Cole Palmer and Chelsea are back on the right track.
Ange Postecoglou and Spurs stay off the rails, on their way to nowhere. Or the bag.
The Aussie put his ears on his own fans when replacement Pape Sarr seemed to have taken an equalizer who did not deserve his team.
Just earlier, the traveling supporters had told him: “You don't know what you are doing” when he had transferred Sarr for their beloved Lucas Bergvall in a double change with 25 minutes to go.
But Postecoglou was hung to dry when a VAR intervention led to the goal that was excluded for Sarr's fault on Moises Caicedo.
On another night, the main story would have been fit -again Palmer that only delivered his second target contribution of 2025 – and his first in 10 games – by placing the only goal on a plate for Enzo Fernandez.
It places Chelsea again on the front foot after rivals for a Champions League place won earlier in the midweek round of competitions.
But their victory was hardly unexpected. Nor was a bleak evening for Spurs and Postecoglou.
He is the first Tottenham manager to lose his first four league matches against their rivals in London.
Whether he gets a fifth chance depends on his team that the Europa League wins and takes the alternative route to the Champions League.
Because Spurs, with most of their first-choice players who are again available, hardly put a glove on the blues.
Postecoglou admitted in a pre-match interview that he thought that the majority of Tottenham fans had lost confidence in what he and his team were trying to do.
Even before the mocking singing and his reaction to it could see why.
Chelsea was superior in every department.
It was not as spicy as the Battle of the Bridge 2016. Neither as crazy as the 4-3 and 4-1 victories of Chelsea in their last two visits to White Hart Lane. But from start to finish, it was promotional, where each side had a goal excluded by VAR and yellow cards and passion.
Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero played for Spurs for the first time in the middle of half, because both were injured in the seven-goal Thriller against the blues almost four months earlier.
Within 50 seconds they were embarrassed by the long ball of Trevoh Chalobah over the top.
Nicolas Jackson, after two months with a hamstring injury, came first and his casual puncture was blocked by Spurs -goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. When Van de Ven tried to erase, the Jackson ball raced to a post and from there to safety.
The visitors immediately showed their teeth with a lightning break for which Marc Cucurella had to block the shot of Son Heung-Min.
Then Chelsea Malo Gusto ran the side with a shot of which some in the home crowd thought it was a goal.
So far, so crazy.
For about 10 minutes, things calm, before Destiny Udogie's challenge stopped the Cross of Fernandez to convert Palmer up close.
The chances had dried up, but the passion was still there. Caicedo roared to Van de Ven in Triumph after he stopped the Dutchman when he sprinted away from a robust challenge at Palmer.
Jadon Sancho frustrated the home crowd and the boss Maresca by not obeying his pre-match instruction to shoot more.
Out of nothing, Son drew a rescue from Robert Sanchez. In the end, Sancho had an attempt, but Vicario stopped fine.
The only thing that the teams had forgotten to do before the first half of the stop time – apart from score – was to fight.
Enter Romero, who bundled about Levi Colwill and was confronted with a furious Chalobah in what became a rolling maul in which a number of players were involved. Both were booked.
It was knockabout, but still aimless.
But not long.
Palmer had already put the hands of Vicario before he sent a beautiful cross that completely exposed the Spurs defense.
While they all looked at each other, Fernandez arrived unarkly to turn on a header in the net.
The colleague of the Argentinian £ 100 million midfielder, Caicedo, thought he had made it two not long afterwards.
But his beautiful volley after Spurs did not succeed in erasing a free kick was excluded for offside against Colwill after a VAR check of four minutes.
That did not prevent the visiting fans from repeating their earlier chorus of “we want Levy Out”.
Chelsea kept coming, Palmer called Vicario in action again.
Postecoglou thought he had turned the tide when Sanchez had not stopped SARR's long -distance shot.
But in the midst of Chelsea, Var Jarred Gillett is protesting called referee Craig Pawson to the monitor and he did not allow the goal for an error by Sarr on Caicedo and the Tottenham man booked for a good measure.
There were opportunities at both ends before the end. In the 89th minute, Brennan Johnson crossed, but Son's shot at the back post was not strong enough to beat Sanchez.
Tottenham still had hope when 12 minutes extra time were announced.
But the defeat means that the clock will someday tap louder on the reign of Postecoglou.
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