Controversy reigns supreme as Chelsea wins at Tottenham again

The two red cards made all the difference on Monday. Ange Postecoglou's side succumbs to its first loss of the season as Chelsea wins again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Nicolas Jackson's hat trick may have been kind given Chelsea's performance in a two-man advantage, but Mauricio Pochettino will be happy with the three points. 

Nicolas Jackson has his hat trick! Another long ball, this time from Cole Palmer, has Jackson alone on goal with Mudryk to his left. Jackson dribbles around Vicario, and slots the ball away to give Chelsea a 4-1 win.

It is the first hat trick in this fixture since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in March 2002. 

Chelsea closes up the game with another Nicolas Jackson goal. Just moments Son Heung-min is denied by a great save from Sanchez at one end, Chelsea blitzes down the right-hand side. Conor Gallagher squares the ball to Jackson who, once again, passes the ball into the back of the net. 

Chelsea leads 3-1, and Mauricio Pochettino is going to be triumphant in his return to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With the 90 minutes of regular time up, referees tacked on an extra nine minutes. Between this and the first-half stoppage time players will be on the field for 111 minutes today.

Rodrigo Bentancur just has to get slightly more contact and he scores! A dangeroud cross from the left-hand side flashes in front of Sanchez in the Chelsea net, and Bentancur's attempt drifts wide of the net. Tottenham still trails with less than five minutes of the 90 to go.

Eric Dier has a superb finish to draw the game level again against the run of play. However, the ball into the box from Tottenham was headed on by a Spurs player while Dier was marginally offside. The goal did not stand after another lengthy VAR review.

Graeme Le Saux quipped that the VAR officials may be paid per review, of which there have been many in this game. 

Chelsea still leads in north London, 2-1.

This time, Nicolas Jackson has a legal goal in the back of the net. Tottenham was doing its best to hold a high line and prevent possession in front of their net. However, a a run from Raheem Sterling beat the trap. The Englishman squared it to Jackson, who passed the ball into the back of the net. 

Chelsea leads Tottenham, 2-1.

Vicario has been busy. At times, he has been an additional center-back to help the Tottenham defense. This time, he makes a save with his face during a diving attempt to deny Marc Cucurella. The save mandated some medical attention as Tottenham clings to a tie game.

Enzo Fernandez, who may have been nursing a slight injury picked up today, exits the game after a disappointing showing. Mykhailo Mudryk enters for the Blues.

Destiny Udogie picks up a second yellow card, and Tottenham is down to NINE men! The Italian commits a silly challenge on Raheem Sterling while sitting on a yellow card. Immediately, Udogie knew what he did. 

Chelsea now has a massive opportunity to pull off a result with a two-man advantage for over 35 minutes. Nicolas Jackson had the first great opportunity, as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scoops the ball over the crossbar on the goal line.

Chelsea makes a halftime substitution as Marc Cucurella replaces Levi Colwill at left-back.

The ball is rolling again at what Jon Champion called the video arcade with so many first-half reviews. Instantly, Nicolas Jackson forces Vicario to clear the ball away during a quick attack from Chelsea.

A hectic first half finally ends after almost an hour of play. VAR has had a massive impact in this game with a red card, a penalty and five goals. Only two of those counted, with each team scoring once.

Tottenham remains down a man for the entire second half, but the game is wide open as things stand.

Central referee Michael Oliver dishes out three yellow cards in quick sucession as the game in north London continues to heat up. After a Nicolas Jackson foul, Levi Colwill and Pape Matar Sarr get into a spat with all three receiving yellow cards.

With Romero off, Postecoglou faced another injury concern. Micky van de Ven pulled up while dealing with a counter-attack from Chelsea. With the center-back writhing in pain, Tottenham made an instant substitution as van de Ven limped off the pitch. Emerson Royal replaced the center-back.

At the same time, Tottenham made another injury substitution. James Maddison, who was down in pain just minutes ago, heads off as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg comes on in a double substition. 

Also, there are a casual 12 minutes of stoppage time with all the delays in this game.

Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea.

The ball is in the back of the net for the fifth time in the game. This time, Nicolas Jackson scores after a pass from Raheem Sterling. Yet, when Sterling received the pass, he was in an offside position.

Cole Palmer steps up to the spot and converts! The Manchester City transfer pounds the ball into the glove of Vicario, who can only parry it into the inside of the post and in.

Eric Dier will replace Brennan Johnson to shore up the Tottenham defense with Romero off. 

Chelsea now level with Tottenham officially, 1-1. VAR has been a constant presence in the early stages of this game. 

Cristian Romero is off! His challenge on Raheem Sterling was too high for the refere's liking as his boot collided with Sterling's shin. The goal from Caicedo is not going to count, but Chelsea does pick up a penalty.

"This is so frustrating. All we've come here for is to see a decent game of football, not people playing around with video machines" - Jon Champion.

VAR taking center stage with disallowed goals and red card reviews. Current look is at Cristian Romero for a red card, and the potential offside on Caicedo's goal.

Moises Caicedo scores a world-class finish from outside the box to bring Chelsea level. While the Blues are celebrating, the assistant referee put his flag for offside up long after Caicedo put the ball into the back of the net.

1-0 Tottenham, still.

VAR deems the ball deflected off of Raheem Sterling's hand, and that had a direct correlation to the goal.

Tottenham is back in the lead, 1-0.

Calamitous play in the midfield leads to Reece James playing a long ball to Raheem Sterling. Sterling dribbles right at Pedro Porro, and, after the benefit of a fortunate deflection, gets a second attempt to power the ball beyond Vicario. The VAR referee will be looking at several facets of this play to see if there was any foul play.

For now, Chelsea levels the game at Spurs, 1-1.

Destiny Udogie picks up the first yellow card of the match following a tackle on Raheem Sterling. VAR having a further look to identify any serious foul play.

Spurs have the ball in the back of the net again through Son Heung-min. However, Brennan Johnson's pass played the South Korean in an offside position by the slimmest of margins.

Chelsea exhales as it remains one goal down.

Nicolas Jackson squanders a massive chance at a Chelsea equalizer. The Senegalese striker is alone on goal, and he forces a save out of Vicario.

The hosts score just over five minutes into the game! A scintillating start from Tottenham has led to several forays forward. Spurs carves through the Chelsea midfield, and Dejan Kulusevski picks up the ball on the right wing. He cuts inside and fires a shot that takes a massive deflection off Levi Colwill. Robert Sanchez was helpless. 

Tottenham leads 1-0!

Following a moment of silence as part of Remembrance Weekend, the ball is rolling at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Chelsea meets jeers while Tottenham earns cheers from a boisterous crowd in north London. Chelsea will attack the wall of Spurs fans in the first half.

Kickoff is just around the corner, and Chelsea will face a massive test against Tottenham. However, Spurs have just one win in the last 13 meetings in all competitions against Chelsea. Also, no other club has more success at Tottenham's new stadium than Chelsea. 

Tottenham will say the past is in the past. A win can send Ange Postecoglou's side back to the top of the table after 11 games. 

The two London rivals name strong starting XIs for this clash.