James Maddison admitted it was “a bit embarrassing” that Tottenham found themselves fighting relegation on the final day of the season after a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea left their Premier League survival in the balance.
Enzo Fernandes curled a stunning long-range shot into the bottom corner in the 18th minute to give Chelsea the lead, before Andre Santos slotted the ball home from six yards in the 67th minute to double the lead.
Richarlison’s close-range goal with 16 minutes left gave Spurs hope, but they were unable to find an equaliser, with Maddison’s stoppage-time free-kick going over the crossbar in the final half of the evening.
Tottenham must now avoid defeat by Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, or hope that Leeds United do them a favor against West Ham, securing their place in the Championship.
Maddison, making only his second appearance this season after a lengthy injury layoff, came off the bench with his side already two goals down and left no doubt about the scale of what will be required this weekend.
“We have to give everything for the club, for the badge, for the fans. It’s a bit embarrassing that we’re in this situation. We’ll need our fans, who were unbelievable tonight. I think we have the best away fans in the league.”
On his return from injury and what he can contribute on Sunday, Maddison was honest about the limits of his physical stature.
“It’s a terrible time. You want to get on the pitch and it’s 1-0 and influence it. It’s more difficult when you’re 2-0. It was like a dagger when you were coming in. I’ve been out for a long time, so I won’t be at my best. I had a big injury and you have to respect the injury a little bit. I’ll do my best on Sunday.”
He added: “It’s my job, and that’s what I get paid to do. I haven’t played this season, but when I play, that’s what we have to do. Anyone who has worked in football or had this injury, it’s not easy to get back into it. It would be disastrous for my career if something happened.”
De Zerbe: We played a very good match and lost
Roberto De Zerbi sounded frustrated but defiant in his post-match assessment, refusing to accept that the performance justified the result while acknowledging the moments that cost his team.
Till hit the post early in the game, and Richarlison took a header from Sanchez just before the hour mark, but Spurs pulled back through Fernandes’ opener and then lost the ball in a dangerous area to allow Santos to go 2-0 up.
“We created the first scoring chance with Till. It was a great save by Sanchez. Then we conceded a great goal because Fernandes, a great player, we could have done something better. Then we stayed in the game until the second goal, we lost a stupid ball. We conceded a second goal. But before the second goal, we created a big chance with Richarlison.
“I think we played a very good game. We lost.
“Now is not the time to think too much about this match. We have to prepare for the next match. We are playing at home with our fans. We have to play with our qualities, our character, our pride and our courage. But I am optimistic because we played a good match today.”
West Ham will play Leeds on the final day. If Tottenham fail to beat Everton and West Ham pick up three points, the gap between the two teams could shrink enough for goal difference to determine who will be beaten.
