By Samuel A. November 1, 2025
Joao Pedro’s lone goal was the difference on Saturday evening as Chelsea recorded a fifth straight win over their London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A terrible Spurs, who could have moved second with victory, recorded the lowest expected goals (0.05xG) by a Premier League team this season and their lowest on record since the collation of xG data in 2012/13.
Tottenham’s lack of creativity and spark proved a huge issue once again, as the home fans showed their frustration in watching their side fail to have a shot on target in the second half of the game. The full-time whistle was followed by loud boos as Chelsea deepened Spurs’ home woes, with the North London side suffering a 12th loss in their last 19 league games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Chelsea, who moved into the top four, will feel they should have won by a greater margin after Joao Pedro powered in a 34th-minute opener. The Brazilian missed two chances to seal the game, before Bynoe-Gittens missed another.
The Brazilian had the outstanding Moises Caicedo to thank for ending his 10-game goal drought for club and country as the Ecuadorian robbed Micky van de Ven of the ball to superbly tee up Pedro. The goal came after Xavi Simons, brought on in the seventh minute as a concussion change for Lucas Bergvall, sold Van de Ven short. The Dutchman struggled to recover – and his terrible evening ended in humiliation as he was substituted off in the 73rd minute.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca speaking after the game said: “Yeah. Was a good performance for sure. Spurs look very very good. You need this kind of performance to win. I think you have to be brave on the ball and off the ball. Off the ball we were good but on the ball we create many chances. We are very happy, for us, for the fans – it’s a big derby, and we move on. On the performance of Caicedo, he added:
“He’s top. He’s up there with Rodri as one of the best defensive midfielders, probably in the world. In England, 1-0 is not a finished game. We could have scored one or two more and it would have been a lot more relaxed for us. But a win against Tottenham, clean sheet, and we’re happy.”
