Telegraph:
Tottenham 1 Chelsea 2: Wembley woe continues for Spurs as Alonso kickstarts champions' title defence
Jason Burt
This was a nightmare of housewarming for Tottenham Hotspur as their first Premier League fixture at Wembley ended in a gut-wrenching defeat to Chelsea. The champions were the party-poopers.
Two goals from Marcos Alonso, both through Spurs’ mistakes, earned Chelsea a gutsy win and will leave Spurs ruing their luck and again facing questions over some kind of Wembley curse.
They believed after their wall of pressure appeared to be repelled by Chelsea that fortune had favoured then as they profited when striker
Michy Batshuayi – with his first touch after coming on as a substitute – gifted them an equaliser. But that was before Victor Wanyama blundered and Alonso claimed his second as Chelsea dispelled their own early-season problems.
Chelsea went ahead through a brilliant free-kick from Alonso mid-way through the first-half. It came after a foolish foul by Dele Alli, catching David Luiz 25 yards out. Alonso stepped up and curled the ball left-footed over the wall, just skimming above Toby Alderweireld’s head and into the top corner of the goal with Hugo Lloris flailing to try and get across.
Even before that Chelsea should have scored with Cesar Azipilcueta’s cross met by Alvaro Morata who, somehow, steered his unchallenged header wide of the post with Lloris beaten. Morata was making his first start, as was another new signing, Tiemoue Bakayoko, who did not appear fully fit, with Conte adjusting his line-up because of injuries and suspensions and, of course, lack of signings.
Conte flooded the midfield, pushing Luiz forward and stringing five across the middle to try and stifle Spurs who gradually, though, made their way into the game. Several chances – half ones, full ones – fell the way of Harry Kane and he came closest in the first-half as Alli beat Azpilicueta, drove goalwards and slipped the ball to the striker who shifted it onto his right foot and curled the ball around goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois only for it to cannon back off the foot of the post.
Kane also forced his way through, past Alonso, for Courtois to save with an outstretched leg and then found space once more only to fire his low shot across goal and just past the post. After that he lunged forward to try and meet a wonderful Christian Eriksen free-kick but just could not get his studs to the ball to turn it into the net. Courtois also did well to beat away a fierce shot from Ben Davies and tipped over a rising drive from Mousa Dembele.
It was frustrating for Spurs. Very frustrating. They really should have scored and they continued to press in the second-half with Chelsea forced back but they broke on the counter-attack with Willian charging forward to find Morata who cut back inside only for his shot to be deflected narrowly wide for a corner. They then went even closer with Willian, again, finding space and shooting low and right-footed from outside the area with Lloris beaten and the ball rebounding off his far post.
Just as it appeared Spurs would run out of steam, run out of ideas they were gifted an equaliser with Batshuayi intercepting Eriksen’s free-kick only to send his header past Courtois and into his own goal. It was his first touch and the striker held his head in horror.
Soon after and Batshuayi claimed a penalty, with his appeals turned down, but Chelsea won the ball back with Wanyama easily dispossessed by Luiz. Alonso was released down the left and he drove an angled shot that went underneath Lloris to give Chelsea the lead once more.
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Express:
Chelsea kill off crisis talk with stirring victory over Tottenham at Wembley
THE OPENER defied mathematics. The manner of the victory was coolly calculated. A mixture of inspiration and perspiration has swiftly nipped talk of a crisis at Chelsea in the bud.
By MATTHEW DUNN
Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld is 6ft 2in tall. He jumped a good two feet in the air and strained every sinew of his neck to stretch a further couple of eighths.
But Marcos Alonso’s superbly struck free-kick floated tantalisingly above him, swerving in a perfect arc towards the top corner of the Tottenham net. Hugo Lloris’s glove clutched at air.
Leave the boffins to calculate how he did it, football fans could just appreciate the Spaniard’s instinctive ability to produce such a gem. It was the perfect goal to kick-start Premier League football at the national stadium – just a shame for a club which had invested so much energy into trying to make it a home that it had gone in at the wrong end.
Spurs fans took advantage of the free flags on every seat to whip up an atmosphere just before kick-off. No question, the intensity of a London derby was magnified by the giant concave bowl.
As when these two met under the giant arch for last season’s FA Cup semi-final, Tottenham were the better side. They dominated the midfield battle, found space more easily on Wembley’s wide flanks and had an energy and spirit that was missing from their Champions League encounters here last season.
