Chelsea emerged triumphant in a chaotic and dramatic Premier League encounter with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues ended up running out 4-1 winners at Spurs, though the scoreline only had gloss added to it in injury time.
Chelsea had actually conceded first in the game, with Dejan Kulusevski opening the scoring after just six minutes.
The Blues thought they had equalised in the 21st minute through Raheem Sterling, but VAR ruled it out for a handball.
Ahead of the officiating decision, Chelsea captain Reece James earned praise from Premier League pundit Owen Hargreaves for his role in the build-up.
The 23-year-old whipped in an outstanding outside-of-the-boot long ball for Sterling to run onto.
Sterling cut inside from the left, drove into the box and put the ball into the back of the net, only for the accidental handball to thwart his goal.
“This is what we said about Spurs’ high line and the way they play as Chelsea can break quickly,” Hargreaves said, as per the Premier League website.
“The ball from Reece James is outrageous and then one versus one is where you want Sterling and in the end it is a good finish.”
The 23-year-old delivered a solid display. He initially struggled with Brennan Johnson as he got up to speed but by the end he did well, in particular with his attacking play.
James is already a world-class player, but he has what it takes to be one of the best right-backs of all time if he can stay fit consistently.
Chelsea break Tottenham resistance in topsy-turvy clash
After Kulusevski opened the scoring, Cole Palmer equalised from the penalty spot on 35 minutes after Cristian Romero’s red card for fouling Enzo Fernandez.
Then, in the second half, Destiny Udogie was also sent off, for a second yellow card after a late challenge on Sterling.
Although Tottenham tried to hang on after going down to nine, Chelsea ended up breaking their resistance in the 75th minute.
Sterling timed his run to receive Reece James’ pass before squaring the ball for Nicolas Jackson to tap in.
Jackson went on to score twice more in second-half injury time to add gloss to the scoreline.