Tottenham Hotspur were hoping to get their Premier League top-four hopes back on track in their trip to Chelsea on Thursday night.
Spurs‘ derby defeat to Arsenal at the weekend left them seven points adrift of Aston Villa, so the game in hand against Chelsea was very much last-chance saloon for them.
However, Tottenham ended up falling to a third Premier League defeat in a row to all-but destroy their hopes of pipping the Villans to fourth.
Trevoh Chalobah got Chelsea up and running in the 24th minute of the game at Stamford Bridge with a thundering header from Conor Gallagher’s delivery.
One can only imagine what a visibly angry-looking Ange Postecoglou said to the Spurs players in the dressing room at the break.
Tottenham looked much brighter after the restart, but didn’t make the most of their dominance and were made to pay in the 72nd minute.
Cole Palmer’s free kick struck the underside of the Spurs bar and Nicolas Jackson was on hand to head home on the rebound.
Tottenham defender Emerson Royal struggles against Chelsea
With Destiny Udogie sidelined through injury until the summer, Emerson Royal deputised for the visit to Stamford Bridge.
And the 25-year-old didn’t have a great day at the office, to put it mildly. He was dribbled past numerous times and clearly struggled against the Blues.
Gary Neville, co-commentating on Sky Sports, picked up on this and gave his verdict on Emerson’s poor display, noting how Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer didn’t go easy on him.
“It’s been a tough night for Emerson Royal,” said Neville. “He’s had Madueke and Cole Palmer ganging up on him.”
Already there were doubts about Royal’s suitability for Tottenham, but a display like that against Chelsea surely will confirm to Postecoglou that the £26million man isn’t right for the club.
There’s a lot of work for the Spurs boss to do this summer with his players and also in the transfer market. No doubt there will be more incomings and also significant outgoings.
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