But football is about working out how to win, whether that is done on the back of the proverbial fag packet or using a calculator. And since he arrived in the Premier League, Conte has shown he can certainly do the sums.
With Gary Cahill missing, he risked Andreas Christensen in the heart of defence after five unconvincing years at the club. Tiemoue Bakayoko was brought back into action just weeks after minor knee surgery. It was a ploy to keep David Luiz exactly where he was.
That proved the key. For all of Alonso’s unexpected goalscoring exploits, the much-maligned Brazilian gave one of his more mature performances for Chelsea and – although it will not show up on any assist charts – he proved key to a victory Tottenham looked to have avoided.
All that would come much, much later. Chelsea, though, should have been in front after five minutes, of course. Alvaro Morata completely fluffed a six-yard header when completely unmarked.
The bigger worry though is how little physical impact he made on the Tottenham defence. Certainly, he is no Diego Costa and, as a result, the Spurs back three were able to surge forward into attack untroubled.
Having fallen behind to that glorious free-kick, Tottenham’s sharp interplay suggested that it was a matter of when rather than if they scored. Unfortunately for Harry Kane, that is looking increasingly like being September again.
The England star has never scored in August – but it certainly was not for want of trying today.
Kane’s sharp shooting hit Thibaut Courtois’ knee, his shins, the inside of his post. In the second half, an uncharacteristically weak header spurned another chance from a Tottenham set-piece.
In the end, Chelsea substitute Michy Batshuayi had to show him how it was done, meeting Christian Eriksen’s 82nd-minute free-kick with a firm header into his own net.
Pochettino tried to whip up the Wembley crowd but Conte, though, was keeping a level head. Willian had been dangerous on the counter-attack already. The Chelsea manager knows that if his defence can hold firm long enough, he can punish teams on the counter.
With Luiz popping up as a fourth centre-back whenever the dam looked like bursting, it was Kante who was finally engineered the freedom to do the damage.
Kane tried to wrestle him to the floor in the centre-circle without joy and it took Mousa Dembele’s desperate tackle to rescue Spurs.
With the ball safely in Lloris’s hand, they looked to give Chelsea a taste of their own medicine with a breakaway of their own.
Moussa Sissoko, so frustrating in Tottenham colours since he signed, clearly did not reckon on Luiz being on him. But it was that vital intervention which decided the game. It was Pedro who fed the ball on to Alonso to steer a famous winner under Lloris and he technically will be credited with the assist.
The contribution from Luiz, though, had been classic Chelsea. Pochettino will wonder how his side failed to bury their Wembley hoodoo – that is just one win in the last 10 competitive games there now.
He will just have to accept that, after that disappointing opening to the season, Conte had all the answers.
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Mail:
Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea: Marcos Alonso double gives Antonio Conte's side all three points in first Premier League game at Wembley
By Martin Samuel for the Daily Mail
One thing is for certain. When it is Chelsea’s turn to make Wembley their temporary home, the national stadium will hold no demons.
This was their ninth win here in 11 visits, an incredible victory against the odds, forged by a starting XI with only two recognised attacking players: the magnificent Willian and Alvaro Morata.
What a triumph it was for the organisational skills of Antonio Conte, too. After last week’s home defeat by Burnley, there were fears this could be a day of reckoning for the champions.
Instead, it was a win that demonstrates just what strength they possess. Players who gave their all, a manager who never stopped demanding, cajoling, arranging, scheming.
Nobody would say it was a wholly deserved three points, given Tottenham’s dominance for long periods, but it was damned impressive nonetheless. Chelsea led despite a lengthy onslaught by Tottenham, looked to have surrendered two points to a Michy Batshuayi own goal — and then, with two minutes remaining, won it again. That man Marcos Alonso once more. What an under-rated talent he is.
For Tottenham, this was more drama than crisis, but the speed with which many here headed towards the exits after the second went in suggested trauma.
Yes, they were unlucky — but how many times was that said as they crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage last season, with Wembley as home? They cannot continue dominating teams here, and losing. In the circumstances, then, this was more than just a win for Chelsea. They inflicted psychological trauma on a title rival, too.
That said, no stadium ever lost a football match. In the end, Spurs conceded two goals because Dele Alli rashly fouled David Luiz in a dangerous area, and then Victor Wanyama was caught in possession by the same man for the second. That isn’t down to Wembley. That’s on Alli and Wanyama. Just as it was on Batshuayi that Tottenham equalised with eight minutes remaining.
