The National Times - Palmer punishes ill-disciplined Spurs as Chelsea go second in seven-goal thriller

Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski gave under-fire Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou a dream start.

But his cavalier attacking approach will come under more scrutiny as Chelsea roared back to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to seven games.

Jadon Sancho gave the visitors a foothold before they dominated the second half with Palmer twice cool from the spot, either side of Enzo Fernandez's strike.

Chelsea close to within four points of leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand after their visit to Everton on Saturday was postponed due to high winds.

"Mentally we showed how strong we are," said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, who reiterated his belief the Blues are not title contenders.

But the Italian did go on to say: "100 percent we are ahead of my expectation. In terms of the way we play on the ball, off the ball and in terms of the results."

Son Heung-min's 96th-minute goal was little consolation for Spurs, who have won just once in seven games and remain 11th in the table.

Postecoglou was involved in an angry confrontation with his own supporters after a dismal display in a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Thursday.

Spurs have often saved their best for the biggest games this season, beating Manchester City twice and cruising to a 3-0 win at Manchester United early in the campaign.

Postecoglou's men flew out of the traps to leave an in-form Chelsea chasing shadows in the early stages.

Solanke stole in at the near post to turn in Brennan Johnson's cross to open the scoring.

Kulusevski then meandered along the edge of the Blues' box before firing low past Robert Sanchez to make it 2-0 inside 11 minutes.

But Tottenham defender Cristian Romero's comeback from injury was ended after just 20 minutes and Chelsea quickly took advantage through Sancho's brilliant long-range strike past Fraser Forster.

Somehow that was the end of the scoring in a frantic, fast-paced first 45 minutes that had chances aplenty at both ends.

Pape Sarr headed off the crossbar and Solanke should have converted Son's cross to extend Tottenham's lead.

At the other end, Forster stretched his long limbs to deny Palmer and Pedro Neto an equaliser.

- Caicedo, Kulusevski escape red -

Both sides were also fortunate to get to the break with 11 men still on the field.

Moises Caicedo's studs-up challenge on Sarr was deemed not to have excessive force by the VAR official.

Likewise, Kulusevski escaped further punishment for a stray elbow on Romeo Lavia.

Led by Palmer, Chelsea took control after the break to rub more salt in Spurs' wounds and leave Postecoglou's future up for debate.

The former Australia boss bemoaned this week how his side often "shoot themselves in the foot" and so it proved for the vital fourth goal.

Yves Bissouma unnecessarily dived in on Caicedo to concede a penalty, which Palmer coolly dispatched to level.

Palmer had a major role in Chelsea's third as well, as his shot was blocked after a weaving run into the Spurs box, but the ball fell for Fernandez to blast home from the edge of the area.

Another moment of madness secured the points when Sarr barged Palmer over inside the area.

"I thought both penalties were poor decisions by us, we have to show more discipline," said Postecoglou. "In the end the critical moments got us."

The England international this time impudently dinked the spot-kick Panenka-style down the middle of Forster's goal.

Son turned in James Maddison's cross to set up a nervy finale.

But Maresca's men held on to close in on Liverpool and further their case as unexpected contenders for the title, even if their manager refuses to say so publicly.

P.Barry--TNT