Chelsea continue Tottenham's Wembley hoodoo thanks to brace from Marcos Alonso
Spanish wing-back at the double as defending champions bounce back from wretched Burnley defeat.
Full-time: Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea
- Marcos Alonso nets dramatic double as defending champions bounce back from opening day defeat and triumph over London rivals in first Premier League match ever to be held at Wembley Stadium
- Spanish wing-back curls home brilliant 24th-minute free-kick after Dele Alli fouls makeshift midfielder David Luiz
- Spurs think they have earned at least a point after Michy Batshuayi heads a late Christian Eriksen free-kick into his own net
- Alonso then notches again from a tight angle two minutes from time after sloppy play from Victor Wanyama and poor goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris
- Tottenham have now lost eight of their last 10 competitive matches at the home of English football
Time to catch your breath after the most dramatic of finishes to the first Premier League fixture ever to be held at Wembley.
Alonso will be the toast of west London after his brace helps the champions banish memories of that awful opening day defeat and get their latest title defence off and running.
After weeks of negative headlines, they demonstrated real togetherness and it would take a brave man to dismiss any team managed by someone as strong-willed and wily as Conte.
For unlucky Spurs, it's a game they feel they probably should have won and a result that perpetuates the notion that they are incapable of getting results at their new temporary home.
Lloris will have nightmares about the passage of play that led to the winner, although the team's overall performance was far from substandard.
Stunning late drama at Wembley.
After Batshuayi is denied a penalty following some strong defending from Dembele, Lloris throws the ball out to Wanyama, who is immediately caught in possession by Luiz.
Chelsea pour forward and Pedro tees up fellow Spaniard Alonso, who fires a low shot underneath Lloris and sparks wild scenes of jubilation among those 3,000 travelling supporters.
Really poor, costly goalkeeping from the Spurs captain. He surely should have saved that with his legs instead of trying to use his hands.
A great run and touch from Trippier allows him to divert a brilliant lofted pass into the box. However, Kane is slow to react and Azpilicueta gets across to clear the danger.
Conte is on the touchline barking out instructions to his embattled charges. He needs them to gain some sort of a foothold in this one-sided second half.
So a remarkable Alonso free-kick is all that separates last season's top two at the interval.
A frustrating first half of league football for Tottenham at Wembley, but they struck the woodwork and dominated the end of that opening 45 minutes. Pochettino's side will be confident of producing an equaliser if they can maintain similar pressure.
Chelsea are certainly more organised than they were a week ago and look content to protect their lead. They could be 2-0 up were it not for Morata's glaring early miss.
Jan Vertonghen demonstrates great strength and perseverance to shrug off Moses and get to the byline.
The Belgian international powers a low cross to the front post, where Dier is prevented from applying the finishing touch by a great last-ditch challenge from Luiz.
The Chelsea man appeared to get the last touch on that, but the referee points for a goal kick.
Leaning back, Luiz launches a shot into orbit and receives ironic cheers from the home supporters.
Alli then attempts to test Courtois but the whistle has already gone for a foul on Bakayoko by Dembele.
Ben Davies took a hefty accidental whack in the face from his own teammate there. That will have smarted just a bit, but he's OK to continue.
A terrific atmosphere being created by Spurs fans during these opening exchanges. There are no shortage of empty seats due to the fact that tickets were not put on general sale amid safety concerns.
The fact that there are only 3,000 Chelsea fans present is the only factor that does not make this feel like a cup final.
While we await kick-off at Wembley, there is just time to catch you up on Sunday's early Premier League fixture.
Fresh from a terrific opening day win at Crystal Palace, Huddersfield maintained their 100% start to a first top-flight campaign since 1972 as Aaron Mooy's superb second-half strike earned a 1-0 victory over Newcastle at the John Smith's Stadium.
The feelgood factor from May's Championship play-off final success has certainly carried over into the new season in West Yorkshire.
Amid all the talk of Costa, his future and transfers at Friday's pre-match press conference, Conte had this to say regarding Chelsea looking to emulate the progress Pochettino has made at Tottenham...
I think Spurs are doing a great job. Mauricio Pochettino is doing a great job. He has built a great base and foundation for his club. We must do the same, we don't have these bases. I have great respect for Tottenham. They are challenging for the title. I want to help my club build the same solid foundation. We don't have this.
Spurs have worked with Pochettino for three years, this is the fourth year. He has had the possibility to work for three years with the same players and the possibility every season to improve his foundations.