There looked to be only one winner when that goal went in; but it wasn’t the team who eventually won. That’s not Wembley’s fault, either. So credit to Conte who, at the end of what has been a difficult week, showed why he deserves to be nurtured rather than further alienated by his employers.
This was a fine win for old- fashioned coaching. For setting out a team in adversity and emerging victorious. Chelsea lost the corner count 14-3, goal attempts 18-10, possession 68-32 per cent and passes made 591-282. Yet they were never behind, always in the game, still dangerous on the counter-attack and had two other chances as good as anything Tottenham created.
Willian — arguably the man of the match for his insatiable work-rate, despite Alonso’s heroics — hit a post after 73 minutes, while Morata missed an absolute sitter of a header after five. Although Tottenham were on top, it would be wrong to say Chelsea offered nothing.
And what of Alonso? One of the biggest mysteries of the summer transfer window — and there have been a few — is the persistent rumour that Chelsea are looking for a stellar left wing-back, to relegate him to a supporting role. Danny Rose, of Tottenham, has been mentioned.
Why? Alonso is as good, if not better. He has been a vital performer for Chelsea since arriving less than a year ago. He defends very well, gets forward impressively, has excellent stamina and, best of all, he scores important goals. Here, he silenced a home crowd of more than 70,000, twice.
Missing key forward players, Chelsea were always going to see their chances limited. So when Alli fouled Luiz outside the penalty area it represented a rare opportunity for an under-strength side to make an impact. Alonso took it, and magnificently.
Most would have expected Luiz to deliver the kick, but it was Alonso, coming in almost square from the right to strike the ball with his left foot, up and over the Tottenham wall, curling out of the reach of Hugo Lloris.
Short term, the result was to jolt Tottenham into a response and for the next hour they placed Chelsea under immense pressure. Harry Kane hit a post and Alli, Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier all came close.
Yet Spurs couldn’t break through and, ultimately, only a Chelsea mistake got them back in the game. Conte was attempting to shore up three unlikely points when he introduced Batshuayi for the tiring Morata. His first touch kicked the ball out for a throw-in. His second headed it past Thibaut Courtois from an Eriksen free-kick. At that point, the momentum was with Tottenham. They now had eight minutes, plus injury time, to finish the job.
Instead, Lloris threw the ball out in the hope of starting a quick counter-attack and Wanyama lost it to Luiz. He fed Pedro, who passed to Alonso. Lloris should have captured his low, straight shot but instead it squirmed under his body.
The Chelsea of old, some will say, although in this case ‘old’ means last May. That’s how quickly things can change around Stamford Bridge. This was the Tottenham of old at Wembley, too. Although that, sadly, will be no comfort at all.
TOTTENHAM XI : Lloris 4, Dier 6.5 (Son 68, 6.5), Alderweireld 7, Vertonghen 6.5, Trippier 5.5 (Janssen 90), Wanyama 5.5, Dembele 8, Davies 6.5 (Sissoko 80, 4), Alli 7.5, Eriksen 7, Kane 6.5
Subs not used: Vorm, Wimmer, Winks, Walker-Peters
Goal: Batshuayi OG 82
Booked: Dier, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Kane
CHELSEA XI : Courtois 7, Azpilicueta 8, Christensen 8, Rudiger 7, Moses 7, Kante 7, Luiz 8.5, Alonso 9, Willian 8.5 (Pedro 78, 6), Bakayoko 7, Morata 6 (Batshuayi 78, 4)
Subs not used: Caballero, Kenedy, Musonda, Tomori, Scott
Goals: Alonso 24, 88
Booked: Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Ratings by Sami Mokbel
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Guardian:
Marcos Alonso double fires Chelsea to Wembley victory over Tottenham
Spurs 1 - 2 Chelsea
Daniel Taylor at Wembley
Antonio Conte’s men have had to withstand an awful lot of scrutiny since capsizing against the team from Turf Moor. Their response was the kind of performance that should answer a lot of the questions about their character and powers of endurance. For a team apparently teetering on the brink of crisis, they looked an awful lot like the side that had left everyone in their wing-mirrors last season.
