Mateo Kovacic appears to the one that got away for Tottenham

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Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 2-1 defeat in the Premier League against Chelsea on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho’s side had the chance to leapfrog the Blues in the table, but the Portuguese was outwitted by his former player Frank Lampard for the second time this season.

Goals for the hosts came from Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso, with the visitors unable to find an equaliser after Antonio Rudiger’s own goal.

Giroud’s goal may have stung for a few Spurs fans, given he was heavily linked with a January move.

A transfer never materialised and, inevitably, the Frenchman was on hand to score on his third Premier League start of the season.

Arguably though, it was another Chelsea player who showed he was the one that really got away for Spurs.

TBR’s view – Kovacic proving a big oversight for Tottenham

Matteo Kovacic was outstanding for Chelsea and dominated the midfield in the absence of the injured N’Golo Kante.

According to Squawka, the Croatian completed 100% of his attempted take-ons (5/5), had 95% pass accuracy, made 15 ball recoveries, created two chances and had 90 touches for the Blues.

It was a solid performance by the star, who was reportedly interesting Tottenham back in December 2018 (AS).

Mousa Dembele left the club in January 2019, but Tottenham never followed up their interest in the summer, with Chelsea buying him for £40 million (BBC Sport).

His excellent performance on Saturday was only the latest of many this season, with many Chelsea supporters on social media already tipping the 25-year-old for the club’s Player of the Year award.

He’s simply flourishing at Stamford Bridge now, and he certainly appears to be a bit of an oversight by the Lilywhites.