AXEL Disasi won’t forget his first ever visit to bitter rivals Tottenham in a hurry as Chelsea returned to winning ways with a 4-1 success in north London.
Five goals allowed to stand, including a hat-trick for Nicolas Jackson, five ruled out and two Spurs players seeing red ensured Mauricio Pochettino’s return to his old club was certainly a memorable one.
Tottenham went ahead after just six minutes through Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected goal and the hosts thought they had doubled their advantage, only for Son Heung-min’s strike to be adjudged offside.
It was the start of a busy night for VAR, which also chalked off efforts from Raheem Sterling (handball) and Moises Caicedo (offside).
While looking at the Caicedo incident, VAR awarded a penalty and red card for Christian Romero’s challenge on Enzo Fernandez, with Cole Palmer eventually equalising from the spot once play resumed.
Jackson also saw a goal ruled out and then Spurs’ night went from bad to worse 10 minutes after the interval as Destiny Udogie collected a second yellow for a lunge on Sterling.
It took Chelsea until the 75th minute to make their numerical advantage count when Sterling set up Jackson for his first of the evening, although it needed another VAR delay before the goal was confirmed.
Eric Dier’s volley was deemed offside and it wasn’t until the 94th and 97th minutes that Jackson struck twice to wrap up three points for Pochettino’s side.
It was a lot to take in for everyone, including Chelsea defender Disasi.
He explained: “I think it was a crazy, crazy game tonight in the first half, so we are happy to win this game because we need to get some points. Tonight we are happy.
“The first half was a little bit strange because every time the VAR was there.
“For me it was my first derby in London and the atmosphere was crazy. It was tough.
“At the end the fans were so happy, so it was good. We know that they want us to win every game, especially in this moment because we don’t win so many games, but I think tonight they are happy.
“We are happy also and now we have to take a rest and to prepare for a big game again on Sunday.”
Next up this weekend are treble winners Manchester City, who retained top spot as a result of Chelsea’s success over Spurs.
The win is undoubtedly a huge shot in the arm for Disasi’s side going into the City clash, but the Frenchman was reluctant to describe it as a statement victory after what has been an inconsistent start to the campaign.
“I think it is too early to think about this,” he replied.
“We are just going to enjoy the win tonight and let’s see what happens on Sunday.”
Spurs maintained a high line even with nine men and proved a difficult nut to crack until Jackson began his late scoring spree.
Disasi is backing the striker to kick on now and says there are lessons for everyone to learn from the game.
He said: “The coach said at half-time that we have to be patient, to keep the ball and when we have the opportunity to score, to take them.
“The second goal came a little bit late but at the end Nico scored a hat-trick.
“I’m happy also for him because I think he needs this and I hope in the future he will score more goals again.
“We are a young group and a victory like tonight I think will give us a lot of confidence for the future.
“We have to take this and to learn as well about this game because I think we can do some things much better, but I think we need to enjoy the result tonight and let’s see what happens.”
After a weekend of Premier League fixtures in which VAR once again came under the spotlight, Disasi was just happy this time Chelsea overall were the beneficiaries, even with three potential goals ruled out.
“I like it tonight!” he laughed.
“With VAR it is always the same – we agree, we do not agree.
“Tonight the chance was on our side and we are happy with this.
“We have to take off the frustration when VAR is against us and to keep focusing on our game.
“When he (Jackson) scored (for 2-1) we saw that VAR was checking the goal, it was like ‘Again?’
“At the end Raheem was not offside.
“But then Nico scored for 2-1 and after you see we have more confidence to put the ball deep – and we scored again and again – so we are happy tonight.”
Follow @sportsouthlndn on X for updates from Chelsea v Manchester City on Sunday
