Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea score: Jorginho penalty earns win for Thomas Tuchel against woeful Spurs

Eric Dier conceded a first-half penalty that would prove decisive

Thomas Tuchel's first London derby brought him another clean sheet and a further three points as a woeful Tottenham were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea on Thursday through Jorginho's first-half penalty. Chelsea dominated possession but, still coming to terms with their new manager's demands, struggled to craft any clear-cut chances until Spurs handed one to them on a plate. Having slipped to the floor, Eric Dier hacked down Timo Werner, handing the visitors a penalty that Jorginho duly converted.

Though Chelsea did not come close to adding a second before the interval they were never under any pressure from a Tottenham side that seemed to have great difficulty completing so much as a forward pass. That changed somewhat in the second half when Spurs pressed with the intensity they lacked in every facet of the first 45 minutes.

In reality, however, that rather opened up more avenues for Chelsea when they played their way through the first line with Werner, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount all coming close to finishing off the game on breakaway attacks.

Indeed for all that Tottenham worked harder, but they lacked any ability to get into the opposition box, typified by the 87-minute wait for Heung-min Son to touch the ball in the attacking penalty area. This was another timid, underwhelming display from Jose Mourinho's side, who have now lost their last three Premier League games and are seven points off the top four.

Mourinho sets Spurs up to fail

It was the same old story with Spurs, a reprise of the gameplan that had categorically failed against Liverpool a week ago. The formation changed to a back four but when the attitude remains the same it really doesn't matter how many players are in your 'defense'. Everyone is acting like a defender.

If your whole plan is to soak up waves of pressure then you had better have a backline that can avoid basic errors. Mourinho does not have that, he has a repurposed defensive midfielder in Dier. No manager would expect his center-back to swing at an opponent in the penalty area but equally he was asking a player to be perfect under constant pressure for 45 minutes. That is a tough ask indeed.

And that pressure was being continually invited on Dier and company. Despite having two high-energy midfielders ahead of their back four there was no pressing of Chelsea, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Moussa Sissoko instead acting as slightly more advanced center-backs. Somehow they had a six strong defensive line and no-one was able to get near Mount. This team could press high, they showed as much early in the second period. One can only assume they were told not to.

In the first half there was little evidence of the attacking patterns that were taking form on the Chelsea right from those in blue. When a defender or midfielder had the ball and looked up they could see no movement ahead of them, just a string of teammates holding their position, presumably guarding against the counter-attack yet to come.

It seems their creative plans without Harry Kane extend no further than poking Heung-min Son and Tanguy Ndombele, nagging them to do something.

Tuchel trusting in the Lampard project

It was said that replacing Frank Lampard with Tuchel was the death knell for the pathway between the academy and first team at London Cobham. No one told Callum Hudson-Odoi that with the youngster starting his third game on the spin with Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic confined to the bench. After games at wing-back this was something like a return to more familiar land for the No. 20, wide on the right with license to drift infield.

That he could do with Reece James on the overlap, the young wing-back at his best in this front-foot Chelsea side that were constantly looking to stretch Ben Davies down the left.

Perhaps most impressive of Chelsea's young stars was Mount, who has responded to being sidelined in Tuchel's opening game in outstanding fashion. In the first half he showed an uncanny ability to find pockets of space, regularly drifting over to the right where he could gang up on Davies with his fellow academy graduates.

Then as Spurs adapted in the second so did Mount, becoming the man to burst through the lines and lead Chelsea on their counters. His work to create for Werner on the hour was a gold standard for how to lead a break, carrying the ball from halfway to the edge of the box and waiting for the right moment to slip in his teammate. It took a quite excellent recovery tackle from Serge Aurier to deny him.

Premier League outlook

Victory for Chelsea took them above Tottenham and into sixth, just four points off a faltering Liverpool side in fourth. Spurs are now on a run of three straight defeats in the top flight and sit eighth, a point above Aston Villa having played a game more.

[Feb 4, 2021 at 4:45 pm ET · James Benge]

A little stat here to give you a sense of how one-sided this game has been:

Chances created
Reece James - 3 Mason Mount - 3 Tottenham - 2

And look with three-and-a-half minutes of normal time left Spurs could nick one and get away with it. But that does not justify the dreary performance we've seen from the hosts so far.

[Feb 4, 2021 at 4:38 pm ET · James Benge]

For all that Spurs have improved in the second half that effort comfortably saved by Mendy was the first shot of the half. One might argue if one were in a cruel mood that all they've really done is run around a bit more.

[Feb 4, 2021 at 4:25 pm ET · James Benge]

A comical error by Dier, who passes back to Lloris on the half-volley on a wet surface with Mount closing him down. He totally miscues it and it takes a very shrewd half-clearing header from the Spurs captain to keep the ball out of the onrushing Chelsea forward's path.

Moments later Lloris was just as decisive, clattering into Pulisic as he punches a cross to safety.

[Feb 4, 2021 at 4:17 pm ET · James Benge]

Therein lies the risk of pressing Chelsea high up the pitch. The Blues play their way through it and Mount has space to run from the halfway line into the penalty box. He waits for Werner to ghost in behind and to the German's credit he times the run right and takes a good first touch. Just as he's about to pull the trigger Aurier slides in, somehow getting a boot on the ball to send it out for a corner.

[Feb 4, 2021 at 4:13 pm ET · James Benge]

Tottenham are actually functioning like a football team now, pressing high up the pitch, looking forward to pass the ball and trying to build triangles in possession. All that means the first half may well have been something akin to the plan. That might be the most damning fact facing Mourinho, Why were those opening 45 minutes anything approximating what the manager wanted his team to do.