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

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

Marred by multiple stoppages due to injury, neither side was able to gather any early momentum.

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

The away side had a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock just shy of the half-hour as Joao Pedro was 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. Bentancur was lucky not to have been dismissed.

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 escape 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 he stung Vicario’s palms.

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

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

They are now unbeaten in 17 of the last 18 meetings with Tottenham.