Advertisement

Cesar Azpilicueta says Chelsea showed their ‘ambition’ in dramatic win over Tottenham

Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Cesar Azpilicueta believes Chelsea showed their winning mentality against rivals Tottenham on Sunday.

Antonio Conte pulled off a famous win for Chelsea at Wembley after overcoming suspension and injury issues to steer the Blues to a 2-1 Premier League victory just a week after seeing his side lose at home to Burnley.

The win was made possible by two goals from Marcos Alonso - the first of which was a fine free kick in the 24th minute.

After substitute Michy Batshuayi then scored a late own goal, Chelsea went up the other end to try and find a winner, which they did when Alonso drove a low shot past Hugo Lloris and into the back of the net in the 88th minute.

Azpilicueta believes the manner of the victory - in such late fashion - demonstrated that Chelsea will not give up hope of securing all three points in each game until the very last moment.

The Spaniard told Chelsea's official website: "Marcos has this ability to score goals. Last season he scored six in the Premier League and it was a big amount of goals for a wing-back.

"On Sunday he showed it with a free-kick. He trains these quite frequently and sometimes [last season] he hit the post in games and he was not very happy.

"In the last two minutes when he was up the field to try to score the goal, it showed the ambition of the team. We were not happy just to draw."

Conte set up his side in a much different way than usual - with the Italian opting for three central defenders comprising Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Azpilicueta while David Luiz played in midfield to aid N'Golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko.

Alonso and Victor Moses acted as the team's wing-backs as usual, but, Willian played further forward just behind Alvaro Morata.

Despite the surprising line-up at Wembley, Azpilicueta revealed how Conte had the Chelsea team training in this formation in the week leading up to the clash with Spurs.

He added: "We trained with the system. The manager made the decision to try to put the best possible shape in the game and it worked.

"We needed this win and we have worked really hard and we are really happy to come out with the win."