Tottenham have been a distinctly midtable Premier League side since appointing Roberto De Zerbi at the end of March, but a huge 2-0 victory away to Chelsea suggests they might finally be turning a corner.

De Zerbi walked into a club in crisis, scrambling to avoid an unthinkable relegation thanks to the combined efforts of Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and several culpable board members.

Spurs were narrowly above the relegation zone, but dropped points against Sunderland and Brighton in De Zerbi’s first two outings saw them sink below West Ham and into 18th place.

But the 2-2 draw with Brighton saw the first real signs of fight in months. Spurs won their next two matches against Wolves and Aston Villa to haul themselves back above the danger zone.

Four points from their final three games saw Tottenham hold off West Ham and ensure their Premier League status.

The fans expect a lot better this year, but De Zerbi’s appointment was one that paid off for the beleaguered Spurs board – at least in the short term.

The Italian has been backed with a massive transfer outlay in the summer, but it’s taken some time for things to click into place. Spurs failed to win any of their first six league games of the season before beating Coventry 3-1, but they’ve now followed that up with a statement victory at Stamford Bridge.

Back-to-back wins, including a first away victory of the campaign against their bitter London rivals, represent De Zerbi’s most encouraging spell in charge so far.

That leaves De Zerbi with 15 Premier League games under his belt, with five wins, five draws and five defeats. Spurs sit ninth in the table for the period since his appointment, having scored 16 goals and conceded 17.

The overall picture therefore remains fairly iffy when you take a wider view of his tenure. Not relegation-bad catastrophic, but still some way off pushing for Europe.

Still, there are finally signs of genuine progress. A victory of this magnitude against Chelsea will buy De Zerbi some much-needed goodwill, and Spurs will hope it’s the start of something rather than another false dawn.