Player ratings: Chelsea defeat Tottenham 2-0 in Pochettino's second win this season

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea maintained its drive for European football with a victory of 2-0 over their London opponents, Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.

Tottenham's abysmal record continued with a second loss to their former boss, Mauricio Pochettino and only a single win at Stamford Bridge since the start of the Premier League era.

Despite having only 11 able senior players and substitute players from their academy, Chelsea played impressively, rightfully claiming their victory and effectively killing Tottenham's chances for a spot in next season's Champions League.

Nicolas Jackson had a close shot at the goal within the first five minutes. Mykhailo Mudryk intercepted a pass from Pape Matar Sarr and passed to Jackson who narrowly missed. His attempt was blocked by Micky van de Ven and went just over the bar off of Cole Palmer's right foot.

Noni Madueke had a close shot after Mudryk sent him a fantastic cross-field pass halfway through the first section as Chelsea sought to maintain their dominance.

Shortly after, Chelsea broke the stalemate with a header from Trevoh Chalobah from Conor Gallagher's arched free-kick. Tottenham’s poor set-piece defence, once again, allowed Chelsea players free at the back post.

Mudryk had another near goal courtesy of a pass from Palmer who managed to slip away from Tottenham's defence. Mudryk’s curling shot however went wide.

The guests did not offer much resistance in the beginning, Cristian Romero was close to an equalizer from a promising free-kick by Pedro Porro.

Sarr had a blocked shot before the break, marking Tottenham's only significant attempts in the initial 45 minutes.

Tottenham began the second half energetically, however, their lack of focus nearly led to a second Chelsea goal from a counter attack by Palmer who missed a shot from outside the box.

The Spurs had a quick rebound that saw Brennan Johnson pass to Emerson Royal, who missed the cross, however, an offside flag had been raised.

With less than twenty minutes left, Chelsea scored another goal from a Palmer free-kick that hit the crossbar, the rebound was headed in by Jackson.

Tottenham’s attempts to pull back a goal failed when Johnson stumbled after receiving a cross from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and hitting the side-netting.

Despite attempts by Ange Postecoglou's men, Chelsea remained calm and secured their win, closing in on a Europa League spot as they climbed up to 8th place.