The major talking-point ahead of Wednesday night's Premier League clash between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, was Maurizio Sarri's decision to drop Kepa Arrizabalaga to the bench in favour of Willy Caballero in goal. The decision proved to be a good one as Caballero kept a clean sheet.
This decision perhaps comes as no surprise after the Spaniard refused to be substituted during Chelsea's EFL Cup Final loss to Manchester City. Sarri will have wanted his strongest side out on the field as his future at Stamford Bridge continues to be hanging by a thread.
As a result, he started with Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain and Pedro up front, while Mauricio Pochettino Went with a forward pairing of Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min to try and restore Tottenham's winning ways after an unexpected loss to Burnley over the weekend.
Chelsea enjoyed a more positive start to their game as Gonzalo Higuain struck the woodwork with his 6th minute effort from the edge of the area. It didn't take long at all for Tottenham to respond with a counter-attack in the aftermath, although Kane's final effort was blocked by David Luiz.
Thr rest of the half saw chances come and go for both sides after a flurry of free kicks, especially for Chelsea, could not be turned goalward. The teams made their way down the tunnel at half-time level on all fronts, neither able to find that all-important opener.
Not long after the second-half got underway, Higuain thought he'd put Chelsea ahead but he was well offside so the scoreline remained at 0-0. Chelsea continued putting the pressure on and it paid off almost immediately as Pedro did manage to break the deadlock for Chelsea.
Azpilicueta will claim the assist as he put a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Pedro who, after some fine footwork to beat the defence, slotted it through Lloris' legs for goal number one.
A flurry of substitutions broke up the following 20 minutes as both teams looked to bring on fresh legs. Pochettino hoped that by bringing on Lucas Moura and Marcos Llorente, his side could get themselves back in it.
Unfortunately for the visiting side, quite the opposite happened. A miscommunication between Kieran Trippier and Hugo Lloris gifted Chelsea their second goal as the right-back near enough passed it into his own net thinking Lloris would be there to gather. The keeper had other ideas in mind and decided to come off his line to collect.
Pochettino will have thought the night couldn't possibly get any worse for his side but he was soon to be proved wrong. Harry Kane received the only yellow card of the game in the dying seconds after a unnecessary and childish scrap with David Luiz.
Overall, Maurizio Sarri will be happy that his side could claim three points at home given the rumours floating about regarding his future with the Blues. Pochettino's men suffer their second defeat in a row in the Premier League and will be wondering what they need to do differently.