We made some defensive mistakes, some individual defensive mistakes. It was not easy for my defenders to cope with Chadli and Kane
An evening which began with Chelsea fans reminding the Lilywhites of their 6-1 win at the Lane back in 1997, and ended with Spurs supporters chanting "we want six" after a rollercoaster London derby that leaves the Blues clinging onto top spot in the Premier League.
Jose Mourinho saw one of his sides ship five goals for only the second time; Harry Kane scoring his fifth and sixth goals in the space of six games to fire Tottenham to within two points of the top four and help his manager Mauricio Pochettino savour a maiden win over his Portuguese adversary at the eighth attempt.
Both sides made three changes from their December 28 draws with Southampton and Manchester United respectively. Spurs recalled full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose for Vlad Chiriches and Ben Davies, while Nabil Bentaleb started in place of Benjamin Stambouli.
Chelsea also swapped a full-back; Cesar Azpililicueta coming in for Filipe Luis. Brazilian pair Willian and Oscar returned to the first XI; John Obi Mikel and Andre Schurrle dropping out.
Spurs had made a strong start without reward when the sides met at Stamford Bridge last month, and paid the price as Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba weren't as profligate in front of goal.
Pochettino's men were fast out of the blocks again at White Hart Lane; Nacer Chadli beginning this game as he had ended the previous encounter with a low stinger to test compatriot Thibaut Courtois.
And as the quarter-hour mark arrived the Belgium duo were at it again; the Chelsea custodian forced to parry Chadli's close-range overhead kick to safety.
But it was another Belgium star who helped open the scoring. Hazard burst clear of Rose and saw his low effort come back off the far post, and when Oscar diverted the rebound back into the danger zone, Diego Costa was on hand to stab the ball home from a yard.
This time, however, there was a response. And some. Kane should have opened the scoring in the early stages at Stamford Bridge in December, heading against the woodwork and firing wide from an acute angle, but he wasn't hanging about in 2015. Allowed to drift infield from the left flank, the English hotshot dispatched his shot beyond Courtois' reach to restore parity after half an hour.
And as the interval approached the home side stunned the Premier League leaders with a quickfire double. Azpilicueta's poor pass allowed Christian Eriksen to send Chadli squaring up to Courtois once again. Although his dink hit the far upright, Rose was on hand to bury the rebound.
Two became three with the final kick of an engrossing opening period. Gary Cahill upended the tireless Kane inside the penalty area, allowing Andros Townsend to confidently convert the spot-kick.
By half-time, Spurs had hit the target with 5 of their 6 attempts, scoring 3, while Costa's opener was the Blues' only 1 of 7 which worried Hugo Lloris.
Hazard, who played a key role in the opener, completed the most attacking third passes and take-ons.
While Azpilicueta was being kept busy. The left-back won the most tackles of the first 45 minutes, but was also at fault for Spurs' second goal with a sloppy pass instigating the move which ended with Rose scoring.
Oscar was given the hook at half-time, Ramires replacing his fellow Brazilian, but there was simply no stopping Harry Kane who needed less than six second-half minutes to double his tally.
Home fans hoping for an easy last half-hour were out of luck, as Hazard broke free once again, played a quick one-two with Cesc Fabregas and fired the ball into the far corner.
But Kane, and Chadli, would have the final say. The former set up the latter to at last get the better of Courtois via a slight deflection off John Terry.
The Chelsea skipper made it 3 goals in 4 games from close range in the dying embers. It proved too late to set up a grandstand finale of an enthralling clash to kick off the new year.
Overall, Chelsea weighed in with more shots than their rivals, but, unlike at Stamford Bridge, Tottenham made their chances count to secure a first league win in 10 attempts against the Blues.
Once Hazard had netted to make the scoreline 4-2, the visitors exerted pressure on the Spurs goal, completing twice as many passes in the attacking third. Yet they still left the back door open to allow Chadli to score.
With some of the pre-match talk surrounding Costa's battle with former Sevilla centre-back Fazio, it was the defender who had the last laugh after the striker had opened the scoring. Fazio won a game-high 5/7 aerial duels and completed the most clearances (10) along with Jan Vertonghen.
The impressive Hazard was perhaps unfortunate to end on the losing side, playing a significant role in the first goal, bagging another himself and creating 5 more chances for team-mates.
But Kane was the king of White Hart Lane once again; 2 shots, 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 penalty won. An England call-up now seems a matter of when, not if.
Match facts
- Diego Costa scored an away league goal for the first time since November at Anfield.
- Costa has scored 14 goals in 17 Premier League appearances.
- Oscar has assisted 6 goals this season; his best ever Premier League season haul.
- Harry Kane has scored 17 goals in all competitions this term; only Sergio Aguero (19) has more for a Premier League side.
- Danny Rose was only the second defender to score and assist in a single Premier League game this season (+ Calum Chambers vs Burnley).
- Chelsea conceded more than once before the break for the first time in the Premier League since March 2013 against Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton (2).
- They conceded 3 first-half league goals for the first time since May 2012 against Liverpool.
- Chelsea conceded 4 (went on to concede 5) times in a single Premier League game for the first time under Jose Mourinho.
- Indeed the Portuguese tactician saw his team concede 5 times for only the second time in his managerial career (+ Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid in November 2010).
- Cesc Fabregas now has more Premier League assists this season (14) than any player managed last term (Steven Gerrard 13).
- Eden Hazard has scored 4 and assisted 3 in his last 7 league games.
- Chelsea shipped 5 goals in a Premier League game for only the third time (1-5 vs Liverpool in 1996, 3-5 vs Arsenal in 2011).
- John Terry (37) is now only 1 behind David Unsworth (38) as the Premier League’s all-time top scoring defender.
- The day ended with 33 Premier League goals, the most ever seen on New Year’s Day in the Premier League era and the most since 34 were scored on NYD 1987.
