Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Chelsea: Joao Pedro ends 10-game goal drought as wasteful Chelsea narrowly see off toothless Spurs | OneFootball

Chelsea are back to winning ways in the Premier League after a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Following their shock 2-1 defeat to Sunderland last week, Enzo Maresca’s men secured an unconvincing EFL Cup triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers and a trip to North London represented a tough test, at least on paper.

Married by multiple stoppages due to injury, the game kicked off on a scrappy note, and neither side was able to gather any early momentum.

Chelsea had the first attempt on target of the clash 20 minutes in when Alejandro Garnacho saw an effort comfortably dealt with by Guglielmo Vicario.

The away side had a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock just shy of the half-hour as Joao Pedro found himself through on goal, but Vicario was up to the task once again.

Moments later, Mohammed Kudus sent an effort just over the bar with the game beginning to stretch.

Chelsea took the lead 11 minutes before the half-time break through Pedro, who finished with aplomb inside the area after some good work by Moises Caicedo to intercept an underhit pass from Xavi Simons.

Pedro came close to doubling his tally in the final stages of the first half with a lovely effort which was tipped over the bar.

In the third of six minutes added on, a rash challenge from Rodrigo Bentancur on Reece James sparked a squabble between players from both teams, and Bentancur was a tad lucky not to have seen red.

Down the other end, Kudus called Robert Sanchez into action for the half’s final moment of note.

Spurs were comfortably second-best for large spells of the first 45 minutes, and the home supporters would have expected their team to fly out of the blocks after half time.

However, Chelsea remained in the ascendancy and had two cracks at the Tottenham goal in the opening stages of the second half through Enzo Fernandez.

Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro also had unsuccessful bites at the cherry seconds apart as Spurs continued to pose no threat.

Like Bentancur, Fernandez was also fortunate to have escaped a red card for a dangerous tackle on Joao Palhinha midway through the second period.

Chelsea were increasingly the likelier of the two sides to grab the next goal and almost doubled their advantage via Pedro Neto as the winger stung Vicario’s palms.

Chelsea somehow failed to double their lead in second-half stoppage time when Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro both fluffed huge chances to put the game to bed.

Luckily for the visitors, those misses did not prove costly as Chelsea secured a well-deserved victory.

They are now unbeaten in 17 of the last 18 affairs against their fellow London outfit.