Napoli have completed the signing of midfielder Tanguy Ndombele on loan from Tottenham for the duration of the 2022-23 season, with an option to make the move permanent.

The France midfielder joined Spurs in 2019 from French outfit Lyon, where he spent the second half of last season on loan.

Spurs splashed a reported £65million on Ndombele three years ago and could be set for a considerable loss on their investment, with reports stating the fee Napoli will pay if they elect to make the move permanent is £25m.

Ndombele's exit makes the midfielder the fourth senior player to leave Spurs in the current transfer window, following the exits of Steven Bergwijn, Giovani Lo Celso and Joe Rodon.

Napoli, who started their Serie A campaign with a 5-2 win over Hellas Verona, have rejuvenated their squad with a number of additions – with Ndombele becoming the eighth signing of the window.

The Neapolitan side have also drafted in Kim Min-jae, Andre Zambo Anguissa, Mathias Olivera, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Leo Ostigard, Giovanni Simeone and Salvatore Sirigu.

Tottenham must "feel the blood" of their opponents in order to improve, says Antonio Conte.

Spurs played out a thrilling, full-blooded 2-2 draw with London rivals Chelsea on Sunday, with the visitors twice coming from behind at Stamford Bridge.

Harry Kane's stoppage-time equaliser was overshadowed by a touchline fracas at full time, with both Conte and his Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel sent off.

Conte and Tuchel had both previously been booked, and the Spurs boss seemed to have taken issue with how Tuchel shook his hand after the final whistle.

While hopeful he will be allowed to take to the touchline for Tottenham's meeting with Wolves on Saturday, Conte has no regrets about the fierce nature of his side's display against his old club Chelsea.

Indeed, the former Inter coach wants to see more of it.

"Nasty? It's a step that I continue to ask to my players," Conte said. 

"We did a little step forward, but we need to compete this because to be nasty is very important.

"You have to feel the blood of your opponents. You need to win."

One example of that aggression possibly boiling over came when Cristian Romero clearly pulled the hair of Chelsea's new signing Marc Cucurella while the pair competed at a set-piece.

Fortunately for Spurs, referee Anthony Taylor and the VAR failed to punish the infringement.

"I speak a lot with him," Conte said of Romero, who will miss the Wolves game through injury.

"He's really strong physically and has no fear. He has to be really focused to understand the situation. But I speak a lot with him, we have to be strong in the right way."

Tottenham have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League games (W9 D3), having lost five of their eight before this run. 

They look well set to continue that strong form, given Wolves are winless in their last nine Premier League matches. However, since they were promoted back to the top tier in 2018, at no side have they won more away league games than they have against Spurs (three).

Video Assistant Referee Mike Dean has admitted he "got it wrong" by not encouraging referee Anthony Taylor to go to the pitchside monitor and consider sending off Tottenham defender Cristian Romero in the feisty 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

The hosts led 2-1 going into the dying seconds at Stamford Bridge, before Spurs were awarded a late corner with Argentina international Romero appearing to pull Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair during the build-up.

There was a pause in play while Dean took time to review the incident at Stockley Park, but he decided against sending Taylor to the pitchside monitor to consider a red card and play was restarted.

Harry Kane then headed in a dramatic late equaliser before head coaches Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte clashed at full-time, with both receiving red cards after the final whistle.

While Dean acknowledged that he could not have given Chelsea a free-kick through VAR, he accepted that he should have sent Taylor to look at the incident.

In his column with the Daily Mail, Dean said: "Sometimes in hindsight, you realise you could have acted differently. I've now had time to reflect on Sunday's clash at Stamford Bridge.

"I asked referee Anthony Taylor to wait while I looked at the incident involving Tottenham's Cristian Romero and Chelsea's Marc Cucurella. I could not award a free-kick as VAR, but I could recommend to Taylor that he visit the referee review area to consider a possible red card.

