Engrossing spectacle ends with Tuchel’s and Conte’s handshake war

Chelsea and Tottenham managers were engaged in a fierce tactical battle before they squared up to each other

OK. Time for a sit down and a nice cold drink. You know what? They say it’s going to rain on Tuesday. In the meantime Chelsea and Tottenham produced something extraordinary here. This was a steaming, throbbing mosh pit of a game, climate crisis football, pegged out around a series of flares. On and off the pitch, it was an afternoon defined by full-strength collisions.

The most interesting of these was tactical, as Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea team produced 70 minutes of expert cover and team defence to smother the Tottenham attack; followed by a successful counter-tweak from Antonio Conte, and two late equalising goals. A 2-2 draw seemed just about fair, although Spurs will be happier with the point.