At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with 61 minutes elapsed, Cole Palmer secured his first penalty kick of the match, leveling the score at 2-2. Nearby, Marc Cucurella was seen vigorously pounding his head with both hands near the left touchline, his curls dramatically flying, reminiscent of a lovable dog in a floor detergent commercial. When Palmer scored his exquisite top-corner goal against Southampton last week, Cucurella had clenched his fists and howled, his hips thrusting in a pomp-rock style. Palmer clearly has a profound effect on him. The afternoon belonged to both men, as their team secured a 4-3 comeback victory in the London derby, showcasing the dual qualities that mark Enzo Maresca’s team—despite his denials—as genuine title contenders.
Palmer brings craft to the game. While Mohamed Salah remains the most effective creative player in the league, Palmer stands out as something unique, a mobile brain with an unparalleled ability to observe, learn, and innovate. During the first half, he seemed to decode Spurs, identifying weak spots and strategizing his positioning and passing sequences.
Cucurella, on the other hand, embodies spirit. This footballer exudes a hilarious degree of Main Character Energy. As he ventured into midfield in the second half, it felt as though Cucurella should play everywhere all the time, passing to other Cucurellas, goading opposition Cucurellas, and walking off arm in arm with his Cucurella counterpart at the end.
Chelsea is currently a joyful pirate ship, a group of billion-dollar desperadoes thrust into the spotlight, all running in the same direction. Sport often boils down to simplicity. Despite the discussions about DNA and philosophical waffle, football is fundamentally about feelings, energy, colors, and the illusion of design created by winning.
Chelsea now stands second in the league, and it’s not far-fetched to suggest they could win it this season. A new world order is emerging. Manchester City appears terrified of their own shadows, and the old certainties are crumbling. Chelsea arguably boasts the best squad in the league. The key advantage of splurging vast amounts on quality young players? You end up with a lot of quality young players. Plus, they have Cucurella’s winning energy. He is a very amusing footballer, from his resemblance to a Renaissance fresco depiction of a mischievous fruit seller to his power waddle, which is both convincing and relentlessly theatrical.
The first half was a Total Cucurella show, starting with not one but two face-planting slips that led to Chelsea going 2-0 down. Few things in any sport are more vital and invigorating than someone falling over. Cucurella falling over? This is box office.
Slip No 1 occurred five minutes in, with Cucurella’s foot giving way, leaving him splayed on the turf. Brennan Johnson took the ball, crossed low, and Dominic Solanke finished expertly. Minutes later, the same thing happened. Cucurella fell over, Dejan Kulusevski carried the ball forward, and scored. Cucurella’s response was brilliantly defiant. Instead of being crushed, he stormed across to the touchline, flung his boots off in a funk, marched back out, and provided the assist to make it 2-1.
It was just a pass inside to Jadon Sancho, who produced a sequence where the game suddenly seemed too small, too easy, finding so much space and time in the middle of the noise and heat just by dropping a shoulder. Sancho isn’t super quick, but he has a deceptive hyper-speed mode, a Millennium Falcon gear where the air just seems to open up around him. From there, the ball was zinged into the far corner.
At 2-1 down away from home, Chelsea was always going to win this game. North London had been gripped by the nationwide meteorological norovirus all afternoon, whipped by a face-scraping wind that seemed to come from all directions, making it feel like a narrow island in an unfriendly sea. This was a chaotic game for long periods, resembling a traditional Derbyshire free-for-all where people wrestle over a sheep’s bladder outside a pub for three hours. But by the end, Spurs had been reeled in by opponents who simply have better players, better options, and a wider range of gears.
Palmer made the key third goal for Enzo Fernández with a wonderful twirling dribble. In response, Timo Werner came on for Spurs and did quite a lot of weird things, throwing his arms around, running very fast, and taking clanky first touches. It’s tempting to suggest Werner should have become a sprinter, but he would probably have ended up in the triple jump pit.
Cucurella and Palmer came off with the game all but won on 90 minutes, Cucurella high-fiving everyone on or even close to the Chelsea bench, like a celebrated thespian humbly celebrating his own masterwork. It felt like a pivotal afternoon for this team. They have as much of a shot as anyone right now.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
