Son Heung-min's former team Tottenham Hotspur lost helplessly in the first London derby of the season against Chelsea.
Tottenham lost 0-1 to Joao Pedro in the 34th minute of the first half in the 10th round of the English Premier League (EPL) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 2nd (Korea time).
Tottenham, which has shown wins, losses, losses and losses in the last four games, dropped one place to fourth place after giving up the third place to Liverpool (18 points), which escaped four consecutive losses by beating Aston Villa 2-0 on the same day. On the other hand, Chelsea (17 points) has maintained its upward trend of winning three games in the last four games, rising to fifth place. He tied Tottenham for points, but fell behind by two goals in the difference between gains and losses.
For Tottenham, it was a day they wanted to forget. The expected score (xG) of 0.05 is the 90th minute of London Derby. According to statistics company 'Opta', the xG value of a specific team in a single EPL game is the lowest in 12 years since the 2012-2013 season. It is safe to say that there was no chance to score a goal.
In fact, Tottenham was pushed back to 3 to 15 shots and 1 to 9 effective shots. He shot one every 30 minutes. It's a wonder that Chelsea scored only one goal even though the xG price exceeded 2.
The impression was that Tottenham spent most of the game trying to pressure and fight Chelsea's players rather than scoring a goal. It may be more accurate to express that you are not good enough to take it off with your body.
Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, in particular, was warned of non-sporting behaviour with the studs of Chelsea captain Reece James' ankle. Tottenham's new No. 7 Xavi Simmons was yellow carded for a deliberate back tackle to stop the opposition's counterattack. A total of four warnings were issued, including Mohamed Kudus and Kevin Danso. Chelsea has two cards.
He even allowed the first run in the atmosphere of being dragged away. In the 38th minute of the first half, Simmons, who came down to the full-back position, made a back pass to defender Mickey van der Penn. Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo, who quickly snatched the ball, poked a pass into the gate, which Pedro received and scored. Tottenham manager Thomas Frank expressed his anger by kicking a water bottle.
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Pedro, who returned from injury, scored his third goal of the season (10 games), proving again that he is Chelsea's new fixer.
Among Tottenham players, Simmons' performance left a particularly deep regret. Simmons, who was included in the replacement list, made an emergency replacement in the 7th minute of the first half due to Lucas Beribal's unexpected injury and spent about 66 minutes on the ground until he was replaced by Wilson O'Dober in the 28th minute of the second half. The active movement was outstanding, but it was far from a performance suitable for No. 7. Both crosses failed, and the success rate of passing the offensive area was only 71% (12 successes). Inaccurate touches were made six times, loss of ball possession was made 15 times, dribbling success rate was 33.3% (one successful), dribbling was allowed three times, and shooting was zero. Simmons, a winger and attacking midfielder who has to deal with attacks such as ground race (seven successful), recovery (seven successful), and tackle (two successful), was more brilliant in defensive situations. It was not what he expected from the successor Son Heung-min who brought him for about 100 billion won. Simmons has not scored a single goal in 12 games, including the Cup this season.
In the second half, coach Frank tried to turn the tables by putting captain Christian Romero, striker Hisalisson, full-back Destiny Udogi and winger Brennan Johnson in a row, but he did not even see the Chelsea goal. Hisalisson failed to make a presence in 30 minutes, scoring just eight ball touches and only three passes.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
