Kevin Danso was sent off three minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute, yet Richarlison still spared Tottenham a penalty shootout with a 92nd-minute winner in front of more than 80,000 fans at Accor Stadium. The Brazilian reacted first when Jamie Donley's shot came back off a post, prodding the ball into an empty net to make it 2-1.
It was the first time the two London clubs had met outside the UK, and the occasion quickly took on the feel of a true derby. Conor Gallagher was booked after 10 minutes for a heavy challenge on Dário Essugo, Jan Paul van Hecke clattered João Pedro, and Dominic Solanke and Levi Colwill tussled off the ball.
De Zerbi: Richarlison is important
After the match, De Zerbi said Richarlison had not made clear whether he would leave this summer. "I don't know, I didn't understand well, because sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leaves, we have to speak. Anyway, there is not any problem, he's a lovely guy. All of us love him, the teammates, the club, the staff, because he works hard every day."
The striker, who joined Tottenham from Everton in 2022, has less than a year left on his contract. He has struggled for consistent form in north London, but De Zerbi believes replacing his goals would be difficult. "For me he's still an important player because it's not so easy to find another striker as Richarlison, because Richarlison scored goals and he knows the way. The new striker, we don't know, the other striker, we don't know. He [Richarlison] scored 12 goals last season, not for luck, because he feels the way to score."
Danso's early red card
Danso's dismissal came three minutes after his introduction, when a backpass got away from him on a poor surface and João Pedro ran through on goal. The Spurs defender lunged headfirst into the Chelsea forward and the referee immediately reached for his pocket.
De Zerbi said the sending off made the game harder for both teams. "It was worse for us and for Chelsea, because if you consider the condition of the pitch, very bad. And if you consider we are starting from two weeks, maybe less than three weeks, the second half you start the fatigue and playing, attacking against 10 players behind the line of the ball is tough for every team."
Tonali scores first Tottenham goal
Tottenham took a deserved lead on 17 minutes when new signing Sandro Tonali scored his first goal for the club. His side-footed effort from outside the area deflected in off Teddy Sharman-Lowe, wrong-footing the Chelsea goalkeeper and nestling into the bottom corner.
Spurs were ahead for only four minutes. Estêvão Willian got the better of Andy Robertson to head home at the back post after Jamie Gittens did well down the left. The game lost its competitive edge in the second half with both sides making a flurry of substitutions, before Richarlison settled it at the death.
Mudryk available for Chelsea
Chelsea now head to Hong Kong, where they will be joined by Mykhailo Mudryk, who has been cleared to play again after the Football Association and the World Anti-Doping Agency resolved his appeal against a ban for failing a doping test. The Ukrainian winger was suspended for four years after failing a drug test in 2024.
De Zerbi, who managed Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, said he viewed the player as one of his "sons". "I'm very happy – he deserves to play, he's a good guy, top player. Hopefully he can show what he suffered in the last two years, in the next season, maybe not against Tottenham, but he's a lovely guy and he's a very, very good player."
