as saying:
At the beginning of the match we pressed very high. Then it was really very difficult because we played 130 minutes three days ago.
So the players asked me to press a little bit lower and of course I agreed.
They defended really very well and they also defended very well in the final against Man City and in the Europa League against Malmo – in the last three matches we defended very well.
Pedro’s determined run and finish down the right flank opened the scoring on 57 minutes, and Kieran Trippier finished the job six minutes from time with a clinical own goal.
The news of a cooperative dressing room should come as welcome news to Chelsea fans, who have been longing to see harmony in the dressing room.
