Chelsea defender Reece James put in a superb performance during the club’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
The Blues had the chance to register back-to-back wins at the start of the season, but settled for a point after a couple of debatable refereeing decisions at Stamford Bridge.
Despite the disappointing outcome, James was in fine form for the west London giants. He completed 92 per cent of his passes with five successful long balls in the process.
The England star also won seven ground and aerial duels alongside three tackles. He capped his performance with a superb strike to make it 2-1 for Chelsea towards the end.
James should have also had an assist yesterday. He produced a peach of a cross for Kai Havertz, but the German slashed his volley shockingly wide of Hugo Lloris’ goal.
The 22-year-old graduate was one of the top goal contributors for Chelsea last season from right wing-back, and he has started the current campaign in a similar fashion.
He started in central defence yesterday, but had the license to roam forward in the second half in particular.
James made the difference with a key goal for the Blues, but manager Thomas Tuchel will still be disappointed by the fact that the club’s performance did not deliver a victory.
It seemed that Spurs’ opening goal should have been disallowed after Richarlison was offside and obstructing the view of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s shot.
Right at the end, Harry Kane equalised from an Ivan Perisic corner. A minute before, Cristian Romero was caught pulling the hair of Marc Cucurella which was not deemed violent conduct.
On another day, the Argentine could have been sent off for the same. Despite this, Chelsea should have concentrated and defended the set-piece situation better. There are no excuses for that.
