Mauricio Pochettino enjoyed a winning return to his former employers and he’ll be relieved to see his centre-forward on the scoresheet

The build up to Chelsea’s trip to Tottenham on Monday was all about Mauricio Pochettino. But the Blues manager’s much-anticipated homecoming was reduced to a footnote as the two side’s played out a completely batsh*t crazy 90+ minutes, from which Pochettino and Co eventually emerged as 4-1 winners.

The first half was the most chaotic of the season so far. Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected opener broke the deadlock inside six minutes and it was non-stop drama from there. By the time the half-time whistle had been blown, both teams had seen goals ruled out, Cristian Romero had been sent off and Chelsea had equalised following an endless VAR review, while several other players had escaped red cards of their own.

One of those from Destiny Udogie, and the youngster’s luck ran out shortly after the break when he was dismissed for a second yellow, leaving Spurs down to 10 men.

With a two-player advantage, the Blues unsurprisingly carved out a string of opportunities. They were just unfortunate that the majority fell to Nicolas Jackson, a striker so short of confidence it seemed like a light breeze might blow him over. Eventually though, he got his moment, tapping home Sterling’s cross for just his third Premier League of the season.

Chelsea endured a nervy moment when Eric Dier replied with a sumptuous, back-post volley swiftly after, but VAR came to the rescue to rubber stamp a marginal offside decision.

Then, somehow, after Rodrigo Bentancur missed a close-range header, Jackson was presented with two more chances. And on both occasions, he shook off his demons to score, completing a rather unexpected hat-trick. It summed up a quite ridiculous evening in the capital and will hopefully provide him with the momentum he needs to start showing what he’s really about.

Below, GOAL rates the Blues players from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…

Goalkeeper & Defence

Robert Sanchez (6/10):

Wrong-footed for Spurs opener by the deflection. Fairly uneventful once Spurs started getting players sent off.

Reece James (6/10):

Probably should have been sent off for a pretty blatant elbow on the stroke of half time. Will be relieved to get through the majority of a game without getting injured.

Axel Disasi (5/10):

A bit aimless in his passing at times. Never entirely comfortable when Tottenham had 11.

Thiago Silva (6/10):

Tried to keep his team-mates composed, but he was not always successful.

Levi Colwill (5/10):

Should have got tighter to Kulusevski for the first goal. Involved in a tussle with Pape Matar Sarr and picked up a yellow. Subbed at the break before he got sent off.

Midfield

Enzo Fernandez (6/10):

Won the penalty, but was run ragged by the Spurs midfield in the opening 20 minutes. Subbed on the hour.

Moises Caicedo (6/10):

Was pretty sloppy to start, but would have scored if not for an offside in the first half.

Conor Gallagher (6/10):

Only rarely gave the ball away. He acted as solid link between the midfield and attack.

Attack

Cole Palmer (7/10):

Did so well to keep his cool after all the VAR madness and score from 12 yards. This composure was typical of his display.

Nicolas Jackson (7/10):

His lack of killer instinct was startling. Missed several golden chances before eventually completing the easiest Premier League hat trick of all time. They all count, though.

Raheem Sterling (7/10):

Carried the ball superbly at times, most notably for his disallowed goal. Set up Jackson to make it 2-1.

Subs & Manager

Marc Cucurella (5/10):

Looked to get in behind the Spurs defence and had some success. Defensively, he was shaky, especially at set pieces.

Mykhailo Mudryk (5/10):

A little petulant when he came on, which didn’t help his team’s cause.

Malo Gusto (5/10):

Not on the pitch long but still managed to get booked. It was that sort of game.

Mauricio Pochettino (5/10):

He might’ve have matched up Spurs’ use of wing-backs to nullify their threat out wide early on. None of his subs made much of a difference, but he ended up tasting victory over his former employers anyway.