Oliver Skipp’s first goal for Tottenham shot them on the way to a 2-0 derby victory over Chelsea that piled more pressure on Stamford Bridge boss Graham Potter.
Skipp spurred the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a stunning strike in the first minute of the second half, following a fractious opening period where Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech had a red card overturned close to the finish.
Kane scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions eight minutes from time when Eric Dier flicked on a right-wing corner from substitute Son Heung-min – a goal that chimed perfectly alongside the simplicity of Spurs’ overall task from the moment Skipp scored.
As regards Chelsea and Potter, there is a myriad of dire and damning statistics. They are now winless in six games across all competitions, scoring once in that period, and 14 points shy of Tottenham in fourth with 14 games remaining.
Tottenham vs. Chelsea final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| TOT | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| CHE | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In all, there were six changes to the Chelsea XI that slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Southampton last weekend, and a front four of Ziyech, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz combined sharply during the opening stages.
Clear chances still proved illusive for Potter’s latest configuration and Pierre-Emile Hojberg came closest to a first-half opener for Tottenham when his shot from outside the box was deflected against the post by Wesley Fofana, an early replacement for the injured Thiago Silva in the Chelsea defense.
There was a major flashpoint midway through three allocated minutes of injury time as Havertz was booked for a foul on Emerson Royal, who exchanged shoves with Ziyech. The Morocco winger’s hand made contact with Royal’s face after he shoved the wing-back in the shoulder but referee Stuart Attwell overturned a red card following his initial discussions with the VAR when he consulted the pitchside monitor.
Chelsea could not make the most of that let-off when Skipp lashed home a brilliant swerving strike from 20 yards. Kepa Arrizabalaga got a hand to the shot but was partially unsighted by Kalidou Koulibaly.
Chelsea sent on more attacking firepower in the form of Mason Mount, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mykhailo Mudryk but by the time the latter two came on Kane had already made the points safe as their visitors created nothing of note and finished the match with a solitary shot on target in each half.
Lineups:
Tottenham (3-4-3, right to left): 20-Fraser Forster (GK) — 17-Cristian Romero, 15-Eric Dier, 34-Clement Lenglet — 12-Emerson Royal, 5-Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 4-Oliver Skipp, 33-Ben Davies — 21-Dejan Kulusevski (7-Son Heung-min), 10-Harry Kane, 9-Richarlison (23-Pedro Porro)
Chelsea (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1-Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK) — 24-Reece James, 6-Thiago Silva (33-Wesley Fofana), 26-Kalidou Koulibaly, 21-Ben Chilwell — 5-Enzo Fernandez, 12-Ruben Loftus-Cheek (20-Denis Zakaria) — 17-Raheem Sterling (9-Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang), 11-Joao Felix (15-Mykhailo Mudryk), 22-Hakim Ziyech (19-Mason Mount) — 29-Kai Havertz