Ange Postecoglou’s side had two players sent off during the Premier League clash against their rivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Cristian Romero was dismissed shortly after the half hour mark with Tottenham leading 1-0, while Destiny Udogie picked up a second yellow card in the second half, when the score was 1-1.
Chelsea quickly made their advantage count, with Tottenham continuing to operate with a high line despite their numerical disadvantage.
The Blues struck in the 75th, 94th and 97th minutes, all through Nicolas Jackson, to run out comfortable 4-1 winners on the night.
For Tottenham legend Hoddle, Spurs continuing to operate a high line when down to nine men was astonishing.
Hoddle admits he does not understand why Postecoglou did not change and make it tough for Chelsea to break Spurs down, in much the same way Liverpool did in a similar situation at Tottenham.
“My only question – it’s a big question really, I said at half time, if they continue to play the high line, on the halfway line, Chelsea will pick them off”, Hoddle said post match on Premier League Productions via SuperSport.
“That’s exactly what [happened].
“I just don’t understand. When you go down to nine men…they played against Liverpool who were down to nine men a few weeks ago and they got away with an own goal and Liverpool made it so hard because they had five at the back, they banked in and they made it tough.
“That was too easy for Chelsea to play against nine men.
“You’re up against it when you are playing with nine, for sure, but if you play with a high line like that, you can’t get pressure on the ball, they know Chelsea have got some pace about them, it plays right into their hands and I could not believe what I saw there.”
The loss is Tottenham’s first of the Premier League season, but they continue to sit second and will look to bounce back when they travel to Molineux to face Wolves at the weekend.