They had to do it the hard way, missing key personnel against the team that chased them harder than anyone to that title success. Yet the aberration against Burnley feels almost freakish given the story of this follow-up win and the strength of personality shown by a newly assembled and experimental side. Another team might have wilted after Michy Batshuayi, one of Chelsea’s second-half substitutes, had headed in the own-goal that provided Spurs with an 82nd-minute equaliser but not Chelsea. The decisive goal, Marcos Alonso’s second of the afternoon, was a personal ordeal for Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal but what does it say about Chelsea that they could recover from Batshuayi’s misfortune to conjure up a winner in the 88th minute?
The answer almost certainly is that nobody should entirely write off the idea of a successful title defence just yet. Chelsea had to withstand some long spells of pressure after Alonso’s elegant free-kick had given them a first-half lead and, totting up the number of chances for Harry Kane alone, it was difficult even to keep count of the number of occasions when last season’s golden-boot winner let fly from all sorts of distances and angles. Kane hit the post with one first-half effort and there were other times when Chelsea were grateful to Thibaut Courtois’ goalkeeping. They defended with great resilience, in complete contrast to that 3-2 defeat on the opening weekend, and in the process they made it a demoralising way for Mauricio Pochettino’s team to begin their tenancy of Wembley.
Spurs, lest it be forgotten, went unbeaten at White Hart Lane last season for the first time since the 1964-65 campaign. After one game at Wembley they have already been defeated and this result will advance the theory that it is not going to be easy for last season’s runners-up to adjust to life at the national stadium. Spurs have now lost eight of their last 10 games here, if penalty shootouts count. Four have come against Chelsea and the latest must feel particularly galling given the sense beforehand that this was a ripe moment to face the champions.
It certainly looked that way given Chelsea had a new-look defence, with David Luiz pushed forward into midfield, and three players on the bench – Fikayo Tomori, Charly Musonda and Kyle Scott – who would not ordinarily have been involved but for the combination of injuries, suspensions and transfer-market frustrations that have darkened Conte’s mood lately.
Álvaro Morata had a stodgy afternoon, including one miss early on – unchallenged inside the six-yard area – that would embarrass any professional footballer, let alone one who had cost an initial £58m. Otherwise Chelsea’s recruits all demonstrated their worth. Antonio Rüdiger excelled alongside the equally impressive Andreas Christensen, deputising for the suspended Gary Cahill. Tiémoué Bakayoko played with great energy and, though Spurs had plenty of the ball in promising positions, it was also the case that, when Batshuayi headed Christian Eriksen’s free-kick into his own net to make it 1-1, it was at a point of the game when the home side were looking short of ideas.
It was an embattled, streetwise performance from Chelsea but they could also reflect on Willian skimming a second-half shot against the post and, when it comes to Alonso’s contribution, the first goal in particular was a beauty. Spurs had a five-man defensive wall in place and the players making up that protective barrier could not be accused of deserting their positions. Alonso still had the guile to beat everyone with the trajectory of his curling left-footed shot. It was the perfect combination of bend and leverage and it finished with the ball arcing into the top corner of Lloris’s goal.
Unfortunately for Lloris Alonso’s second goal was the result of poor goalkeeping on the part of the France international. To start with, his throw to Victor Wanyama put his team-mate under pressure in a central area of the pitch, inside the Spurs half. Wanyama should still have done better but Spurs, with too many players out of position, were vulnerable as soon as he lost possession. Pedro, another of Chelsea’s substitutes, slipped the pass into Alonso’s path and his low, powerfully struck shot inside the near post seemed to catch Lloris by surprise.
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Star:
Tottenham 1 Chelsea 2: Marcos Alonso the hero after Michy Batshuayi own goal
ANTONIO CONTE was back to his bonkers best as he celebrated Chelsea’s dramatic win over Spurs.
By Paul Brown
Chelsea were missing four stars integral to last season’s championship triumph in Eden Hazard (injured), Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill (banned) and Diego Costa (AWOL).
But they somehow dug out yet another huge win against a Tottenham team that outplayed them for long spells and should have taken something from the game.
Unlikely hero Marcos Alonso scored the winner two minutes from the end, just when it seemed like Spurs could win it after Michy Batshuayi’s own goal equaliser.
Alonso had put them in front but the Blues were rocking when Batshuayi, whose goal against West Brom clinched the title in May, came off the bench and headed into his own net.
But when Alonso embarrassed Hugo Lloris at the death, Conte went berserk, jumping into the arms of one of his coaching staff and punching the air in delight.
