Tottenham drew 2-2 with Chelsea on Sunday with the scraps between Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel dominating the headlines.
Whilst Tottenham’s biggest game is of course against Arsenal, the battles with Chelsea over the years have been just as entertaining and ferocious.
Most will remember the infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’, where Tottenham’s title hopes ended unceremoniously back in 2016.
Sunday’s meeting may be remembered similarly, even if the title of course wasn’t on the line in just the second game of the season.
Tottenham drew 2-2 with Chelsea on Sunday
Kalidou Koulibaly fired Chelsea in front in the first half before all hell broke loose in the second half.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s challenge on Kai Havertz went unpunished and Tottenham went down the other end to score through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Managers Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel were up in each other’s grills after that goal, and Tuchel went running up the touchline celebrating when Reece James put Chelsea back in front.
There was late drama though as Harry Kane headed a last-gasp leveller for Tottenham – just moments after Cristian Romero had yanked Marc Cucurella’s hair.
That went unpunished, leaving Chelsea fans feeling aggrieved at the full-time whistle.
Tempers flared again as Conte and Tuchel shook hands, only for Tuchel to keep hold for longer than Conte expected, which once again resulted in a brawl.
These two teams just don’t like each other and you can now argue that the managers just don’t like each other either, meaning similar tensions can be expected moving forward.
The scenes sparked reactions from around the world and NFL superstar J.J. Watt joined in.
Watt, who became a mega-star with the Houston Texans but now plays for the Arizona Cardinals, has been a known Chelsea fan for a while now.
Watt wasn’t impressed with Tottenham, suggesting that Spurs were celebrating a draw like a win whilst Chelsea were treating it like a loss.
The American claimed on Twitter that Chelsea are ‘built different’ to Tottenham because of that.
We can’t really get on board with that; it’s a last-minute equaliser against a rival, who wouldn’t celebrate that?
Tottenham rescued a point from the jaws of defeat and it’s natural for anybody to celebrate that, even if they didn’t win the game.
Chelsea players, fans and coaches would have been just as ecstatic had the shoe been on the other foot, with few things in football quite as satisfying as a last-gasp goal.
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