"In the few seconds I had to study Romero pulling Cucurella's hair, I didn't deem it a violent act. I've since studied the footage, spoken to other referees and, upon reflection, I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitchside monitor to take a look for himself.

"It goes to show that no matter how experienced you are - and I've spent more than two decades as a Premier League official - you are always learning."

Prior to the injury-time incident, there were also complaints from Chelsea over Spurs' first equaliser in the 68th minute.

A sliding challenge from Rodrigo Bentancur on Kai Havertz was deemed not to be a foul, before there were claims the flag should have gone up with Richarlison stood in an offside position and obstructing goalkeeper Edouard Mendy's view as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stroked the ball home.

But Dean believes he was right to let Hojbjerg's goal stand, saying: "This one was relatively straightforward. I can't go back 44 seconds to look at Rodrigo Bentancur's potential foul on Kai Havertz.

"The question was whether Richarlison was interfering from an offside position. When Hojbjerg's shot was struck, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy had a view of the ball for me. His line of vision wasn't clearly blocked, so it was onside and 1-1."

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte believes he should be allowed on the touchline against Wolves after being charged by the FA for his behaviour against Chelsea.

The charge came after he was involved in multiple incidents with Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel during and after a thrilling 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

An altercation after the final whistle led to both Tuchel and Conte receiving red cards, and the subsequent FA charges mean it is unclear whether both will be allowed on the sidelines for their respective Premier League fixtures this upcoming weekend.

Conte though believes he should be allowed in the dugout against Wolves, though, telling reporters during his pre-match press conference: "I hope so. It's right, it's right to stay in my place.

"Then I repeat for sure after this type of situation you can learn a lot but at the same time I think from my situation I was good to keep calm and [I] didn't have an excessive reaction."

Spurs sit fourth in the Premier League with four points from their opening two games, but will be without key defender Cristian Romero for Saturday's meeting with Wolves due to injury.

"About Cristian, he had a little problem during the game against Chelsea in the final part of the game," Conte said.

"It's a little problem and after the game he started to feel a bit of pain in his adductor [muscle]. We checked him.

"The player wanted to give availability but in this situation we have a lot of games to play, it would be stupid to take risk. For this reason he is not available for Wolves."

Spurs have beefed up their squad in this transfer window with Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma, Clement Lenglet, Fraser Forster and Djed Spence arriving.

This week, Destiny Udogie signed from Udinese, though the defender will remain with the Serie A club for the rest of the 2022-23 season.

Tottenham's focus will now be on trimming their squad, with Tanguy Ndombele set to complete a switch to Napoli, while Giovani Lo Celso has rejoined Villarreal on loan, though Conte did not rule out the possibility of further additions.

He added: "If someone goes away then for sure another player has to come. Especially if some players want to go and play regularly and it's difficult to keep them here."

Chelsea have condemned "idiots" who continue to tarnish the club's name after launching an investigation into alleged racist abuse aimed at Tottenham's Son Heung-min.

Footage emerged on social media on Wednesday appearing to show Son being targeted with a racist gesture from the Stamford Bridge stands as he went over to take a corner in front of home fans.

In a statement released on their official website on Thursday, Chelsea announced they are looking into the incident that took place in the second half of Sunday's eventful 2-2 draw with London rivals Spurs.

"Chelsea Football Club finds any form of discriminatory behaviour totally abhorrent. It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities," the statement read.

"Chelsea FC has consistently made its zero tolerance position on discriminatory behaviour very clear, yet there are still idiots like this that attach themselves to this club as so-called 'fans', which shames Chelsea FC, our coaches, players, staff and our true supporters.

"We are investigating this incident and, if identified, this individual will face the strongest action from the club."

Spurs twice recovered from a goal down to rescue a point against Chelsea, with Harry Kane heading a stoppage-time equaliser in a game that saw head coaches Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte sent off after the full-time whistle.

Both managers have been charged by the Football Association, while Stats Perform understands the FA is looking into Tuchel's post-game comments about referee Anthony Taylor, whose performance the Chelsea boss criticised.

