A symbolic point
Before the match, Spurs' managing director of football Fabio Paratici and his new number two Gretar Steinsson were paying close attention to the players' warm-up. Paratici was constantly speaking to the club's fitness and sports science staff, including Gian Piero Ventrone.
Spurs looked ready and the players were pumped up. The first five to 10 minutes of the encounter showed that as the visitors pressed with intensity and they did so high up the pitch.
However, that soon faded as Thomas Tuchel's tactics came to the fore with Reece James critical in a high energy role that required him to not only get up and down the right to support Ruben Loftus-Cheek but also give Son Heung-min as little time as possible by constantly hassling and harassing him whenever the South Korean tried to get down the flank.
READ MORE: What happened after Conte and Tuchel flashpoint and why the Tottenham boss should not be banned
James was excellent in both elements of his role, firing in dangerous crosses and scoring himself for Chelsea while also nullifying Son, who was unable to provide a foil to Harry Kane. The problem for Tottenham was that Dejan Kulusevski on the other flank was as ineffective and the visitors struggled for an outlet alongside Kane until Richarlison's introduction.
What did help Spurs was that Chelsea lacked a clinical edge and in a match the hosts had 64% of the possession in, they barely tested Hugo Lloris for much of it, with just three shots on target from their 16 efforts.
In fact, Tottenham had more efforts on target, five of their 10 shots, and had Kane not headed home the late equaliser he would have been left to rue a huge chance to score when he ran through from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's pass as did Ryan Sessegnon in the first half.
After the game and his touchline skirmishes with Tuchel, Antonio Conte reflected on the match itself with two distinct lines of thought. One was that Tottenham were clearly not at their best, but the flipside to that was they got a point at Stamford Bridge despite that display - something they had struggled to do over the years.
Even this below-par performance was far more competitive than the four dour displays of a weaker team last season.
"It was an intensive game. For us this game was really tough but you know very well that to come here and to play Chelsea away it is always difficult. They have a really good team," Conte told football.london.
"At the same time if I have to compare last season and maybe six months ago, we played three games without playing because the superiority was really clear. Today I have to be honest, because today in this game Chelsea showed to be better than us. We can do better, but at the same time we scored twice.
"In the last three games [against them] we didn't score. We got a point and we showed in my opinion character and personality because my players wanted to stay in the game until the end, but for sure my players know very well what is my idea. We have to continue to work and improve because I think with the ball we could do better."
Conte did switch up his tactics in the second half, replacing Sessegnon with Richarlison and pushing Tottenham into a 4-2-4 formation.
That gave them more thrust and Hojbjerg duly levelled the scores with a low clinical strike. However, Tuchel responded by bringing on Cesar Azpilicueta for Jorginho and Chelsea retained their attacking ascendancy as Spurs panicked.
James fired home as Conte was attempting to revert to a back three with Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma standing on the touchline and ready to come on, and they were joined by Lucas Moura after that.
"Yes, [that back four could be a Plan B in games] but we have to work. We have to work on this system because the second goal we conceded was because defensively we were very poor," said Conte.
"Very poor. If we stayed with three centre backs for sure we wouldn't concede this goal, but this could be a good option for us because we have Richarlison and Harry. Sonny can also be a striker and we have wingers like Sonny and Deki.
"Also Ivan Perisic and Lucas Moura and two midfielders. Yeah, we can switch sometimes to play in this new formation but for sure we need to work and have the same knowledge that we have in 3-4-2-1."
It was not a good performance, but the point could be a valuable one and most of it all it was a symbol that things have changed at Tottenham since the turn of the year.
The impact of the subs
One of the biggest positives from the day for Conte will have been the performances of his substitutes after they came on.
Richarlison did exactly what the Spurs head coach wanted of him. He was a pest, constantly annoying the Chelsea backline like an annoying fly - or pigeon - and his work rate disrupted the hosts' tactics of isolating Son because there was suddenly another player to deal with high up the pitch, although that numerical overload did eventually help Chelsea to find space down their right.
The Brazilian's intensity was what Conte needed to wake up his forward line though, including one flying sliding block to prevent a Chelsea clearance from the back which whipped up the away fans. The supporters appreciated his efforts and in the chaos after the final whistle, Richarlison even led Anthony Taylor to Tuchel to make sure he sent him off as well as Conte.
Ivan Perisic made an even more direct impact on the scoreline, his perfectly-flighted last gasp corner headed on by Kane into the net via James' thigh to send the leaping celebrating Conte diving into the tunnel entrance.
