Chelsea soars, Tottenham trembles

Chelsea continued to fly high with their third consecutive victory in three different arenas. The three points gained were very important because they helped The Blues surpass Tottenham to take the third place in the rankings.

History shows that Chelsea has dominated Sunderland in the past, winning 15/16 of the most recent encounters with the Black Cats. However, in a time when they are not physically prepared and have a tight schedule, the Blues are expected to face many difficulties against Di Canio's team. The reality on the field is not beyond expectations.

In the first 45 minutes, Chelsea had 68% of the ball possession and had 9 shots. However, the Blues' attacks lacked creativity, with most of them being high balls into the box. Of course, such attacks did not pose a threat to Sunderland's goal because their 2 central defenders, O'Shea and Kilgallon, are very tall.

The most notable situation that Chelsea created in the first half was in the 19th minute. After David Luiz's free kick, the ball reached Demba Ba's feet and then hit defender Kilgallon's hand in the penalty area. However, referee Swarbrick refused to award Chelsea a penalty.

The defense played tight, Sunderland's counter-attacks with the participation of A.Johnson and Sessegnon also proved very dangerous. At the last minute of the first half, the surprise happened. After a corner kick by Sunderland, defender Azpilicueta clumsily scored an own goal to help the Black Cats take the lead.

After the break, coach Benitez immediately sent Torres onto the field to replace Demba Ba. And Torres's brilliance combined with the Black Cats' bad luck changed the entire game in an instant. In the 47th minute, Torres dribbled past a Sunderland defender and then passed the ball beautifully to Oscar. After a flurry, Kilgallon scored an own goal, equalizing for Chelsea. Before Sunderland could recover from the shock of the sloppy goal, they received a second cold shower with a similar scenario. In the 55th minute, David Luiz fired a long shot from outside the box, but the ball hit Ivanovic's foot and changed direction, going straight into the Sunderland net, surprising the Black Cats' defense. The score of 2-1 in favor of Chelsea was maintained until the end of the match.

In another remarkable match between Tottenham and Everton, Spurs took the lead in the 33rd second through Adebayor. However, the loose defense caused Tottenham to be scored 2 goals by Everton through Jagielka and Mirallas. Fortunately for the Roosters, in the 87th minute, Sigurdsson scored the equalizer, tying the score at 2-2, earning a valuable point for the home team at White Hart Lane.

However, being held to a draw by Everton also means that Tottenham has been pushed down to 4th place in the rankings by Chelsea. On top of that, The Blues still have 1 match left to play. Furthermore, Tottenham is only 2 points ahead of 5th-placed Arsenal and has played 1 more match than the Gunners. Clearly, coach AVB's team is shaking in the race for the Top 4.

SPECIFIC RESULTS
Chelsea– Sunderland: 2-1
Tottenham – Everton: 2-2
Newcastle– Fulham: 1-0

According to Bongdaplus - DT