Marc Cucurella has vowed to never cut his hair in the wake of an incident involving Cristian Romero during Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

The Spain international had his long locks pulled forcefully by Spurs defender Romero in the closing stages of Sunday's ill-tempered contest at Stamford Bridge.

Cucurella, making his full debut for Chelsea following a £56million switch from Brighton and Hove Albion, ended up on the floor but no action was taken against Romero.

Chelsea were leading 2-1 at that point but were pegged back by a Harry Kane header moments later, leaving boss Thomas Tuchel furious with the officials.

Speaking at a press conference for his arrival on Wednesday, Cucurella was asked if he would consider cutting his hair to avoid any similar circumstances in the future.

"No. Never. This is my style," he told reporters.

Asked if he thought Romero was fortunate to avoid any punishment, Cucurella said: "Yes. For me it is too clear in the game, on the pitch.

"I didn’t see it on the TV, the video. I think it's very clear but this is one error of the referee or VAR. Sometimes the referees have good decisions, sometimes not.

"Maybe it's not an important action because it doesn't affect the final result, but we meet again in a few months and this is another opportunity."

Cucurella set up fellow new signing Kalidou Koulibaly's opener against Tottenham to equal his assists tally from across 35 Premier League appearances with Brighton.

The 24-year-old had more touches of the ball (99) than any other player on the field, while only team-mate Mason Mount (35) managed more passes in the final third than his 30.

As well as being comfortable playing as a left wing-back, Cucurella can also play as a left-back and on the left side of central defence.

He faces competition from Ben Chilwell for a regular starting spot, but the versatile defender has thanked his new colleague for helping him to adapt at a new club.

"[Ben] helped me a lot in these first days, he's a very good person," Cucurella said.

"We need to work hard to play in one position. We have two players for one position, but if one player is better, he will put him in the line-up. This is good for the team.

"As for my best position, the three positions on the left side is good for me. I think maybe best for me is back four, left-back, because it's where I played in the academies."

Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Destiny Udogie from Udinese, where he will spend the 2022-23 season.

The defender has signed a five-year deal with the north London side and spent last season on loan at Udinese from Hellas Verona, a deal that turned permanent in July.

Spurs have paid a reported £15m to sign the left-back, who becomes Antonio Conte's seventh recruit of the transfer window.

Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Clement Lenglet have already signed for Spurs, who began the Premier League season with victory against Southampton before Sunday's draw with Chelsea.

Udogie missed Udinese's opening match of the Serie A season, a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan, but is expected to be a crucial part of the team's campaign.

He had already spoken about his move to Tottenham, telling TuttoMercatoWeb: "I am very happy. It's a good feeling to go to the Premier League, to work with Conte, to sign with Tottenham. I am convinced that with Mr. Conte I will be able to grow again.

"For now, however, it is also important to return on loan to Udinese, I want to have a good season."

Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte have been charged by The Football Association (FA) after their heated confrontation at the end of Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday.

The two head coaches appeared to be antagonising one another during the second half of the dramatic Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge.

On the final whistle, shortly after Harry Kane headed in Spurs' equaliser, Tuchel and Conte shook hands, with the Chelsea boss pulling the Italian back when he did not make eye contact.

This sparked further words being said and several backroom staff from both teams having to separate the two, which resulted in Tuchel and Conte being shown red cards by referee Anthony Taylor.

The FA said in a statement on Monday: "Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte have both been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3, following the Premier League fixture between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 14 August 2022.

"It is alleged that the behaviour of both managers was improper following the end of the fixture.

"Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte have until Thursday 18 August 2022 to provide their respective responses."

Spurs boss Conte appeared to fan the flames further on Sunday when he took to Instagram to post a story of Tuchel running down the sideline in front of him while celebrating Reece James' goal to make it 2-1 to Chelsea, captioning it: "Lucky I didn't see you… making you trip over would have been well deserved" followed by three laughing emojis.

