Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea: Instant reaction

I really can't bring myself to write too many words after that one. I'm pretty upset, because it's tough when you match your opposition, but they win because of bad mental errors by good players. Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 at White Hart Lane on Saturday and deserved their victory, but there wasn't anything terribly concerning about Spurs' performance. It simply wasn't 'let in four goals bad'.

For starters, Moussa Dembele and Gareth Bale missed the match. Tom Huddlestone was fine in relief, but still does not look like the best version of himself. Neither Gylfi Sigurdsson or Clint Dempsey is a Bale replacement. Without Dembele's quality and Bale's pace, Spurs' first half performance was disjointed.

William Gallas -- who I must remind everyone, has had a brilliant season and was the man of the match against Man United -- had a nightmare of a match. He was almost exclusively at fault for Chelsea's first three goals, and the match likely would have ended in a draw if Gallas had an average day, even with Dembele and Bale out. It was very unfortunate to watch.

Otherwise, it was a good game. Spurs were brilliant in the first 10 minutes of the second half as they fought themselves into the lead. They almost scored an equalizer on multiple occasions after Chelsea went up 3-2. Even though they conceded three goals in the second half, I thought their second half performance was mostly excellent.

So, a little perspective here, everyone. Tottenham did not deserve a result against Chelsea, but they didn't lose because they don't have good enough players to get results against Chelsea, or because their manager made mistakes, or because the manager doesn't have the team believing in themselves. The team's two best attacking players were injured and their most senior defender made mental errors.

File this one under the category of 'shit happens' and move on. To beating Southampton. Which we're going to do.