What was remarkable from Perisic was that he took corners from both sides with either foot, showing his technique and ability.
Before he came on the 33-year-old Croatian could be seen giving Sessegnon a mini coaching session during a first half drinks break.
Sessegnon had a difficult day, often overloaded by the runs of both Loftus-Cheek and James down his flank and he had a good chance of his own saved by Edouard Mendy in the first half, although there were some suggestions he might have been just offside.
Perisic struggled as well at times in keeping Chelsea at bay, skinned by the pace of the flying attackers as they ran by, but his quality for the final goal was crucial.
Conte once again after the match remarked that the experienced wing-back is still 'not the Perisic I know' and he will have a decision to make next weekend. Does he give the Croatian the chance and minutes to get back to full fitness or does he stick with Sessegnon for at least another start and give him the confidence he needs?
Yves Bissouma added to the midfield battle when he came on and he is another player who needs time to get to where he was for Brighton. Soon Spurs will switch to having three matches in a week and that is when the Mali international will start to rack up the minutes and sharpness if Conte does not decide that he wants to take a longer look at him against Wolves.
Bissouma worked hard, had the deflected volley that kept the corners going in those frantic final minutes and he also acted as a minder to Conte in the post-match madness, keeping Azpilicueta away from the Spurs head coach at one point.
We also got to see the Lucas Moura wing-back experiment in the Premier League and other than one moment when the Brazilian forgot he had to take throw-ins, he helped give Spurs a bit more thrust down that flank.
The bench in itself was the biggest difference from the last time these two teams met. Conte has options galore now and that will be a major step going forward for him and Spurs' ambitions.
The problematic side of Cristian Romero
Cristian Romero is going to be a talismanic centre-back for Tottenham as he continues to improve and mature and he has all of the tools to become a world class defender.
However, the 24-year-old Argentine is going to have days like he did against Chelsea when he was verging on being a liability because of his temperament and the key to his longevity in the Premier League will be ensuring that such days are few and far between.
Hojbjerg could be seen having an intense chat with Romero during the final warm-up sprint before the players went down the tunnel pre-match and there were some fears that the Argentina international might struggle to contain his impetuousness within the cauldron of the Stamford Bridge derby atmosphere.
Ask Conte about Romero and while he will praise the potential of the player he will rarely go overboard, instead focusing on what the young centre-back can improve on to presumably keep the former Serie A Defender of the Year's feet on the ground.
Conte wants Romero to play with a 'hot heart and a cold mind' and after the defender had racked up 11 yellow cards and a red last March, and was nearing a two-game suspension despite missing months of the campaign through injury, the Spurs boss told football.london that he has to help the player 'in good and bad ways'.
"Cristian is a player who has to be focused in every moment of the game," he said when asked to explain that comment. "If he's good, he's good to be focused from the start, from the first second to the last second of the game.
"He is a really important player for us. I think he has a bit to improve in this situation, to be focused in every moment of the game. Sometimes he takes a yellow card that he can avoid. I think that he has to improve in his aspect, to be focused from the start until the end.
"Sometimes you can’t explain this to him in a good manner. Sometimes you have to shout! (Laughs) But he’s a good guy and he understands very well that what I do is always best for the team and for the best for the player to improve himself, because I think he has great quality to become a top defender so when I think this it’s important to find the right way to improve the player."
To Romero's credit, he has not picked up a single yellow card since but on Sunday, he lost focus as times, drifting out of position on various occasions and then there was the hair-pulling incident on Marc Cucurella that had the referee spotted it would likely have prevented Spurs from having the chance to score their late leveller.
Instead VAR had to check the incident and in deeming it to not be violent conduct - unlike rugby, football's rules do not including hair-pulling - the system is not there to simply make calls on potential free-kicks - there has to be a major game-changing element to it. They were not to know what was coming next.
Even after that last gasp goal Romero did something that will delight Spurs fans but not those within the club. After the ball bounced into the net off James' thigh, so the Argentine went up to the England international and roared in his face with a big grin.
It was similar to his reaction to Harry Maguire's own goal at Old Trafford in March. Minutes later Romero was left flat-footed as Cristiano Ronaldo rose behind him to head home the winner.
Romero is swiftly becoming a cult figure among the fans and moments like that only endear him to them more, even if they are not particularly sporting or classy in any way. That he won the club's Man of the Match award for the Chelsea game said more about the supporters responding in a tongue in cheek way to Tuchel's anger with the Cucurella hair pulling than Romero's performance, which was nowhere near one of his best.
