The 9/10 Tottenham Star Who Was Just As Good As Fernandes Against Chelsea

· GiveMeSport

Mateus Fernandes wasn't the only Tottenham Hotspur star who delivered an exceptional performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night.

Mateus Fernandes was absolutely outstanding in the middle of the park for Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

The Lilywhites secured an impressive first away victory of the season against Chelsea , courtesy of a disastrous own goal from young Blues goalkeeper Mike Penders and an excellent finish from Mathys Tel. Roberto De Zerbi's side shocked the West Londoners and the on-watching world, producing a vibrant offensive performance against Xabi Alonso's men.

The result moves the North Londoners up to 12th in the Premier League table, and they now sit just four points behind their West London rivals, despite failing to win each of their first six matches.

Fernandes' exceptional display is dominating the post-match narrative in Spurs' spheres, with his tireless defensive work ethic and his eye-catching progressive passes certainly making him the standout performer.

The Portuguese was at the heart of everything for Spurs, conducting their build-up from the base of midfield alongside Sandro Tonali. He finished the match with 121 touches, 91 completed passes and 20 line-breaking passes, all whilst making 14 defensive contributions, more than anyone else on the pitch.

Fernandes' Statistics vs Chelsea

Having been used somewhat sporadically by De Zerbi since signing from West Ham United for £85 million in the summer , the 22-year-old's standing in Spurs' squad has surely been significantly elevated by this heroic showing.

That said, the ex-Southampton man wasn't the only Spurs player who put in a nine out of ten performance on the day.

While Fernandes conducted Spurs' possession game in the engine room, Mathys Tel ran the Lilywhites' attack.

The Frenchman has endured an extremely difficult time since signing for Tottenham, but this performance at Stamford Bridge could prove to be a turning point for him. Despite receiving pelters from Gary Neville on Sky Sports' broadcast for some of his wastefulness in the final third, Tel was by far De Zerbi's team's most threatening player throughout.

Not only did he brilliantly dispatch Spurs' second goal, driving inside and neatly slotting the ball into the bottom corner, but he also provided his team with a constant outlet on the left-hand side.

For all of De Zerbi's outfit's pretty build-up patterns, they've lacked forward players who have been capable of receiving the ball in advanced areas consistently so far this term. Tel provided a solution to this issue on Saturday evening, consistently making himself available in the final third, ending the match with 58 touches — he was highly involved.

On top of this, he actually provided Spurs with a route to unlocking Chelsea's defence through his aggressive ball-carrying and dribbling. He completed four of his six attempted dribbles (more than anyone else on the pitch), while he had ten touches in Chelsea's box (also more than anyone else), showing just how prominent and important he was to Tottenham's attack.

Mathys Tel's Statistics vs Chelsea

It wasn't an entirely polished performance by any means. There were moments when he failed to execute in promising positions, and sloppy instances on the ball when he was dispossessed.

However, he ultimately managed to do what he was tasked with doing - make an impact. He was bright, unrelenting in his attempts to make something happen and generally just a nuisance for Chelsea to deal with.

Tel has been ridiculed for many of his performances in the recent past, and rightly so. Too often, he's shirked responsibility and failed to make any meaningful impact on games. These criticisms cannot be levelled at him for the contributions he made to Tottenham's victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

This performance could prove to be the making of him in a white shirt.

All Statistics via FotMob - correct as of 24/08/2026

Read the original

People in this story

Related