Tottenham brought out the smiles, not just on the majority of the fans at White Hart Lane, but plenty of them at Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool as well with a wonderful performance on Wednesday. Spurs seemingly did the impossible – beat Chelsea in the Premier League – and that too with plenty of oomph and panache.
Bournemouth vs Arsenal highlights
Coming into this game on a 13-game winning streak in the Premier League, Chelsea had sights on Arsenal's Premier League record of 14 and sole control of wins in a single season, but Tottenham put paid to all those plans in some style, thanks to the goalscoring brilliance of Dele Alli.
The England midfielder found a way to find space against this Chelsea defence, twice, scoring both goals with his head off crosses from Christian Eriksen. As a result, Tottenham beat Chelsea, who had no answer after the second goal went in early in the second half, 2-0 and the title race remained wide open.
Chelsea only really threatened right at the beginning with one chance, when Eden Hazard, subdued like the rest of the attackers, including Diego Costa, was put through by a long ball from Nemanja Matic. The Belgian, though, dragged his shot off the mark.
There was nothing off-the-mark about Spurs' performance, with Tottenham showing the fight and guile required to stop this Chelsea team. They were feistier in the middle and after going in with a similar formation to Chelsea's, they were much more assured at the back.
The opening goal came just before halftime, when Kyle Walker laid the ball back to Eriksen, who swung in a beautiful cross from the right. Alli had found space between Victor Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta and he produced a headed finish that his centre forward Harry Kane would have been proud of.
It was all too similar for Chelsea's liking, the second Tottenham goal, scored in the 54th minute, with Eriksen, off another pass from Walker, again finding time to produce a cross from the right wing. Alli, one more time, got in between the same two Chelsea players and, yet again, produced the needed finish with his head.
Chelsea could not muster a proper reply and Spurs eased to victory.
The result means Tottenham are now third in the EPL table, just seven points behind the leaders Chelsea. Liverpool are five adrift, while Manchester City, like Spurs have a seven-point deficit to overhaul. Arsenal are eight points behind, with Manchester United a further two off the pace.
