Eden Hazard and co have a softer edge than their predecessors but proved against Tottenham that they can stand firm despite losing the likes of John Terry
Told all week that this game would define the title race, the moment when the balance of power would swing Tottenham Hotspur’s way, a less durable team than Chelsea might have responded to Dele Alli’s splendid equaliser shortly after half-time by crumbling. On another day, it would have been in the script. Tottenham, brilliant and refreshing, were on top. They were surely going to reach the FA Cup final. Then they were going to win the league.
But even when Chelsea were on the ropes, to doubt them in the moments before Eden Hazard’s decisive cameo was to fail to understand them. There is something about this club. For all the nouveau riche jibes and accusations of artificially bought success that have flown their way ever since Roman Abramovich spotted Stamford Bridge from his helicopter 14 years ago, and for all the managerial changes and bouts of dressing-room insurrection that have often made them look like a textbook case of everything that is wrong with modern football, there is also an inner toughness running through Chelsea that allows them to rebel, stand firm, trust in themselves and emerge a little battered, a little bruised, but ultimately unscathed.
Related: Chelsea’s Antonio Conte the tactical werewolf bares teeth and bites Spurs | Barney Ronay
Related: Tottenham produce moments of magic but can’t rewrite the new Wembley script | David Hytner
Continue reading...