For once, Chelsea’s London derby against Tottenham Hotspur looked like it was going to be a boring one without any flashpoints.

It took until the 77th minute for the ball to hit the back of the net, with Mike Penders scoring an own goal in his first Premier League start. Before the game, Penders looked ready to challenge Emiliano Martinez to be Chelsea’s No.1, but some will have some doubts after his role in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Spurs.

Roberto De Zerbi’s reaction to Cole Palmer and Mateus Fernandes altercation

Palmer reacted badly to a handball by Mateus Fernandes in the second half, which resulted in the attacking midfielder’s first yellow card. Palmer went into Fernandes while he was on the ground, and that did not go down well with De Zerbi and the rest of the Spurs bench.

According to football.london journalist Bobby Vincent, De Zerbi went running towards the Chelsea bench after the incident. Fernandes’ handball stopped a very promising Chelsea attack, so you can understand Palmer’s frustration. But his reaction was not a good look and contributed to his eventual red card.

Whether Palmer stayed on or not, Chelsea were always heading for defeat. They were already losing at that stage and were very poor on the night.

Penders and Palmer were huge disappointments in particular, while Xabi Alonso’s tactics can also be questioned.

How Xabi Alonso was outwitted by Roberto De Zerbi

Alonso got his line-up wrong and everyone knew that by the end of the first half. Fernandes and Sandro Tonali dominated. Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson could not get anywhere near them.

Despite being the away side, Spurs finished the game with 68% possession — unacceptable. Alonso needed to change something at half-time, perhaps bring on another midfielder like Romeo Lavia.

However, Chelsea’s first change did not come until the 65th minute, and it was like-for-like, Marco Palestra for Jorrel Hato. It did not fix anything.

It was the Blues’ worst performance of the season, even worse than the 3-0 defeat away at Brentford. De Zerbi won this battle and quite easily.