Stats Perform also understands The FA is looking into Tuchel's post-game comments about referee Taylor, whose performance he criticised.

The FA's investigation will focus on whether Tuchel has brought the game into "disrepute" by implying bias or attacking the integrity of a referee.

Thomas Tuchel's post-match comments about referee Anthony Taylor following Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham are under investigation by the Football Association (FA).

Tuchel was furious at some of the decisions made by Taylor during the feisty stalemate at Stamford Bridge, a game that saw tensions boil over.

The German suggested Spurs' first goal should have been disallowed due to the offside Richarlison standing in Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy's line of sight, and then he felt aggrieved over the visitors' second equaliser due to two incidents.

Firstly, he felt Kai Havertz was fouled by Rodrigo Bentancur in the build-up to the corner that Harry Kane ultimately headed home from, and at the same set-piece Cristian Romero avoided being penalised for pulling Marc Cucurella to the ground by his hair.

Tuchel and Spurs coach Antonio Conte clashed during and after the game, with their second confrontation resulting in both bosses being shown red cards.

This was a particular bone of contention for Tuchel, who sarcastically said: "I cannot coach but the referee can whistle the next game? Good."

Chelsea fans have voiced their displeasure with Taylor before, but Tuchel went even further when asked about the supporters' concerns, as he suggested "the whole dressing room of us, every person thinks that."

He was then pushed on whether the players are worried when Taylor is the official in charge, and he added: "Yeah, of course."

Stats Perform understands the FA is already looking into Tuchel's comments, meaning disciplinary action could be forthcoming.

The FA's investigation will focus on whether Tuchel has brought the game into "disrepute" by implying bias or attacking the integrity of a referee.

 

The Premier League is officially 30 years old.

On Saturday, August 15, 1992, the Premier League's inaugural season began with a packed schedule of 15:00 kick-offs.

Its foundation came as a result of clubs in the old First Division breaking away from the Football League in order to maximise their earning potential, with much of that initially focused around the possibility of lucrative TV rights deals.

As the Football Association (FA) had a strained relationship with the Football League at the time, the FA backed plans for the formation of the breakaway league, and in July 1991 the Founder Members Agreement was signed by the top-flight clubs.

While the Premier League fell under the auspices of the FA, the league was given economic independence from the governing body and the Football League, and that has been a major contributing factor in it becoming the behemoth we know in 2022.

Thirty years on, many believe it to be the best league in world football, and on this day it only seems right to take a trip down memory lane with a look at key records, stats and figures from the competition's three decades...

Managing expectations

This is classic 'pub quiz' territory: which manager has presided over the most Premier League games?

You know it's either Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger, don't you? You probably end up going for the Manchester United icon because of his sheer longevity.

Alas, you'd be wrong.

Wenger took charge of 18 more Premier League games (828) than 'Fergie' before he brought his long Arsenal career to a close.

Nevertheless, Ferguson's 13 titles look unlikely to ever be matched. His closest rival in that respect is Pep Guardiola (four), with Wenger joined on three by Jose Mourinho.

Play on, player

Over the first 30 seasons of the Premier League, 4,488 players appeared in the competition at an average of 149.6 debutants per campaign.

If we ignore the inaugural and ongoing seasons for obvious reasons, the campaign with the most debutants was 2015-16 when 162 players made their Premier League bows.

Of the nearly 4,500 individuals to feature in the competition up to the start of the 2022-23 season, Gareth Barry sits clear with the most appearances (653), the last of which came during the 2017-18 season with West Brom.

It's a record that will take some beating, but if anyone's got a chance of toppling him, it's his former Manchester City team-mate James Milner.

The 36-year-old, now of Liverpool, is fourth on the all-time list with 589 outings.

Forever young

Everyone loves a 'wonderkid'. The Premier League has seen more than its fair share over the years, and some got started very, very young.

