Oh boy. First Big Six rivalry game of the 2022/2023 Premier League Season and boy did it not disappoint. This past Sunday we got to see Tottenham head over to Chelsea to play in one of the London Derby’s, and boy was it a good one.
The game started off with Chelsea jumping up in the 18th minute with a corner kick screamer from one of their Centerbacks, Kalidou Koulibaly.
Then just after an hour was played in the game, Tottenham equalized on an effort from their Midefielder Hojbjerg.
Only nine minutes after the equalizer though, Chelsea regains the lead on a close-range shot from Reece James.
But the real drama came at the end of this match, during and after the seven extra time minutes added to the game. During this window of time, Tottenham was able to win itself a corner kick, and during that fateful corner kick, the ball was played in and defended out of bounds by Chelsea which allowed Tottenham to regain possession for another corner kick. However, this incredibly clean and totally legal play happened during this 95th-minute corner.
Yes, that was a play that was reviewed for several minutes by head referee Anthony Taylor and ruled as a legitimate play. It’s amazing to me how much the rules of soccer have advanced, maybe next it’ll be legal to take someone out at the knees. I don’t even know why the Premier League pays for all that expensive VAR equipment if they’re still going to allow these plays to happen. But, this is honestly good to know because I’ll have something to reference when my Intermural soccer games get heated. In defense of Tottenham though, Chelsea does have no excuse for leaving Harry Kane this wide open on the subsequent corner kick for the equalizer.
And then, at the very end of this game, after the final whistle is blown. This happens.
God, I’m so happy Premier League soccer is back. No other sport has this much pettiness, where Chelsea’s manager Thomas Tuchel and Spurs Manager Antonio Conte get frustrated by the day’s results so they just forcefully shake each other’s hands and a brawl almost happens. These are the soccer games I turn the TV on to watch, please give me more of this.