The Spurs backline had a mixed day at the office on the whole. Eric Dier had some shaky moments with his decision-making and, after Kulusevski lost the ball, mistakenly rushed out to leave Ben Davies with two Chelsea players for the hosts' second goal, but the centre-back did also make some commanding tackles.
For Davies, somewhat unfairly blamed for that second goal as he was caught alone and between James and Sterling, he did have a positive contribution at the other end. He grabbed an assist by teeing up Hojbjerg to score and it was his deflected header at the end that Mendy needed to tip over and it led to the corner that Kane headed in from.
They will all have better days and for Romero he can become world class. He just needs to listen to but perhaps not copy the Italian in the dugout, for both men's hearts and minds were overheating on Sunday.
Destiny coming and the final fortnight of the window
Spurs will wrap up their seventh signing of the summer transfer window on Monday as Destiny Udogie puts pen to paper.
The north London club will land the 19-year-old Udinese left wing-back in a bargain deal that football.london understands is just £15m, with a potential extra £3m in add-ons. The Italy U21 star, who speaks fluent English, was undergoing his medical on Monday morning at Hotspur Way and putting the final touches to his deal before jetting back to Udinese for training on Tuesday.
Udogie will head back to the Serie A club on loan for the remainder of the season to continue his rapid development following the last campaign which brought 35 appearances in the league with five goals and three assists.
Both Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici have high hopes for the teenager, who is expected to become a senior Italy international this season.
Udogie's arrival next summer puts the pressure on both Sessegnon to continue to develop and Perisic to show that as a 34-year-old by that point he will still have plenty to offer in the second year of his contract.
The final two weeks of the transfer window will determine who joins Udogie in the long list of signings this summer.
Giovani Lo Celso has now departed back to Villarreal on loan, his exit announcement buried in the aftermath of the Stamford Bridge chaos. There is no purchase option for the Spanish club but Spurs are believed to have inserted a break clause that means they can end the loan in January if they receive a permanent bid for the midfielder from a club he agrees to move to.
Tanguy Ndombele remains the subject of talks between Spurs and Napoli, with the north London club looking for an option to buy, and the Frenchman was continuing to train at Hotspur Way on Monday away from the first team, while all avenues are being explored to get Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon out the exit door.
If Japhet Tanganga also heads out in search of regular football then Spurs will need to bring in another centre-back as Conte would only be a couple of injuries away from having no senior central defender on his bench to provide cover for his back three.
Opportunities for attacking midfielders and strikers will continue to be explored in the final weeks of the window with a decision to be made over Bryan Gil. The 21-year-old has been on the bench in both of the opening matches of the season, chosen over Djed Spence on Sunday to ensure there was more balance among the substitutes rather than an overload of right wing-backs.
However, Gil is yet to be given game time and he could well want to move to get week in, week out football which he is less likely at Tottenham under a manager who publicly doubted his signing and suitability for the Premier League back in January.
Conte has acknowledged that shaping his ideal Spurs squad will be a process across multiple transfer windows and he will soon have nine new signings to his name as head coach. Ahead of the match at Stamford Bridge, he warned about making any more mistakes in the market, with Lo Celso and Ndombele fresh in the club's mind with more than £100m in fees flushed down the drain.
There is also the homegrown and foreign player numbers to adhere to, with Spurs still two over the latter limit in the Champions League squad even if Ndombele joins Lo Celso in leaving the club.
Conte praised Pape Matar Sarr on Sunday for his exciting promise but unless further players depart, the 19-year-old Senegal international will not be able to play Champions League football this season unless, should Reguilon leave as expected, it could be down to a straight decision between Sarr and Gil and that's not taking into account any further foreign arrivals.
When it comes to homegrown players, Spurs do hold an interest in Manchester United's 21-year-old James Garner, who was on loan at Nottingham Forest last season, and football.london understands that Paratici was impressed by the young England U21 midfielder every time he went to watch Spence in action.
Garner, who scored four goals and provided eight assists in 48 appearances for Forest, has reportedly been made available for transfer by United for £15m but whether Spurs make a move this summer is yet to be decided. Their midfield is packed with options right now and minutes for Garner would be hard to come by at the north London club.
What Tottenham and Paratici do for their head coach in the couple of weeks ahead will have a knock-on effect for various members of the squad. In Conte's words, they must get it right.
