Nicolas Jackson' hattrick guides Chelsea to an infamous away win in the London derby

Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of getting back at the top of the Premier League table took a massive hit as they lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea on Monday in a frantic London derby. 

Nicholas Jackson scored a hattrick to mark an emphatic return for Mauricio Pochettino to Spurs as he secured the biggest result of his short Chelsea tenure, though only a handful could have imagined how it would be attained on a breathtaking night in north London. 

I feel much better, after four years to come back and say hello to all the people, it is a gift for us," Pochettino told reporters. "Very emotional but at the same time, the memories.

"The game was passionate, competitive, and to be honest we needed three points and it was an amazing day for us. It is Tottenham but it is not more special because of that."

Earlier in the match unbeaten Tottenham went ahead after six minutes courtesy Dejan Kuluseveski’s deflected shot and minutes later had a second goal on the back of a Son Heung Min but was later ruled out for offside.

But in scenes evocative of the infamous Battle of the Bridge in 2016 when the Blues dashed Pochettino’s Tottenham title hopes, the hosts’ night untangled. 

Cristian Romero was sent off after a VAR check for a menacing tackle that resulted in a penalty which was successfully converted by Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Spurs then lost two players to injury. 

Destiny Udogie received a second yellow 10 minutes after the second half resumed leaving the hosts trying to secure a point. 

Chelsea ultimately made the numerical advantage count as Jackson put his team ahead in the 75th minute. 

Tottenham got back into the game with an equaliser via Eric Dier only to be ruled out for offside again and Son saw a stoppage time effort saved by Rober Sanchez before Jackson put the game beyond Coys reach with two added time goals in front of jubilant Chelsea fans. 

A maiden league loss for the former Celtic manager leaves Spurs in second place with 26 points from 11 games, one behind reigning champions Manchester City. Chelsea’s fourth win of the season took them to 10th place with 15 points. 

Tottenham have witnessed their best start to a top-flight league since 1960 with Postecoglou the first coach to go unbeaten in his opening 10 Premier League games. 

When Pape Matar Sarr dished a beautiful ball for Kulusevski and the Swede’s deflected shot off Levi Colwill found the back of the net the stadium was erupting. 

Chelsea were trailing initially and breathed a huge sigh of relief when Son’s goal was ruled offside, but then Tottenham’s world began to cave in around them. 

The talking point was a peevish kick by Romero on Colwill that went unpunished in the lead up to a Sterling goal that was ruled out due to handball after another VAR check. 

Minutes later Moises Caicedo smashed the ball in the back of the net after a frenzied scramble, however again it was deemed offside. 

But, the VAR check concluded with referee Michael Oliver viewing a pitch-side monitor and granting a penalty before showing a red card to Romero for a reckless tackle on Argentine counterpart Enzo Fernandez in the build up. 

After a short spell of perplexing confusion, Palmer converted the penalty in off the post despite the valiant efforts of Spurs’ keeper Guglielmo Vicario. 

Things got worse for the hosts as James Maddison rolled his ankle and failed to continue before Micky Van de Ven’s hamstring gave out as he hunted down a counter-attack. 

With four players of the starting lineup no longer on the field. Spurs safely negated 12 minutes of the first half stoppage time but they were eventually bemused. 

Udogie was sent off for a rash challenge on Sterling early in the second half. 

Chelsea bombarded Tottenham’s goal but the home fans encouraged their side, cheering every tackle and clearance. 

Spurs made two more substitutions at the hour mark with Rodrigo Bentancur replacing Sarr and Oliver Skipp coming in for Kulusevski– meaning the hosts were now missing seven of their players that began the action-packed derby. 

Tottenham’s resistance was finally broken by Jackson who completed a simple tap in from Sterling pass and the Senegal forward added insult to the home side’s injury with two more late gasp goals.