Ziyech, Silva Help Chelsea Outmuscle Spurs Again

 

Chelsea 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0 

Hakim Ziyech's stunner and Thiago Silva's towering header helped overpower Tottenham for this third time this month as Chelsea tightened their grip on a top-three finish with a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Having eased past their London rivals into the Carabao Cup final 3-0 on aggregate already in January, Chelsea ensured they kept Spurs at arm's length in the race for Champions League football as Thomas Tuchel's side ended a four-game winless run in the Premier League to open up an 11-point gap between themselves and their visitors.

Spurs arrived in west London in buoyant mood after Wednesday's dramatic, last-gasp victory at Leicester and, despite spending the majority of the first period on the back foot, were aggrieved not to head into the break in front after Harry Kane's opener was controversially ruled out for a foul on Silva in the build-up.

Sky Sports co-commentator Gary Neville disagreed with the decision, labelling Silva a "lucky boy", a view Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane rejected in the studio: "Believe it or not, Gary Neville is wrong! When you are running at that pace, Kane does just lean into Silva and I think the referee has made the right decision."

Chelsea were profligate in the first period but found their shooting boots in the second - and in some style, as Ziyech's incredible curled effort flew past a stationary Hugo Lloris into the top corner (47), before Silva doubled the hosts' advantage and put the victory beyond doubt with a trademark glancing header (55).