Antonio Conte saw his unbeaten Premier League run as Tottenham boss end on familiar turf as Chelsea claimed a 2-0 derby win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
A stunning finish from Hakim Ziyech and a Thiago Silva header early in the second half gave the Blues the victory as they became the first team to pass 500 points in London derby matches in the Premier League era.
Silva had earlier been involved in a controversial incident, Harry Kane seeing a goal disallowed at 0-0 after a hand in the back of the defender sent him tumbling to ground.
For Spurs, whose only win in their past 32 away league matches against Chelsea came against Conte's side in April 2018, it was a first league loss since the 3-0 reverse at home to Manchester United in October that brought Nuno Espirito Santo's short reign to an end.
Romelu Lukaku passed up the best early openings, slicing a shot over the bar in the first minute and missing the ball from a teasing Mason Mount cross when he should have done better.
Spurs had barely offered a threat until Kane gathered Steven Bergwijn's low cross and drilled home a finish on the turn, but the goal was was ruled out for a push on Silva.
The visitors were lucky not to go a man down before half-time, though, VAR deeming no further action was needed for a Matt Doherty foul on Malang Sarr and Japhet Tanganga somehow escaping even a free-kick for pulling back the shirt of Callum Hudson-Odoi after previously being booked.
It was Tanganga who was left for dead by Hudson-Odoi a minute after the restart, the winger then teeing up Ziyech to curl a sublime finish into the top-left corner and put Chelsea ahead.
Hugo Lloris denied Ziyech a second soon after as Chelsea ramped up the pressure, with Mount whistling a shot just over the bar from Hudson-Odoi's cut-back.
The Chelsea winger was proving a real handful for Spurs and, after Eric Dier tripped him down the left wing, the resulting Mount delivery was glanced in via the head of Silva.
What does it mean? Chelsea close on City as Spurs suffer top-four blow
The defeat means Spurs stay seventh, having missed out on the chance to leapfrog Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester United to climb into the top four.
Chelsea move to within 10 points of leaders Manchester City, having played a game more, with Liverpool a point further ahead.
Mercurial Mount
Mount was exceptional on the right of the Chelsea attack as he exploited space whenever Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was dragged out of position trying to break up passing lanes.
The England midfielder created a team-high four chances and found the target with five of nine crosses, including the head of Silva for the second goal.
Conte counts cost of Tanganga inaction
After Tanganga escaped a second yellow card, it looked likely Conte would substitute him at half-time to remove the risk of falling a man behind.
His decision not to proved key to Chelsea's breakthrough, as he allowed Hudson-Odoi to run clear for fear of being punished for any attempt to halt his run. It was 2-0 before he was finally replaced by Lucas Moura.
What's next?
Chelsea host Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on February 5 after their winter break before their Club World Cup campaign begins. Spurs's fourth-round clash is at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on the same day.
Brazil legend Marta to retire from international football
Brazil star Marta has announced she will retire from international football at the end of 2024.
The 38-year-old is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil, netting 116 goals in 175 matches for the national team.
She is also the top-scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals, finishing as a runner-up in 2007 when Brazil lost in the final to Germany.
The forward has won three Copa America Femenina titles and was part of the Brazil team that won silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Marta could make her sixth appearance for Brazil at this year's Games if she is selected in the squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team," Marta told CNN in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete.
"I am very calm about this because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes."
Orlando City v Toronto FC: Pareja delighted with Lions’ character
Oscar Pareja is thrilled with the character his Orlando City players showed in their 2-2 draw with CF Montreal last time out.
Orlando conceded late against Montreal – in the 88th minute, in fact – but Ivan Angulo scored deep into stoppage time to salvage a point.
It was a result that extended Orlando’s unbeaten streak to four MLS games, as the Lions look to propel themselves up the Eastern Conference standings.
Next up is a home game against Toronto FC, and Pareja was proud of the resilience his team displayed.
He said: “I've seen the character of the team, and the willingness that we have with this group of players is incredible. It has happened already [this season], and then the last good result has shown that this group has a lot of intentions all the time to be upfront and try to propose the game.
“When we are at a disadvantage, we want to equalise with a lot of character, that's what we have. Once we start being more precise in the last third, I think we're going to have less problems, but we are resolving them and, really, I congratulate the players. I think they're doing a great job, they don't give up in any minute and today if we played five minutes more I think we win the game.”
Pareja knows his team must tighten up at the back, though.
He added: “We are trying to have more cohesiveness with the players that are starting or playing in the games. Our lines have to be better. Conceding early goals, or conceding goals especially in the first half for us, is something that we need to resolve, we need to figure it out. How can we be more solid? Not saying that it's just a defender’s problem, it’s a collective problem. We all have to be in charge. We need to be much better.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
McGuire scored three goals in his first two matches against Toronto. Five players in MLS history have scored in their first three matches against Toronto, most recently Josef Martinez in 2017-18.
Toronto FC – Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty
Marshall-Rutty set up Prince Owusu for Toronto’s lone goal on Saturday. Either Marshall-Rutty (two assists), Owusu (four goals) or both have been involved in each of Toronto’s last five MLS goals.
MATCH PREDICTION: ORLANDO CITY WIN
Toronto FC’s 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday was its fourth victory of the season, equalling their total from all of last season. Only one of the Reds’ last 25 regular-season matches dating back to late June has ended in a draw.
However, Orlando have lost only one of their last 16 regular-season home matches (W9 D6) dating back to late April 2023, a run that includes a 4-0 win over Toronto in July.
Indeed, Orlando are unbeaten in eight straight matches against Toronto (W6 D2) including winning the last four in a row. This is the Lions’ longest unbeaten run against a single opponent in regular-season play while they’ve won five in a row against an opponent once before, doing so against the Crew from 2018-21.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 59.6%
Toronto FC – 16.1%
Draw – 24.3%
Al Hilal 3-1 Al Fateh: Neves on target as Saudi giants close in on title
Al Hilal moved 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr at the top of the Saudi Pro League as Ruben Neves scored in a 3-1 win over Al Fateh on Friday.
Former Wolves star Neves slotted in from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, as Al Hilal completed a rapid comeback.
Having fallen behind to Lucas Zelarayan's 57th-minute opener, Al Hilal responded swiftly through Micheal before Salem Al Najdi fouled Mohammed Al Qahtani in the penalty area.
Ex-Barcelona winger Cristian Trello and Al Fateh coach Slaven Bilic were booked for their complaints, with Neves making no mistake, paving the way for Ali Al Bulayhi to seal victory in the 15th minute of an extended period of stoppage time.
Data Debrief
Al Hilal have now won 21 games on the spin in the league. They have scored 86 goals across their 28 matches this season, winning 26 in total.
They had 19 shots on Friday, accumulating 2.34 xG to Al Fateh's 0.25, with pass-master Neves creating three chances to go along with his goal.
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