Analysis: Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino set his Tottenham team up in a 4-4-2 diamond formation, with Harry Winks at the base, Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko either side and Dele Alli at the tip, just behind the front pairing of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane. Spurs tried to stretch Chelsea early on, with several balls in behind for the runs of Kane and Son. This became a common method of attack throughout the match, and was evident for the play that led to the penalty from which the England captain scored the only goal of the game.

The hosts looked to build from the back with short passes, and draw the Chelsea attackers and midfielders towards them. Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga and centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez were patient in possession; when the ball went into one of the centre-backs, they looked to attract Ross Barkley or N’Golo Kante towards them and use the nearby support of Winks and the full-back or midfielder on their side. This would create a three-on-two against whichever Chelsea midfielder was pressing and the wide attacker on that side, enabling Spurs to consistently bypass the press.

Winks was central to this, using his passing quality to play one-touch passes when in possession, but also moving to the blind side of the press when not on the ball to repeatedly offer passing angles around it. When he had possession of the ball centrally, the movements of Eriksen and Sissoko would determine the next passage of play. If the advanced midfielders moved away from the ball and were followed by Kante and Barkley (Alli would also move away to draw Jorginho out), then Winks would play straight through to the feet of Kane or Son. If his midfielders moved away but were not tracked, he could play in to their feet instead; if the midfielders stayed central, Winks could then clip the ball diagonally out to Danny Rose or Kieran Trippier, both of whom were happy to advance from full-back.

Out of possession, Spurs operated in the same 4-4-2 diamond, with their chief ambition being to prevent Jorginho getting on the ball and tracking the half-space runs of Kante and Barkley. Alli was tasked with man-marking Jorginho, while Kane and Son would try to block off the passing lines into the Brazilian from Kepa, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

As the ball went to the Chelsea full-backs, Spurs would press only mildly press with Kane and Son, leaving Eriksen free to track Kante and Sissoko to do likewise with Barkley. Whenever the ball went wide to a full-back or winger, the Chelsea midfielder on that side would try to make a penetrative run in the half-space beyond the Spurs back line – an even more dangerous tactic if Trippier or Rose had been drawn out. But Eriksen and Sissoko did a tremendous job of tracking these runs and ensuring that neither Sanchez nor Alderweireld were pulled out of their central defensive slots.

Winks’ role was just as crucial in defence, too. He was responsible for tracking the dropping movements of Eden Hazard when the Belgian chose to drift or come short. If Hazard remained in a more orthodox centre-forward position, Winks would support Eriksen and Sissoko when the ball moved out to their side. If the Chelsea full-backs created an overload (full-back, winger and attacking midfielder against Tottenham full-back and central midfielder), Winks could move across to even the numbers up. The young Englishman played a hugely important role in ensuring that his team, though second best for much of the contest, carried a one-goal advantage into the second leg of an absorbing cup semi final.