Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are getting thinner by the day.
By falling 2-0 at Chelsea on May 3, Tottenham slumped to a second loss to a London rival within the house of 4 days within the Premier League — after a 3-2 house defeat to Arsenal within the north London derby on April 28 .
In between these losses got here affirmation that England may have simply 4 locations in subsequent season’s expanded Champions League, and never 5.
That’s one other blow to Spurs, who’re fifth and stayed seven factors behind fourth-place Aston Villa with one recreation in hand. They nonetheless must play Liverpool and Manchester City of their remaining 4 video games so it’s wanting more and more unlikely they may shut the hole to Villa.
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“We lacked perception and conviction in our recreation,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said.
“I don’t know if it’s low confidence but we’re not playing with the mindset we need to play the football we want to and that’s something I have to look at.” Headed goals by Trevoh Chalobah in the 24th and Nicolas Jackson in the 72nd were enough for Chelsea, which could yet salvage a place in one of the minor European competitions from what has been an underwhelming Premier League campaign for a squad assembled at a cost of more than $1 billion.
Chelsea climbed above West Ham and into eighth place, two points behind Newcastle and three behind Manchester United in sixth. It’s likely that two of those three teams will be playing in either the Europa League or Europa Conference League next season.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said it was the best feeling he had had all season about his team.
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“It’s the moment, after 10 months, that we start to realize how we compete,” Pochettino said. “It confirmed we’re doing issues effectively.
“We showed it’s not about names. It’s about being competitive.” Pochettino, nevertheless, did not sound satisfied he had the backing of Chelsea’s American house owners to be round subsequent season.
“It’s difficult to see I am under scrutiny and judgment every week,” he mentioned, including, “We’ll see if I have time to build after today.” Tottenham has now received simply one in every of its previous 34 away league video games in opposition to Chelsea, making it probably the most one-sided top-flight fixtures. The sole victory got here in 2018, when Pochettino was accountable for Spurs.
Chalobah received on the top of a free kick by Conor Gallagher to loop a header over Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and into the web to offer Chelsea the lead. It was a fifteenth aim this season conceded from a set piece by Spurs and that’s changing into a serious situation beneath Postecoglou.
Jackson, who had a shot partially saved by Vicario and subsequently cleared off the road by Micky van de Ven within the first half, finally received his aim when he was quickest to react after Cole Palmer’s free kick rebounded out off the crossbar. Jackson did effectively to move the ball over two Tottenham defenders who have been retreating towards their very own aim line.
Tottenham is six factors away from Man United and may need to accept a fifth-place end, which might earn a spot in subsequent season’s Europa League.