Chelsea 2 Tottenham 0 – Jackson’s character? Spurs’ set-piece woes? Has Cucurella’s role change helped?

Chelsea beat rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on Thursday night to climb up to eighth in the Premier League table — and damage Spurs’ hopes of a place in the top four.

Trevoh Chalobah put the hosts into the lead in the 24th minute, rising highest at the back post to head the ball beyond the reach of Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs goal.

Tottenham did try and mount a comeback, but Chelsea were resilient throughout. And, when Nicolas Jackson headed home in the 72nd minute, it secured the three points for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Here, The Athletic’s Liam Twomey, Charlie Eccleshare and Thom Harris break down Thursday night’s game.

Has Jackson shown the strength of his character?

A bizarre quirk of Nicolas Jackson’s rollercoaster first season at Chelsea is that 36 per cent of his Premier League goals have been scored against Tottenham.

Perhaps that statistic will help endear him to his vocal critics within the Chelsea fanbase, who have more often focused on his erratic finishing than his other, less memorable qualities.

Jackson has had some truly awful misses this season and, in recent weeks, his confidence in his ability to convert scoring chances has nosedived. But even on his worst days in front of goal, he adds plenty of positive value to this Chelsea team with and without the ball through his pressing, his hold-up and link-up play, his speed and his sharp movement.

The signature moment of his debut Premier League campaign is the hat-trick he scored away against nine-man Spurs in November, and yet the uniquely strange circumstances of that game — and his struggles to time his runs against Ange Postecoglou’s remarkably high defensive line — meant he was actually diminished in the eyes of some.

The other recurring theme of Jackson’s season is his character in the face of criticism. He never hides, never stops trying to get into scoring positions, and never stops attempting to do the little things to set the table for Chelsea’s attacking play.

It was no surprise when he reacted quickest to Cole Palmer’s brilliant free-kick cannoning back off the crossbar, and his celebration underlined how much succeeding at Chelsea means to him. The warm applause he received from all sides of Stamford Bridge as he was substituted in stoppage time signalled wider recognition of that fact.

Liam Twomey

Was defending set pieces a problem for Spurs again?

From a Spurs perspective, most of the build-up to this game centred on whether Postecoglou should be doing more to address the team’s weakness in defending set pieces.

The head coach was asked repeatedly about it in his pre-match press conference on the back of conceding from two corners in Sunday’s north London Derby, and having one of the worst records defending such situations in the Premier League this season.

Postecoglou was bullish when pushed on the topic, saying he wasn’t “in the least” bothered about the criticism, and adding: “I don’t see it as an issue.”

Vicario dives as Chalobah heads home in the first half (Getty Images)

So, how Tottenham defended set pieces at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night was always going to come under a lot of scrutiny. Mile Jedinak, the coach who looks after defensive set pieces for Spurs, was on his feet in the technical area whenever Tottenham faced a dead-ball situation in the first half, and the anxiety in the away end was palpable.

Sure enough, Chelsea broke the deadlock with a goal from a set piece. Brennan Johnson was blocked off by Marc Cucurella and Chalobah headed home unmarked. At corners, Noni Madueke, meanwhile, was tasked with Ben White’s role from Sunday of trying to get in the way of, and wind up, Vicario. Spurs did at least task Pedro Porro with getting in between Vicario and the opposition player this time, but it’s clear that teams are targeting this Spurs weakness.

And, let’s be clear, it is a weakness. Only three teams in the Premier League have conceded more from set pieces this season than Tottenham’s 16 (Chelsea’s second also came from a set-piece), and they’re all fighting relegation.

Charlie Eccleshare

Did Chelsea exploit a Tottenham weakness?

It was all eyes on the left side of Tottenham’s defence before the game, as Emerson Royal was given his opportunity in Destiny Udogie’s distinctive full-back role. And although Chelsea clearly looked to target that flank — taking 44.7 per cent of their attacking touches down the Brazilian’s side — it was across the pitch where the hosts found joy.

Building up in a 3-2-5 shape, Chelsea pushed Marc Cucurella into midfield. He drew the attention of Johnson, while Conor Gallagher pushed forward and pinned Yves Bissouma — constantly leaving winger Mykhailo Mudryk one-on-one with Pedro Porro. The Ukrainian can be over-excitable, but his four shots, three chances created and two completed take-ons in a breathless first half left Tottenham’s full-back problem clear to see.

