Chelsea continue to pile pressure on those around them in the race for the remaining Champions League places after banking a 1-0 London derby win over Tottenham.
Scorers: Fernandez 50'
Enzo Maresca, who reminded his players of the required standards necessary for the club ahead of tonight's clash, can be proud of a Blues outfit that looked the better side from start to finish against a massively underperforming Spurs side.
Chelsea so nearly opened the scoring on their first foray forward through Nicolas Jackson, laying bear the constant defensive struggles Spurs have negotiated all season.
The Senegalese forward was put into space with a direct ball from Trevoh Chaloba before rounding Guglielmo Vicario. Micky van de Ven tracked back to clear his effort, which would deflect off him once again before and bouncing clear after striking the post.
Spurs then looked to strike early themselves a minute later with an incisive move of their own with Son eventually driving at goal before Malo Gusto deflected his effort out for a corner.
Early exchanges between the two capital sides offered the expected back-and-forth affair that many anticipated, with Gusto himself also coming close to finding an opener with a drive from outside the box, but the Frenchman could only hit the side netting.
Vicario would deny Jadon Sancho with a big reaction save just seconds before the end of normal time when he tipped the winger's close-range effort over the bar.
The former Borussia Dortmund starlet found himself open in the box and on the end of a floated cross by Pedro Netro before his placed effort was well-saved as Chelsea looked more capable of breaking the deadlock.
And just as the run of play suggested, it was Chelsea that jumped into the lead less than five minutes after the restart when Enzo Fern谩ndez was given a free header six yards from goal, converting Cole Palmer's dangerous ball into the area.
Fern谩ndez's beloved midfield partner Mois茅s Caicedo nearly made it two-nil six minutes later with a fantastic long-range volley before VAR ruled for offside during the previous free-kick.
Spurs too then were denied an equaliser through Pape Matar Sarr after he robbed Caicedo before unleashing a drive to beat Robert S谩nchez.
His strike was pulled back, however, after VAR judged the midfielder to have fouled Caicedo with a high boot in the build-up before Craig Pawson brandished a yellow card.
Despite failing to find a second to ease nerves at the Bridge, Maresca's men would still claim all three points on the night, temporarily climbing ahead of Manchester City and Newcastle United in the process.
Spurs remain in 14th after suffering their third loss across their last four fixtures and could fall as slow as 16th depending on other results this weekend.
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