Analysing Dele Alli’s match-winning performance in Tottenham’s victory against Chelsea

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Tottenham managed to continue their good festive form with an impressive victory over the league leaders Chelsea. They prevented the Blues from extending their own winning run to a record 13 matches and have become the first team to beat Antonio Conte’s side since the change to a 3-4-3 formation. It was an excellent performance and one that will give Tottenham supporters hope that they can compete for the title themselves. They are now seven points off the top of the league and managed to climb above both of Arsenal and Manchester City in the league table. They had a disappointing period that culminated with being knocked out of the Champions League, but they are now looking like the side that finished third last season.

Dele Alli’s form has followed a similar pattern to Tottenham’s and he struggled to make an impact in the Champions League, but he is now going from strength-to-strength as we enter 2017. He scored a brace for the third match in a row in the Premier League taking his season tally to ten. Although his overall performance wasn’t at the level that he would like, he was the match-winner and that is all that matters in matches such as these.

His performance will be remembered for his two goals as he managed to secure the points for his side. The first came at the end of the first half as he found space in the penalty area to get on the end of Christian Eriksen’s cross to head past Thibaut Courtois. The movement and awareness to find space in the box is impressive, especially considering Chelsea’s defence has been rock solid in recent weeks. They give up few clear cut opportunities and that highlights just how good Alli was in this game. The second was very similar as he once again peeled into space to meet an Eriksen cross, planting a header past Courtois for the second time in the match.

One disappointed for Alli from this evening was his distribution as he finished the match with a pass completion of just 70%. This is significantly lower than his season average of 80.3%. One reason for this is due to the pressing of Chelsea. The Blues press all across the pitch and Alli was coming up against two excellent ball retrievers in Nemanja Matic and Ngolo Kante. That said, if Alli wants to become one of the best players in the league, he needs to be more intelligent on the ball in the big matches.

Tottenham matched Chelsea with a similar formation and it was important that Tottenham pressed aggressively across the pitch. They needed to match Chelsea at their own game and they managed to do that. Alli has developed his pressing game immensely since joining Tottenham. The tactical side of his game was weak at the beginning of last season, but this evening was one of his most mature off the ball. He positioned himself well and completed two successful tackles. His defensive and tactical performance will have impressed his manager just as much as his two goals.

Alli was the star of this evening and will take the headlines for his two goals, but he is developing his all-around game as well. He was raw when he joined Tottenham, but they have improved him hugely and he is now able to play in a number of different systems and still manages to make an impact in attack. His goals displayed his intelligent movement and cool head in front of goal. Alli has now scored a brace in each of his last three Premier League matches. This is a man who is in form and long may it continue.

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