Mark Platts was the first 16-year-old to ever play in the Premier League when he made his Sheffield Wednesday debut in February 1996.

When Matthew Briggs came along 11 years later and featured for Fulham at 16 years and 68 days old, you'd have been forgiven for thinking his record would stand the test of time.

It lasted 12 years until another Fulham player shaved 38 days off Briggs' record – that player was Harvey Elliott. Now at Liverpool, the young midfielder looks set for a glittering career.

The name of the game

Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Wayne Rooney – when you think of Premier League goalscorers, these are probably the names that immediately spring to mind.

Well, you're wrong. You should be thinking about Andrew Johnson, Glen Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Bradley Johnson, Roger Johnson et al.

Why? Because there are more players with the surname Johnson to have scored in the Premier League than any other surname.

There have been 21 of them to be exact, two more than the Williams clan.

Synonymous.

Get to the points

It's been a frustrating few (nine?) years for Man United fans, and this season has started in horrific fashion. But don't worry, folks, if you just look at the big (massive) picture, it'll definitely all feel much better.

United still sit top of the overall Premier League table with 2,366 points, giving them a healthy 219-point cushion over second-placed Arsenal.

Manchester City may have won four of the past five league titles, a feat only United had achieved before them in the Premier League, but the real story is that they're way back on 1,635 Premier League points.

Yo-yo with the flow

To be fair, almost every single one of you knows what's coming here.

You guessed it, Norwich City's relegation from the last season makes them the yo-yoingest (yes, we've just made that up) club in Premier League history.

That was their sixth relegation to go with their five promotions to the top flight since 1992, taking them one clear of West Brom, who have the same number of ascensions but only five demotions to their name.

I love goals, goals, goals, goals

Of course, Shearer remains the Premier's League all-time leading scorer with 260, 52 more than Wayne Rooney in second.

But Harry Kane looks to be in with a chance of usurping both England greats – in fact, another solid season could take him beyond 200 as his header against Chelsea on Sunday took him to 184.

Kane also appears among the very best goalscoring combinations in the competition's history as he and Son Heung-min have linked up for 41 goals – that's five more than Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard as the next-best.

As for high-scoring matches, there have been three Premier League games that have finished with a nine-goal margin – two were achieved by Man Utd (9-0 v Southampton in February 2021, and v Ipswich Town in March 1995) and Leicester City managed it in October 2019, also crushing Saints 9-0.

Do call it a comeback

Your team's trailing 2-0, you're despondent and bereft of hope. But then, out of nowhere, you've got a goal back. Then the equaliser. And then, just when you'd convinced yourself "this draw feels like a win", a third goes in, and it's pandemonium.

There are few more satisfying situations in football than when you team produces such a turnaround – the despair you were feeling earlier only makes your full-time jubilation that bit more intense.

The biggest such turnarounds that led to wins all involved teams coming back from three goals down. Leeds United, Wimbledon and Wolves have all managed it in 4-3 victories, while Man United beat Spurs 5-3 from 3-0 down.

No team have done so since Wolves in October 2003, although Newcastle United certainly deserve a special mention – they are the only team to find themselves 4-0 down and avoid defeat. Their 4-4 draw with Arsenal in February 2011 remains a Premier League classic.

Stop the clock!

Here's another for the pub quiz enthusiasts: who scored the quickest goal in Premier League history?

Netting just 7.69 seconds into an April 2019 game between Southampton and Watford, Shane Long opened the scoring to break a 19-year record that had been set by Spurs defender Ledley King.

To put that into context, it'd take you longer to read that sentence. It was also quicker than Usain Bolt's world-record time in the 100 metres (9.58 seconds).

The latest goal ever is maybe a less notable record, but it nonetheless belongs to Bruno Fernandes, who in September 2020 scored a penalty after 99 minutes and 45 seconds to seal United a dramatic 3-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion – yes, that's the game when the Seagulls hit the woodwork a record five times.

