Fernández and Chelsea sink Spurs as survival battle goes to the final day | Premier League

Tottenham’s woes in this corner of London are well-documented and long-established. When they made this latest trip to Stamford Bridge, the statistics showed they had won just once since 1990 – a sequence of 40 matches in all competitions.

Never mind. They needed only a point to effectively ensure their Premier League survival, to send West Ham down and draw a veil over this most wretched of seasons. It was a night when the hope pulsed until the last. Chelsea led through goals from the outstanding Enzo Fernández and Andrey Santos and yet Spurs rallied in the closing stages, refusing to accept it was their destiny to prolong the agony into the final round of matches.

When Richarlison scored on 74 minutes, it was the prompt for the grandstand finale, Spurs attacking in desperate waves, throwing what they had at a Chelsea team who wanted to show a response to their FA Cup final loss to Manchester City, who needed a victory to advance their claim on a Europa League finish.

There were chances for Spurs, none better than that for James ­Maddison, on as a substitute, who tiptoed through only to be stopped by a Jorrel Hato challenge. There was drama and there was ­controversy, too. Micky van de Ven wanted a penalty when he was wrestled to the ground by Marc Cucurella on a corner only for the referee, Stuart Attwell, to rule that the offence took place before the ball was in play.

Why so late from Spurs? They did not show enough of this kind of drive across the piece. And now they know it will go down to the visit of Everton to their stadium on Sunday. It is not a location they can associate with many comforts. Spurs have the joint-worst home record in the division with Burnley. They need a point to guarantee they stay in it. The nightmare goes on.

Spurs could not have imagined the bleakness to come for them at this ground when they won here in the old first division 36 years ago, Gary Lineker scoring the decisive goal late on. Their lone success since then was the Dele Alli-inspired 3-1 victory in 2018. There was only more pain here.

Calum McFarlane, the Chelsea interim manager, who is keeping the seat warm until Xabi Alonso arrives in the summer, went back to a 4-2-3-1 system. He asked Fernández to work off the left wing and it was the Argentinian who made the breakthrough in the 18th minute. It was a clean hit from 25 yards, the ball wobbling and fading to the right of Antonin Kinsky and yet it looked getable for the Spurs goalkeeper. He appeared to pick it up a little late and was slow to get across. The ball was not flush in the corner.

A few minutes earlier, Kinsky had pushed a Cole Palmer curler out for a corner and the Fernández goal was a body blow for Spurs as they had started brightly. Mathys Tel hit the near post with a header on 11 minutes from a teasing Pedro Porro cross.

Chelsea were the better team in the first half, the pendulum swinging sharply after the opening goal. Fernández drifted inside, which allowed Cucurella to overlap. Porro was booked for a late one on Cucurella and Fernández whipped the free-kick from a tight angle on the left for the near, top corner. It was a vicious effort, beating Kinsky only to come back off the crossbar.

Chelsea hunted for a second before the interval. Kevin Danso made an important last-man tackle on Liam Delap while Palmer dragged an effort wide after errors by João Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur. There were frustrating final actions from Randal Kolo Muani and Tel.

Spurs played on the front foot after the restart. The question concerned their ability to make something happen; to show cutting edge. Tel crossed for Richarlison only for the centre-forward to head wide from in front of goal. He looked offside. Shortly afterwards, Richarlison headed at goal from a Porro corner. The effort lacked power.

Roberto De Zerbi had to change it but before he could get his substitutes on, Chelsea went further ahead. It was a loose pass from Kolo Muani to Palmer, Bentancur wrong-footed, and Chelsea moved quickly up the right. Pedro Neto crossed deep and it was a lovely cushioned pass back inside from Fernández. Santos’s first-time finish was true.

Spurs stared into the abyss and as Chelsea’s levels dropped – a consequence of their quick turnaround from Saturday’s Cup final – Spurs fought. Conor Gallagher, jeered remorselessly on his return to Stamford Bridge, shot straight at Robert Sánchez following a cross from the substitute, Pape Sarr. And it was a flowing move that led to Richarlison’s goal, Sarr playing the final pass with an improvised back-heel.

The Spurs support buckled up for the white-knuckle ride, feeling their hearts pound when Maddison was thwarted by Hato and Van de Ven did not get the penalty decision. Delap was booked for seeming to throw an elbow at another substitute, Djed Spence; he was lucky to avoid a red. Maddison blasted a free-kick high and Tel was wasteful again with his final actions. Spurs could not make it happen.