Five things you might have missed as Chelsea and Spurs draw in warm-up thriller

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Hakim Ziyech struck twice but Chelsea were still held to a pre-season draw by Tottenham Hotspur in the Blues' final game before their European Super Cup clash with Villarreal.

Thomas Tuchel's men were dominant at Stamford Bridge, with Ziyech putting them in front 15 minutes in from long range after N'Golo Kante dispossessed Lucas Moura.

Ziyech added a second early into the second half when he slotted in Marcos Alonso's cut-back, before Tuchel made a raft of changes.

That gave Spurs a foothold in the game, with Moura pulling a goal back for the visitors with a deflected effort before Steven Bergwijn equalised by slotting the ball through Edouard Mendy's legs 20 minutes from time.

Here, Daily Star Sport looks at five things you might have missed from the pre-season clash…

Dele’s tactical failure

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Under Jose Mourinho, Tottenham mainly deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, which saw the manager accused of keeping Spurs in a rigid defensive system.

New boss Nuno Espirito appears keen to change that though, with the Portuguese using a 4-3-3 attacking formation at Stamford Bridge.

That saw Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sitting behind Dele Alli and Oliver Skipp, with Nuno looking to give Spurs a more front-foot outlook.

That was hampered by the presence of Dele in the midfield three in the first-half though, with the Englishman playing far too deep.

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Kante’s class

During his time at Leicester and Chelsea, N’Golo Kante has become the world’s best defensive midfielder.

He once again showed why many consider him to be the most important piece of Thomas Tuchel’s midfield in the lead-up to Hakim Ziyech’s opening goal.

Lucas Moura attempted to bring the ball out from deep in his own half, but Kante put in a superb tackle to dispossess him, with Ziyech picking up the loose ball before firing past Pierluigi Gollini.

The Frenchman continued to excel, frequently winning possession high up the pitch to ensure Spurs failed to gain a foothold in the game.

Chelsea’s cheeky Kane observations

The biggest story coming out of Tottenham this week has been the absence of wantaway striker Harry Kane.

Kane has failed to report to training in both of the past two days in protest at his protracted departure from the club.

There was a sizeable crowd at Stamford Bridge, despite Wednesday’s game only being a friendly.

And they took the opportunity to highlight the stand-off between Kane and the club, signing “Where the f*** is Harry Kane” and “Harry Kane, he left cos you’re s***”.

Ziyech proves a point

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Hakim Ziyech struggled in his first season with Chelsea after moving to Stamford Bridge from Ajax.

Once Mason Mount returns, it would appear that Ziyech would fall back down the pecking order for the positions behind the striker.

But he proved to Thomas Tuchel that he should be given more playing time this season, with a standout performance.

As well as scoring twice, he also had several chances from long-rang, before nearly providing two assists, first for Timo Werner in a controversial offside decision and secondly from a corner kick.

Doherty struggles again

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Matt Doherty appeared to be the perfect player to help Nuno Espirito Santo to implement his style of play.

The right-back enjoyed great success playing under the Portuguese manager at Wolves, earning a move to Tottenham.

He has struggled badly in North London though, a situation which looks set to continue based on his performance at Stamford Bridge.

He frequently misplaced his passes, with Nuno growing more exasperated with the former Wolves star before eventually replacing him with Serge Aurier.

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  • Harry Kane
  • Chelsea FC
  • Tottenham Hotspur FC
  • Premier League
  • Thomas Tuchel

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