Chelsea’s inability to create enough chances and ability to self-sabotage has seen their hopes of a top-four finish slip away.
After losing 2-0 at Tottenham, the Blues have now won just two of their last 15 games and this felt like a must-win match for Graham Potter’s side if they were to mount an unlikely late bid for Champions League qualification.
Defeat means Chelsea are now 14 points behind Spurs.
In the first half at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, Chelsea gave as good as they got against the hosts.
Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez all had half-chances to open the scoring in a tight half in which Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also hit the post.
Chelsea were set up for a good second half with a strong bench but were found sleeping after the break, looking disjointed and lacking concentration before conceding the first goal.
As has been typical with Chelsea this season, their reaction to going a goal down was poor. The system began to collapse, as highlighted by Ben Chilwell clipping a pass out of play and blaming his team-mates for their lack of movement to give him options to play out of danger.
Equally, frustration took hold as Mason Mount’s dissenting reaction to Cristian Romero’s heavy tackle on Kai Havertz saw him needlessly booked, joining the German and Ziyech in the book.
Frustration, a lack of cohesion and a weak reaction to setbacks have been an all too familiar story Chelsea this season.
They look miles off it in the race for fourth and their only chance to playing the Champions League next season is conquering Europe this season.
Todd Boehly watched on at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
His side must motivate themselves to compete with Aston Villa, Brighton, Brentford and Liverpool for Europa League or Conference League football in the remaining 14 games this season.
Defeat at Spurs leaves them with frustrated players, fans and further questions about the future of Potter, who has the worst win percentage of any Chelsea manager in the Premier League era.