Postecoglou’s side are susceptible to wide overloads — we saw as much against Fulham in March. Fulham were extremely direct after winning the ball to throw full-backs and wingers at Porro and Udogie. Chelsea achieved their numerical superiorities in a more possession-based fashion, but Mudryk’s passes for the underlapping runs of Nicolas Jackson and Cucurella in the first half illustrated the space that can be left in behind when Porro is left exposed.

Liverpool are up next on Sunday — Spurs can expect a similar challenge.

Thom Harris

Has Cucurella’s change of role changed his situation at Chelsea?

Only nine months have passed since Cucurella was booed and jeered by sections of Stamford Bridge during Chelsea’s victory over AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup, but it felt like a lifetime ago as his name reverberated in a jubilant chorus around the Shed End against Tottenham.

Cucurella has suffered for much of his Chelsea career, first as a consequence of his inflated transfer fee, then as the unwitting symbol of Graham Potter’s unpopular tenure, and most recently because many within the fanbase have concluded he is simply not good enough to merit a place in this team.

Signed by Thomas Tuchel to play primarily as the left of three centre-backs, even Cucurella’s position has been a question without easy answers. Pochettino has deployed him at left-back and right-back this season, with wildly mixed results — but the Chelsea head coach’s latest tactical gambit has yielded promising early returns.

Re-casting Cucurella as an inverted full-back who becomes a No 6 when Chelsea are in possession, helped turn the tide against Aston Villa on Saturday, and it gave Spurs problems they struggled to solve at Stamford Bridge.

Cucurella played his part in sharp passing sequences next to Moises Caicedo, moving the ball on quickly and sensibly, while still recovering quickly enough to left-back when Tottenham attacked. He mounted lively resistance to Johnson and later, Dejan Kulusevski.

Not content with screening the defence, he even managed to screen Johnson subtly enough to avoid committing a foul in the lead-up to Chalobah’s opener, and his midfield positioning enabled him to win the free-kick that led to Jackson heading in the second.

Cucurella will never convince everyone at Chelsea — he still looks permanently frantic on the pitch — but Pochettino appears to have found a way to make him useful to this team.

Liam Twomey

Were Spurs any better without James Maddison?

The previous 23 times Maddison had been available for a Premier League game, he had started. But after an indifferent run of form, Postecoglou decided to put him on the bench for this game and move Kulusevski into his advanced midfield role.

Despite the change, Spurs didn’t look any more dynamic in midfield. Kulusevski didn’t create much, and Maddison was sent on just after the hour mark. Giovani Lo Celso, another attacking midfielder, was then sent on in the closing stages, but he also couldn’t prise open the Chelsea defence.

Maddison came on in the second half (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

It’s an area of the pitch that, despite lots of chopping and changing over the last few weeks, continues to be a problem for Postecoglou and his team.

Charlie Eccleshare

What did Pochettino say?

He said: “We have some positive things. Not too many, but we believe and trust in our players. We really believed it was an opportunity to show that we believe in what we are doing, in our ideas, our philosophy. Facing a team like Tottenham is never easy, and it’s a derby, but today was fantastic.

“Full credit to the players, the way they approached the game, the way we tried to play, I think it was fantastic. I think it’s the first time in the season that I really feel so happy.

“It’s the moment, after 10 months, that the team started to realise how we need to compete. I don’t know if it’s the best performance but the most important is the feeling. With all the circumstances, that showed we were doing things well. I think the whole team was, in both phases, connected.”

What did Postecoglou say?

He said: “It wasn’t a great night for us. We didn’t really reach the levels anywhere near the levels we need to get a result here tonight. It’s fair to say we didn’t play anywhere near the levels to get something out of the game and we got what we deserved.

“That’s on me and I’ve got to take responsibility for that ultimately as I’m the one who is putting them out there and preparing them for it. We were so far off it. I’ve got to look at myself and see how I’m preparing this team for it.”

What next for Chelsea?

Sunday, May 5: West Ham (H), Premier League, 2pm BST, 9am ET

East meets west in this London derby, as Chelsea try to avenge their 3-1 loss in September’s reverse fixture. They have won the last three games between the clubs at Stamford Bridge and only lost one of the past 10 there.

What next for Tottenham?

Sunday, May 5: Liverpool (A), Premier League, 4.30pm BST, 11.30am ET

Spurs go for their first home-and-away season double against Liverpool since 2010-11, having won 2-1 at home in a September game the visitors ended with nine men. Last season’s meeting at Anfield was eventful, too: Tottenham coming from three goals down to level in stoppage time, only to concede again within seconds and lose the game 4-3.