For every coach it's important to give continuity to the club, because when you arrive you don't know what you'll find. When you understand your basis you have to try to work step-by-step, year-by-year to improve this basis, to make it more solid and to build a good structure.
Last season we started to build this foundation and we won, so it means we built something. But now it's not enough, we have to improve, to extend this base, work together with new players. I think Tottenham is doing this very well.
Plenty to discuss from Conte's slightly confusing team selection, the headline from which is that Bakayoko makes his debut - possibly alongside Luiz - in central midfield.
Christensen replaces the suspended Cahill and Moses starts in place of Jeremie Boga, who is not involved at all. Morata is unsurprisingly preferred to Michy Batshuayi and Pedro makes the bench.
Still no Hazard for the visitors. What formation they are playing in today is anyone's guess before kick-off...
Trippier does indeed start for Tottenham, with Walker-Peters dropping to the bench. Victor Wanyama also replaces the oft-maligned Moussa Sissoko as Pochettino seemingly instigates a switch back to a 3-4-2-1 system.
Teenage centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers drops out of the matchday squad altogether and Sanchez is obviously not available to play just yet with Spurs awaiting a work permit.
Kevin Wimmer is named as a substitute despite suggestions that he is set to join West Bromwich Albion in a potential £15m deal.
Cahill and Fabregas are both suspended for Chelsea, while Costa remains thousands of miles away in his hometown of Lagarto.
Victor Moses returns from a ban and a chronic shortage of midfielders means that Tiemoue Bakayoko - a £40m summer arrival from AS Monaco - could make his debut despite lacking match fitness in the aftermath of surgery on a minor knee injury.
Eden Hazard and Pedro (both ankle) remain doubtful, although the latter could be included on the bench. If Bakayoko is not risked from the first whistle, then Conte could opt to deploy the versatile David Luiz in front of the defence.
Striker Alvaro Morata looks primed to make his first start in blue after featuring as a substitute in the Community Shield and marking his cameo against Burnley with a first goal.
Kieran Trippier missed that win over Newcastle due to a serious-looking ankle injury that forced him out of the first half of a pre-season friendly defeat of Juventus at Wembley.
However, scans revealed only minor ligament damage and a swift recovery meant his availability for this match was set to be determined by a final assessment undertaken yesterday.
It will be interesting to see if the former Burnley man, now established as Tottenham's undisputed first-choice right-back following the sale of Kyle Walker to Manchester City, starts or only features as a substitute following academy graduate Kyle Walker-Peters' man of the match debut at St James' Park.
Danny Rose (knee), Erik Lamela (hip) and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (foot) all remain out.
"Wembley is not a problem. We are the problem if we don't win like last season."
Premier League football arrives at Wembley Stadium for the very first time this afternoon as Tottenham Hotspur begin their one-year sojourn at the home of English football while work continues on their new £800m, 61,559-seater stadium adjacent to the old White Hart Lane.
Mauricio Pochettino has dismissed exaggerated talk of any hoodoo, although there is no question that Spurs' recent record at Wembley leaves a lot to be desired. The Lilywhites have won two and lost eight of their last 10 competitive matches at their temporary new home and were beaten by today's opponents in last season's FA Cup semi-final after completely failing to make it a fortress in Europe.
Criticism at a curious lack of signings did not prevent Tottenham from opening the new campaign with a routine win over 10-man Newcastle United and it appears that the wheels are finally beginning to turn on that front with highly-rated young Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez arriving from Ajax and Pochettino outlining his bold desire to secure three more new recruits by the 31 August transfer deadline.
Chelsea finished seven points clear of their London rivals in a two-horse championship race last term, although their title defence has certainly got off to a rocky start.
With a lack of new arrivals coupled with injuries and a raft of departures both short-term and permanent already making their squad look threadbare, the Blues saw both Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas dismissed during a shock 3-2 home defeat by Burnley on opening weekend.
A previously frustrated Antonio Conte appeared a man more at ease with the world this week, bursting into fits of hysterics when quizzed regarding the latest claims from AWOL striker Diego Costa that Chelsea were pricing him out of a return to Atletico Madrid.
Stay tuned to IBTimes UK for full live coverage of the weekend's most eagerly-anticipated match. We will bring you all the latest team news and confirmed lineups before providing regular updates after kick-off at 16.00 BST.
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