Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge for second league win in a week as Cole Palmer is sent off
Tottenham defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in a Premier League match on 24 October 2026, with a Mike Penders own goal giving Spurs the lead and Mathys Tel adding a second after Cole Palmer was sent off.
Roberto De Zerbi cut a tense figure on the touchline but was able to celebrate Spurs’ first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018; the match was described as neither a good nor pretty game and the breakthrough came in farcical fashion when goalkeeper Mike Penders, deputising for the injured Emi Martínez, punched a corner into his own net.
Chelsea, managed by Xabi Alonso, suffered their first home defeat of the season and produced what the report called one of their worst performances since Alonso’s appointment; the visitors were also reduced to 10 men shortly after the own goal when Cole Palmer received a second yellow card for a lunge on Conor Gallagher.
Tactically Chelsea struggled with a 4-2-4 setup that included Palmer and Morgan Rogers operating as false nines, leaving the side without an obvious outlet and with Pedro Neto not receiving the ball in good positions on the right. Geovany Quenda, making his first start since joining from Sporting Lisbon, was described as tentative on the left.
Spurs’ midfield of Mateus Fernandes, Sandro Tonali and James Maddison outnumbered and outplayed Moisés Caicedo and Jordan Henderson, with Fernandes singled out as the best player on the pitch; Tottenham created chances but lacked a clinical finish, with Mohammed Kudus and Tonali sending efforts off target and Mathys Tel missing earlier opportunities.
Second-half changes included Maddison making way for Conor Gallagher, Spurs bringing on Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro for Omar Marmoush and Andy Robertson, and Estêvão replacing Quenda; Estêvão shot into the side netting after coming on and a clash between Palmer and Fernandes escalated into some confrontation between the benches.
The decisive sequence began in the 77th minute when Austin MacPhee, Chelsea’s set-piece coach, instructed four players to stay high and Mateus Fernandes delivered a corner that Penders misjudged, the 21-year-old’s weak punch spinning into his empty net. Palmer, already on a booking from his earlier row with Fernandes, received a second yellow and was sent off, making it Chelsea’s first red card of the season and the 100th red shown to Chelsea in the Premier League (excluding rescinded cards); Tottenham wrapped up the win when Tel scored with a low 20-yard shot.
The victory was Spurs’ second consecutive win, lifted them into 12th place, and represented just their second away league win at Chelsea in 35 attempts (D11 L22), their first at Stamford Bridge since April 2018 (3-1), and their first clean sheet there since December 1986 (also 2-0). Mike Penders (21yrs 85d) became the second-youngest goalkeeper to score an own goal in the Premier League, after Illan Meslier (20yrs 354d) for Leeds against Wolves in February 2021, while Chelsea reached the milestone of 100 Premier League red cards, behind Everton (113) and Arsenal (110).
