LONDON: A Chelsea victory that extended the team’s revival under Thomas Tuchel left Tottenham Hotspur experiencing new lows under Jose Mourinho.

Not since 2012 have Spurs endured three consecutive Premier League losses. Never before in his managerial career has Mourinho lost back-to-back home league games.

Being top of the league two months ago is becoming a distant memory for Tottenham after losing 1-0 to Mourinho’s former side on Thursday.

Tottenham’s poor form was punctuated by the way Eric Dier recklessly tripped Timo Werner to concede the penalty, which Jorginho converted in the 24th minute.

Now it’s Chelsea on the up again since Frank Lampard was fired 10 days ago, with two wins and a draw under Tuchel moving moving the London club up to sixth, four points from Liverpool in fourth place.

While only a single goal separated the sides, Chelsea controlled the game and avoided being unsettled by defender Thiago Silva limping off in the first half.

“The whole first half we totally controlled the game, very high up the pitch,” said Tuchel, who became the first Chelsea manager to keep clean sheets in his first three games in charge since Mourinho in 2004. “A bit more killer instinct and aggression in the box would have been nice but it was a big win in an away game and I am very happy.”

While Chelsea’s pursuit of the Champions League places was given a lift, Tottenham are slipping away from the top four in a disappointing second season in charge for Mourinho.

Tottenham are seven points from fourth in eighth place having played a game less, and is sorely missing the injured Harry Kane, who could return from ankle injuries next week. Tottenham were also beaten at their stadium last Thursday by Liverpool, before collapsing at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Perhaps the only relief for Mourinho is that supporters remain shut out of the stadium due to the pandemic so could not vent their irritation at the slump.

A run of 13 points from 12 games is worse than the slow start to last season that saw Mauricio Pochettino sacked as Spurs boss, 12 matches into the campaign.

Mourinho, though, wasn’t so pessimistic.

“In the second half we were different, the spirit was different, the confidence too,” Mourinho said. “At the end the feeling that I have is that the team stuck together until the end, fought until the end ... and to finish the game with this positive spirit helps.”

Current standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals scored, goals against, points)

Manchester City 21 14 5 2 39 13 47

Manchester United 22 13 5 4 46 27 44

Leicester City 22 13 3 6 39 25 42

Liverpool 22 11 7 4 43 25 40

West Ham United 22 11 5 6 34 28 38

Chelsea 22 10 6 6 36 23 36

Everton 20 11 3 6 31 25 36

Tottenham Hotspur 21 9 6 6 34 22 33

Aston Villa 20 10 2 8 35 24 32

Arsenal 22 9 4 9 27 22 31

Leeds United 21 9 2 10 36 38 29

Southampton 21 8 5 8 27 34 29

Crystal Palace 22 8 5 9 27 37 29

Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 7 5 10 23 31 26

Brighton & Hove Albion 22 5 9 8 24 29 24

Newcastle United 22 6 4 12 22 36 22

Burnley 21 6 4 11 13 28 22

Fulham 21 2 8 11 17 31 14

West Bromwich Albion 22 2 6 14 18 52 12

Sheffield United 22 3 2 17 14 35 11

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2021