It was the return of returns for Mauricio Pochettino back to Tottenham. The first half of the game took an immediate spin after a series of reckless tackles, disallowed goals, and injuries.
Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring early at the 6th-minute mark. Son Heung-min nearly doubled the score minutes later, but his goal was ruled marginally offside. VAR then disallowed potential equalizers from Raheem Sterling and Moises Caicedo.
Then, things got dirty. Destiny Udogie nearly two-footed tackled Raheem Sterling, and Cristian Romero got away with one on a swift kickout. Finally, Romero met his maker.
In the 34th minute, Romero committed a horror challenge and received a VAR-approved red on a nasty lunge into his Argentine teammate Enzo Fernandez.
It's his fourth time sent off in all competition since the 2021-22 season, more than any other Premier League player. Cole Palmer bagged the equalizer from the penalty shot.
Subsequent events include another goal ruled out offside for Chelsea and then Spurs suffering two injury scares with Van de Ven and Maddison.
It's been a wild first half with Poch's side trying to thwart Spurs best start in 60 years. Let's see what the second half is made of.
The first half, for your review đ
| Event | Count |
|---|---|
| VAR Reviews | 17 |
| Disallowed Goals | 4 |
| Substitutions | 3 |
| Goals Scored | 2 |
| Injuries | 2 |
| Red Cards | 1 |
| Penalties Awarded | 1 |
Photo: Twitter/JacobsBen
