Whatever happens in the final 45 minutes, Mauricio Pochettino’s return to Tottenham will go down as a memorable night in north London — one filled with pivotal video-review decisions, multiple goals disallowed for offside, a red card and a penalty kick… and that was just the first half.
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After Dejan Kulusevski game Tottenham an early lead amid of a scintillating start for Ange Postecoglou’s side, Pochettino’s new club eventually found their footing, even if they had to overcome the video assistant referee’s decisions just as much as they did their opponents.
After Raheem Sterling lifted the ball over Guglielmo Vicario to equalize in the 22nd minute, the goal was take off the board after video review revealed a handball by Sterling. Seven minutes later, Moises Caicedo hit a low stinger through traffic that found the back of the net, but that, too, was subject to a lengthy review process.
After a few minutes, the goal was rescinded, but Tottenham defender Cristian Romero was shown a red card for a challenge on Argentina teammate Enzo Fernandez and Chelsea were awarded a penalty for the foul occurring inside the penalty area. Cole Palmer pinged the ensuing spot kick off the inside of the post for a deserved 1-1 scoreline at halftime.
Spurs nearly went 2-0 up before events took a sour turn for the hosts, as a goal scored by Heung-min Son was ruled out for offside.
