Chelsea player ratings from Thomas Tuchel’s first London derby win

Reece James, Right wingback, 7.5/10

Reece James came back into the side and took over at right wingback for Callum Hudson-Odoi. As the latter moved into a more advanced position, James stepped into the vacant seat on the right of the midfield flawlessly. His link-up play with Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount was superb and he was even better defensively, tracking back to stop every Tottenham counterattack. James’ positional versatility was on full display in this big contest and he hardly put a foot wrong.

Jorginho, Central midfielder, 8/10

To put things simply, Jorginho has been outstanding in his recent displays in a double pivot with Mateo Kovacic. Responsible for the shielding of the backline from a deeper-lying midfield role, the Italian, together with Kovacic, is also tasked with providing a solid midfield base from which Chelsea can build their attacks from. As capable of retaining possession of the ball as he is at progressing the play with driven passes into the feet of Chelsea’s forwards, Jorginho was crucial in ensuring Chelsea’s sustained periods of possession for large parts of the first half and the team’s greater defensive solidarity in the second. Having faced criticism throughout his Stamford Bridge career, Jorginho could perhaps finally find the respect he deserves under Thomas Tuchel.

Mateo Kovacic, Central midfielder, 8/10

Chelsea’s man of the match, Kovacic could have had an even higher match rating had he possessed the finishing that some of his driving runs from midfield more than deserved. Incredibly quick on the turn and near-impossible to dispossess, Kovacic’s unique skillsets ensured that Chelsea was always able to find a way out of Spurs’ relentless pressure in the second half of the game. Substituted off 74 minutes into the game, it is telling how Chelsea gradually lost control of the game without the Croat in the middle of the pitch to quite literally carry the ball out of danger for his team. Another one of the players who looked increasingly lost under the tutelage of Lampard, it would seem that Chelsea’s player of the season has finally found his way back to SW6.

Marcos Alonso, Left wingback, 7/10

Perhaps the biggest winner following the arrival of Tuchel in place of Lampard just over a week ago, the Spaniard’s reinstatement into the starting eleven has yielded great results for the team. Having largely shaken off the rustiness in his game in the previous match against Burnley, Alonso once again proved more than effective in his favored left-wingback position. Combining well with Mason Mount, Timo Werner and then Christian Pulisic, Alonso was frequently able to work himself into promising positions on the edge of the box where his goal-scoring instincts could come into play. Moreover, the 29-year-old also did his fair share of defending, especially in the latter stages of the match when Spurs were desperately chasing for an equalizer. A solid, well-rounded performance from Chelsea’s number three.