LONDON: Chelsea beat London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Thu­r­sday thanks to a goal by Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez, boosting their hopes of a return to the Champions League as they climbed back into fourth place in the Premier League.

Fernandez was left unmarked to head home in the 50th minute from a perfect cross by Cole Palmer on the England forward’s return from a brief injury absence, in front of England coach Thomas Tuchel who was at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea thought they had a second goal soon after but Moises Caicedo’s volley was ruled out after a VAR check for offside.

It was the turn of Spurs to have their celebrations dashed when substitute Pape Sarr’s 69th-minute shot from outside the box was ruled out for a foul in the build-up by the Senegalese midfielder.

The win restored Chelsea to the top four, one point clear of Manch­ester City in fifth and two ahead of Newcastle United in sixth — but with a game in hand — as the race for Champions League qualification heats up.

Spurs - whose miserable run at Stamford Bridge now stands at one win in the league in 40 attempts — stayed in 14th position with their hopes of European competition next season dependent on their ability to win the Europa League.

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca roared to the heavens and hugged his coaching staff at the final whistle in a visible sign of relief after a patchy run which included a limp 1-0 defeat by Arsenal in his side’s last league match.

“The result is an important part because we are close to the end of the season,” the Italian said. “If you want to become a team, I think you need also to learn and to play in the way we played in the last 10 minutes: win a game in a dirty way.

“If you measure the result then for sure if we achieve Champions League it’s an important thing. But from my point of view, since the first day, I think the team is getting better and better.”

For Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou, it was another dispiriting loss in a wretched season that could end with his sacking.

Tottenham are without a victory in their last four league matches and have won only one of their last six games in all competitions.

Spurs supporters voiced their frustration at the club’s ownership and at Postecoglou who appeared to mock their protests when he cupped his hand to his ear when it seemed Sarr had drawn his side level.

“It’s incredible how things get interpreted. We’d just scored. I wanted to hear them cheer. We’ve been through a tough time and I thought it was a cracking goal. I wanted them to get really excited,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s not the first time that they’ve booed my substitutions. That’s fine. They’re allowed to do that.”

Postecoglou’s hopes of avoiding the sack could rest with winning the Europa League, with the quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt looming next week.

But for Tottenham to end their 17-year trophy drought and fulfil Postecoglou’s boast that he always wins a major prize in his second season, there will need to be a significant improvement on this patchy performance.

“We conceded a really poor goal that we have been doing too often. It’s been costing us. That was disappointing,” he said. “I thought our response was really good. We scored and that got ruled out, then we had a couple of chances at the end.”

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2025