Tottenham vs Chelsea: Cat Scratch Fever

Torres shows his appreciation for some great refereeing

There’s always a lot of anticipation when Chelsea goes to Tottenham and not just for those looking for a little slap and tickle. But with the return of Mourinho, and Villas Boas sticking around somewhere long enough to start a second season – all eyes were firmly planted on the technical area. It was all terribly master and servant with quotes being pulled from a year ago to heighten the excitement and constructed rivalry.

But for all the talk of the technical area, the story was all about the action on the pitch – as it should be. As expected David Luiz and Torres earned their way back into Mourinho’s heart after Tuesday’s adventure in Swindon. However, despite attempting a foul on anyone within his reach, the Special Juan was only rewarded with a place on the bench. Babysteps.

However, under his time under Mourinho 2.0, Mata has learned quickly to impress. So when he came on late in the second half, he again made the most of it getting the assist on Chelsea’s loan goal and generally adding a dimension that was sorely lacking in the first half. Mata’s infusion into the game combined with whatever magic Mourinho spouted at half time saw a completely different team emerge. And with that, Juan Mata has earned himself a Champions League start this week against the mighty Bucharest.

Although Juan Mata contributed by and large to Chelsea’s fantastic second half performance, the man that everyone is talking about is feisty Fernando. This was a man on a mission. What that mission was, is somewhat unclear – but he was up for it. Torres carried his League One form back to the Premier League to create all sorts of trouble for Spurs defence.

Needless to say, he became very unpopular very quickly with Spurs’ defenders and should consider himself lucky that Vertonghen didn’t use his completely legitimate technique of pulling an opponents shorts down when his defending goes awry. But these two ladies did get into handbags just about everywhere on the pitch. Vertonghen’s shameless dive did nothing short of inciting Chelsea’s striker into a uncontrollable rage that saw him momentarily morph into a kitty cat as he pawed at Vertonghen’s face.

Vertonghen's last ditch defence vs Helenius

At that moment, you had to know that this was only the beginning of the ‘battle’. These two had more catfights on the pitch than Girls Aloud. It was only ever going to end in tears – and a completely unwarranted red card. How Mike Dean felt that Torres did not have the right to challenge for that ball is beyond all logic. The previous coming togethers played into his thinking, but still shocking on all accounts. It’s no surprise that has he walked to the tunnel, Mourinho advised him to stay down next time.

Despite the sending off, Torres had arguably one of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt and was unlucky not to have had a goal. He was a threat just about anywhere on the pitch – on goal and to Vertonghen’s health. If he can keep his nails trimmed, he could just be seeing a whole lot more of the pitch. The only thing that Torres missed from Saturday’s performance was an actual goal.

But who needs strikers when you have defenders like John Terry?! No player from either club had more shots on goal than Terry and of course his headed goal righting the wrong of the scoreline. Terry may have been more pleased with that goal that anyone as he said after the game “I’ll take that, but I’m just delighted it’s against these (Spurs) today. I think they like me as much as I like them.”

Roll on Champions League. Expect starts for Torres, Mata, and striker Terry in Bucharest tomorrow night

jb x