On his first-team debut: Goalkeeper Penders sets Chelsea up for defeat with a bitter own goal

Tottenham Hotspur have continued their run of form and deservedly won the London derby against Chelsea FC. The 21-year-old Blues stand-in goalkeeper Penders played an unfortunate leading role in the match.

The most intriguing story on Saturday evening was in the Chelsea goal: following the 2–0 win at Everton, in which goalkeeper Martinez suffered a broken jaw, Penders made his Premier League starting line-up debut. The 21-year-old Belgian had made his only appearance to date as a substitute for Martinez the previous week. Xabi Alonso nevertheless expressed his confidence in Penders.

At Tottenham, following the welcome 3–1 victory over Coventry City – their first league win – Roberto de Zerbi made just one change: Former Bayern Munich player Tel started in place of the absent Adarabioyo (calf injury). It was a decision de Zerbi was not to regret.

Initially, however, the match offered few highlights in terms of play, taking place in cold and wet conditions. Despite a warning shot from Palmer (14’), the Spurs were the better side. The first real threat came in the 29th minute, when Marmoush found himself alone on the five-metre line following a fine combination between Tel and Robertson, but shot too centrally. Shortly afterwards, Penders made a superb save against Tel, who was, however, offside (32’).

It was only then that Chelsea came to life and began to dominate proceedings. However, Spurs goalkeeper Kinsky came out on top against Henderson and Pedro Neto (35th/43rd).

After the break, de Zerbi was frustrated by Maddison’s early injury, which saw him replaced by Gallagher (51st). What had become a frantic match suddenly flared up as the final quarter of an hour approached: in one incident, van de Ven, Palmer and Mateus Fernandes, as well as Spurs manager de Zerbi, were all shown yellow cards – with a huge scuffle breaking out.

Everything is going against the hosts

Shortly afterwards, the ball ended up in the Chelsea net: from a corner on the left, Penders, in an aerial duel with van Hecke, unluckily headed the ball into his own net – the 21-year-old was immediately consoled (77′). But everything was now going against Chelsea, as first Palmer was sent off with a second yellow card after kicking Gallagher in the ankle, and then, seven minutes later, Tel sealed the victory with a fine solo run (80’/87’.)

Thanks to their second win in a row, Spurs have climbed to 12th place for the time being, whilst Chelsea could still drop out of the top four. The Blues don’t have much time, though: they face Liverpool in the League Cup round of 16 as early as Wednesday. Spurs will then be looking to build on this result at home against Crystal Palace on Saturday (6.30 pm).