There were heroes in all quarters and Roberto De Zerbi lavished praise freely, but the rain-drenched triumph at Stamford Bridge will go down as the night Mateus Fernandes came of age in a Tottenham shirt.
Expectations have been sky high since Spurs paid West Ham what was at the time a club-record £85million for Fernandes in July.
Perhaps unnaturally high expectations went with an unnaturally high fee for a young midfielder who did not make Portugal’s World Cup squad, wall all about potential and still playing most of his international football at Under-21 level.
His talent was clear, but Fernandes suffered relegation in successive relegations with Southampton and West Ham, and Spurs, despite flirting with the drop last season, have different ambitions.
‘He needed to understand the club,’ said De Zerbi on the eve of the trip to Chelsea. ‘To better understand the environment of a bigger club, a different club. He’s a good guy. I don’t change my idea of him. And the club don’t change their idea.
‘We pushed together to bring him. We are convinced of his qualities. He has to stay with a calm head, have confidence and enjoy himself on the pitch. Enjoy it with the ball, show his qualities because he will be one of the most important players of Tottenham for the future. For the present and the future.’
Mateus Fernandes enjoyed his best night in a Spurs shirt since signing for £85million
The Portuguese midfielder
Fernandes was hooked at half-time in a 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa.
‘I have a big confidence in Mateus, but I didn’t like the performance of Mateus today,’ said De Zerbi at the time. ‘He knows. But it’s normal. It’s not an attack on Mateus, I love Mateus, it’s not a problem. But we need more from Mateus.’
The Villa defeat was the final game before the international break, when Spurs were marooned at the bottom of the Premier League with just two points from their first five games.
The team has progressed, making improvements but Fernandes had barely been involved.
He missed some training for the birth of his son between the draw with 10 men at Manchester United and the win against Coventry on Monday, when he was overlooked despite the absence of Rodrigo Bentancur, who was banned.
De Zerbi preferred to tweak his formation to a back-three and play Archie Gray in midfield with Tonali and James Maddison.
At Chelsea though, Fernandes was back, restored in a deep central role and it did not start well.
There was an early mistake. Looking for a free-kick near in a left-back area, he was easily dispossessed by Pedro Neto and it led directly to a chance for Cole Palmer.
Fernandes was also involved in the game’s main flashpoint after being caught by Cole Palmer
Toni Kinsky made a save to keep Spurs level but from that point on, Fernandes displayed the personality to impress De Zerbi and grew in confidence.
For long spells, he and Sandro Tonali bossed midfield against Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson. This is how it was meant to be when Spurs invested so much in the pair.
They rippled with power and bristled with energy. They won the ball and zipped it about with pace and poise. They snapped into tackles and shielded their back four as Spurs kept Chelsea’s creative forces at bay.
De Zerbi thought it was Tonali’s best game since arriving at Spurs for £100m from Newcastle just days after Fernandes.
The Spurs boss also hailed the performance of captain Micky van de Ven and he said: ‘We won the game with the two wingers. Mo Kudus and Mathys Tel made the difference.’
The performance will do wonders for Fernandes, though.
He was also caught in the 72nd minute flashpoint with Palmer, which supercharged the closing stages of the game.
Tumbling to the floor as he failed to halt Palmer on a dangerous break and he hooked the ball away with a hand as a last resort.
It was cynical but it was critical. Palmer reacted angrily barging Fernandes back to the deck as he tried to get up.
De Zerbi lost it on the touchline and the benches emptied.
Fernandes displayed the personality to impress Roberto De Zerbi and grew in confidence
Both players were shown yellow cards and Palmer picked up a second when he was late into a tackle on Conor Gallagher in the 80th minute, three minutes after Spurs had taken the lead when Chelsea’s rookie goalkeeper Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net.
Fernandes, the initial culprit emerged as the cold-eyed hero.
‘I love watching my players fighting on the pitch,’ said De Zerbi. ‘But Mateus Fernandes played 90 minutes with a big, big quality. I want to see him with personality. I want to see him enjoy with the ball. Even if he makes a mistake, it doesn’t matter. It’s not a problem, a mistake. But I want to see this personality from my team.
‘We are a big club. In the last period the results have been not so good. But we are a top club in the Premier League.’
