Bridge Too Far For Spurs As Victor Moses Fires Chelsea To The Top

And Chelsea, right now, appear to have it all. In Diego Costa, who was outstanding in the second half, and David Luiz, they have a worldliness that secures victories, even after wholly indifferent first halves, which is what they produced yesterday.

Pedro struck a curling equaliser into the top corner after cutting back inside onto his right foot before shooting

Luiz lingered yesterday on the pitch, mixing with fans, receiving their embrace, giving back not just a shirt to a fan, but a repaired relationship between players and crowd. Not only is he defending well; he brings charisma and a character to a side that was beginning to look short of both.

It is seven successive wins since the 3-0 calamity at Arsenal and just one goal conceded since Conte’s back three were introduced. The early-season loss here to Liverpool is also forgotten. In a competitive Premier League, this is some run.

The Spaniard wheeled away in delight as he celebrated his wonderful goal which pulled Chelsea back on terms

Antonio Conte was fired up by Pedro’s strike and joined in the celebratory scenes on the sidelines at Stamford Bridge

‘Now we are another team compared to Liverpool and Arsenal games, for sure,’ said Conte. ‘If we were the same team we would lose the game for sure. Now we are another team. And I am pleased for the players. We have another type of confidence. We are working a lot and enjoy this type of football. Today we won and I am pleased because it wasn’t easy.

‘It was a big test for sure. Spurs is a really good team. Today they started better than us but I liked a lot our reaction. It wasn’t easy. After the first half we spoke. I always speak with my players and we found together the right solution to try to win the game. In the second half we exploited the situations we didn’t exploit in the first game.’

For Tottenham, twenty-nine fruitless visits to Stamford Bridge becomes thirty; 1990 remains the benchmark performance here for a Tottenham side, the last time they won. They scored and, in current form, that counts as a small victory against Chelsea.

Christian Eriksen hit a swerving opener of enormous quality to put Tottenham in front but the lead was short-lived

Eriksen stunned Stamford Bridge into silence as Chelsea conceded their first goal in more than ten hours of football

The Spurs players gathered around their man in celebration of the strike which flew past Thibaut Courtois

But it was hard to shake off the memory of meltdown Tottenham had when they lost both the league and their heads here last season. It felt that the hard lessons learnt that night were underscored yesterday evening: that this Tottenham side remains a little short of know-how and quality.

Not far short; they have it in moments and in the first half they demonstrated that the quality which exists in the side. But re-enforcements look necessary if they are to be the side that becomes a regular Champions League participant.

Mauricio Pochettino chose to dwell on the positives, of which there were plenty. ‘There is no worry,’ he said. ‘After that game, I feel proud; the effort was brilliant. We come from Monaco and it was tough to be out of the Champions League, but the answer of the players was clear. The right mentality, good performance, we were better. But we lost. If you want to analyse the result, Chelsea win, so congratulations. If you want to analyse the 94 minutes, Tottenham had a lot of positives.’

The Belgian goalkeeper had no chance as the power of the shot left him outstretched and helpless

Diego Costa attempts a bicycle kick as Marcos Alonso chases up the loose ball when he fails to connect

David Luiz challenges Heung-Min Son for possession under the floodlights during the first half of action

Tottenham were undoubtedly better early on. Where there had been inertia in Monaco, there was energy unbounded here, with Victor Wanyama muscling his way to domination in the midfield, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli making darting, creative runs, Harry Kane a constant nuisance and Kyle Walker indefatigable.

They confirmed their momentum in the 11th minute, when Eriksen picked the ball out 20 yards out from a Dele Alli pass. It seemed harmless but Eriksen saw a gap which Chelsea hadn’t covered. He unleashed a ferocious strike, off the edge of his boot, spinning away from Thibaut Courtois, to open the scoring.

Chelsea couldn’t wrest back control of the game. They were confined to a David Luiz free kick on 30 minutes and Eden Hazard cleverly intercepting a Lloris clearance and almost embarrassing the keeper on 42 minutes. Still, when their equaliser came, it was exceptional; wholly against the run of play, but a joy to watch nonetheless.

Gary Cahill and Luiz showed the crowd their appreciation after their seventh successive Premier League victory

In their dash to defend, Spurs ignored the spacious gaps on the opposite flank, so Moses had time and space to make his strike and though Lloris got a foot to it, he could only deflect into Jan Vetonghen, who in turn could only help the ball over the line on 54 minutes.Chelsea were suddenly ascendant and with Costa now a bundle of trouble, they should have extended their lead. Costa burst down the right this time and pulled the ball back for Marcos Alonso, who lifted his clear striker from close range wastefully over on 54 minutes.