As for the quickest hat-trick, that was scored by Sadio Mane for Southampton against Aston Villa in May 2015, with his first and third goals separated by just two minutes and 56 seconds.

In the wake of Tottenham's last-gasp 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Sunday, Spurs boss Antonio Conte poked fun at the situation after both he and Thomas Tuchel were shown red cards.

The game featured a number of twists and turns, with Chelsea feeling they had won the game when Reece James put them 2-1 ahead in the 77th minute, only for Tottenham to snatch a point deep into stoppage time through a Harry Kane equaliser.

After the final whistle sounded and the managers came together to shake hands, Tuchel refused to let go, indicating he did not appreciate Conte's lack of eye-contact, sparking an exchange where the pair had to be separated, and both were shown red cards.

When queried about the altercation after the game, Tuchel insisted that "it's between two competitors and nothing bad happened" and implied things were being blown out of proportion.

Conte said he believes the video of the situation exonerates him from any blame, and even implied the next time these sides meet there may not be a handshake, saying "next time we will pay more attention and don't shake the hands and we solve the problem… he stays in his bench, I stay in my bench, with my staff on one side and no problem about this."

He added: "For sure I am not passive. If I see aggressivity, then my answer is with aggressivity, but I repeat this is not a problem."

In the hours after the match, Conte took to Instagram to post a story of Tuchel running down the sideline while celebrating James' go-ahead goal to make light of the situation, captioning it: "Lucky I didn't see you… making you trip over would have been well deserved" followed by three laughing smiley faces, indicating it is meant with a tongue-in-cheek tone.

Chelsea will make the trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the return fixture on February 25.

Thomas Tuchel does not want referee Anthony Taylor to officiate a Chelsea game again, with the Blues boss left furious after his side's 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

An ill-tempered encounter at Stamford Bridge looked set for a victory for the hosts after goals for Kalidou Koulibaly and Reece James, despite Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's response.

But a last-gasp Harry Kane header earned a draw for Spurs, with the full-time whistle marked by an aggressive confrontation between Tuchel and opposite number Antonio Conte.

Both men were shown red cards by Taylor, but much of the German's ire stemmed from his belief that the referee failed to spot a number of incidents, including an alleged offside before Tottenham's first goal and an apparent foul on Marc Cucurella by Cristian Romero prior to the late equaliser.

Speaking after the game, Tuchel suggested it was far from an isolated number of Chelsea fans who felt Taylor made mistakes during their matches.

"I don't think just some of the fans think that," he stated. "I can assure you the whole dressing room of us, every single person, thinks that. 

"I can't understand how the first goal is not offside and I can't understand how when a player is pulled by their hair, the other player stays on the pitch."

Asked whether he would prefer Taylor not to oversee Chelsea's matches, Tuchel concurred, though he also pointed to the VAR official as equally culpable for the decision-making process.

"Maybe it would be better, maybe it would be better," he added. "But honestly we also have VAR, to help make the right decisions.

"Since when can players have their hair pulled, since when is that? And if he does not see it I don't blame him – I didn't see it.

"We have people at VAR who check this, and then you see it. And how can this not be a free-kick, and then a red card? How?

"This does not even have to do with the referee in this case. If he does not see something that's why we have people to check if this is a decisive error or not."

Tuchel failed to spot his own post-game dismissal for his part in the fracas with Conte, and made clear his displeasure that he faces a touchline ban, adding sarcastically: "So good - I cannot coach but the referee can whistle the next game."

Argentina midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has returned to Villarreal on loan for the 2022-23 season from Tottenham.

The 26-year-old joined the LaLiga side in January after making just nine Premier League appearances for Spurs in the first half of the 2021-22 campaign.  

He scored one goal across 22 appearances in all competitions as Unai Emery's side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Villarreal started their LaLiga season with a resounding 3-0 win at Real Valladolid on Saturday. They are next in action on Thursday when they host Hajduk Split in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off.

 

Thomas Tuchel was furious with the officials after Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham as he suggested both Spurs goals should have been disallowed.

Chelsea were dominant for much of their first home game of the season, twice taking the lead through Kalidou Koulibaly's stunning volley and Reece James' well-worked goal.

But Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg got Spurs' initial equaliser and Harry Kane saw his stoppage-time header find the net via a deflection off James to rescue a point for the visitors.

Tuchel, who twice clashed with Spurs boss Antonio Conte during an ill-tempered affair, thinks neither goal should have stood.

The German was adamant the offside Richarlison interfered with Edouard Mendy's line of sight for the first leveller, while Chelsea were also furious to see Kai Havertz denied a free-kick earlier in the build-up.

Later on, Cristian Romero avoided being penalised despite pulling Marc Cucurella to the floor by his hair as Kane's header earned Spurs a draw.

Tuchel's frustration was plain to see as he spoke to Sky Sports, even if he applauded Chelsea's general performance.

"We were brilliant, we were absolutely brilliant," he said. "Sorry I have to say but both goals cannot stand, absolutely cannot stand.

 

"There's only one team who deserves to win and it's us, we were absolutely brilliant and sorry for my team that they didn't get what they deserved.

"It's a clear foul on Kai Havertz in the build-up [to the first goal], a clear foul. We had one tactical foul from Reece James and he got a yellow.

"I don't know how many tactical fouls Hojbjerg and [Rodrigo] Bentancur did, nothing happened.

"Clear foul on Havertz. Okay, the situation goes on and on and on, then it's a clear offside from Richarlison, he's in the line of the shot, he even goes to the ball, he doesn't touch the ball and Edou cannot see the ball.

"It's a clear offside, and since when can you pull hair on a football field?"

While Kane did not specifically address the controversy surrounding Spurs' goals, he accepted they were fortunate to leave Stamford Bridge with a point.

"Overall we probably didn't deserve a point from the game but we dug deep, we stuck in there, we fought until the end," he told BBC Sport.

"Credit to the boys, we had that last chance at the end there and managed to take it. Still, there's stuff to work on, but an important point away from home."

Antonio Conte says Tottenham need to improve further if they are to reach Chelsea's level after a fiery 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg cancelled out Kalidou Koulibaly's superb opener for the Blues, but Thomas Tuchel's men restored their lead when Reece James burst through to score.

A dramatic conclusion followed though, as Harry Kane was on hand to head home in the 96th minute and spark wild celebrations from Conte, before both he and Tuchel were promptly sent off amid a touchline clash.

That followed an earlier argument between the pair after Hojbjerg's strike, with Tuchel furious the goal had not been ruled out for offside against Richarlison.

The result meant Tottenham have won just one of their last 38 away matches against Chelsea in all competitions (D13 L24), a 3-1 win in April 2018 in the Premier League.

Conte did not want to discuss the specifics of his clash with Tuchel, instead choosing to highlight that his side needs to improve if they are to enjoy the kind of success Chelsea have in recent seasons.

"It's not so important [the clash with Tuchel]," he said in a press conference.

"The most important thing is football and to speak about football. It was an intensive game. This game was really tough for us. You know that they are a really good team here.

"I have to be honest, today Chelsea were better than us. Compared to last season we did better, but if we want to create problems for Chelsea [in the table] we have to be better.

"We can do better, but at the same time we scored twice. In the last three games [against Chelsea] we didn't score.

"We got a point and we showed, in my opinion, character and personality and my players wanted to stay in the game. We can do better."

Tuchel and Conte have both received a card in three different Premier League games since the start of last season, the most of any two managers in the competition.

The Italian, however, rejected suggestions that he can go overboard on the touchline, and believes Spurs fans want to see that he cares.

"You have to show passion every time because the result can be positive or negative but you have to love your job and your work and show your passion," he added.

"If the fans see this, it's good. You can take big achievements if you have a big passion in your job.

"You can understand the situation. I think this game is an important game for both clubs."

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