Chelsea have now beaten Spurs four times in a row at Wembley, by an aggregate score of 13-4, and this one will feel all the sweeter coming as it did in Tottenham’s first home league game here.
They went an entire league campaign unbeaten at White Hart Lane last season for the first time since 1965. But it’s now just two wins in their last 11 at Wembley.
Conte ditched the tracksuit he wore in Chelsea’s shambolic opening defeat to Burnley in favour of a suit, and his team certainly meant business.
They should have drawn first blood when Cesar Azpilicueta, back to playing in a back three, picked out Alvaro Morata with a cross, but the Spain star sent a free header wide from eight yards.
But Hugo Lloris was powerless to stop Marcos Alonso’s piledriver of a free kick in the 25th minute.
Dele Alli fouled David Luiz, pressed into a midfield weakened by the absence of Fabregas, but Alonso still had it all to do.
He doesn’t often take them, and perhaps Lloris wasn’t expecting it, but the Spaniard whipped his shot over the wall and the Spurs keeper couldn’t get near it as it curled past him.
Suddenly there were tackles flying in all over the place but referee Anthony Taylor waved away Spurs appeals for a penalty when Harry Kane went down under a challenge from Alonso.
Kane twice went close, drawing a save from Courtois and missing by a whisker, before Christian Eriksen swung in a deadly free kick that only needed a touch but somehow evaded everyone.
Then, a slip by Azpilicueta and Dele Alli was in. He laid it off to Kane and the England star cut inside Andreas Christensen only to see his fierce low shot cannon back off the far post.
Courtois saved well from Ben Davies as Spurs turned the screw at the end of the first half, but Chelsea’s re-jigged defence, missing captain Gary Cahill, somehow held on.
In between all the goalmouth action, Jan Vertonghen and Eric Dier were both lucky not to see red for crunching tackles as the bookings on both sides began to mount.
Chelsea were under serious pressure but Willian almost doubled their lead when he rattled a shot from 30 yards off the post with Lloris beaten.
But just when it seemed like Spurs had run out of steam, disaster struck for the Blues.
Eriksen, so often the scourge of Chelsea, swung in a free kick after a soft foul by Tiemoue Bakayoko on Alli, and Batshuayi inexplicably headed it into his own net.
Even then the drama wasn’t over. Clinging on now, Chelsea turned the tables when Luiz caught Victor Wanyama daydreaming.
He fed Pedro and the substitute played in the onrushing Alonso, who smashed home with two minutes left on the clock.
Lloris will want that one back though. It was his poor throw which put Wanyama in trouble and he allowed Alonso’s shot to squirm under his body.
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Independent:
Chelsea show the courage of champions to bounce back and condemn Tottenham to yet more Wembley woe
Tottenham 1 Chelsea 2: The mood around Antonio Conte's team will instantly improve, but the vibe around Wembley remains so disconcerting for Tottenham
Miguel Delaney Wembley Stadium
Familiarity and discontentment. One of the big storylines for Tottenham Hotspur this season is going to be getting used to their temporary home of Wembley, but this was a feeling they will be all too depressingly used to: defeat at the stadium to a reinvigorated Chelsea, who resiliently claimed a win of champions.
Marcos Alonso scored a sensationally late second of the game to give his side a 2-1 win over Spurs, a first victory of the season, and also kill one of the other early storylines of the season: a Chelsea crisis. Manager Antonio Conte certainly didn’t celebrate like a manager who was disgruntled or feeling like he was going to walk away from this job some time soon. He was aggressively euphoric, but then that's what late wins like this will do.
The mood around the club will instantly improve, but the vibe around Wembley remains so disconcerting for Tottenham. This type of game was precisely the wrong way to start life at the stadium. In fact, beyond getting hammered, it’s difficult to think how this opening match here could have gone worse for Spurs. A calamitous late defeat in a game they dominated will only deepen the complex about this stadium, as well as all the discussion about it, especially since a depleted Chelsea were supposedly there for the taking.
While the Wembley issue does remain somewhat exaggerated, arguably a greater concern for Mauricio Pochettino is how this game conformed to a pattern - notably that from these two teams’ last meeting here, Chelsea’s 4-2 win in the FA Cup semi-final last season. Spurs again had the majority of the play and the chances, but it was Chelsea who had the incision. That remains such a problem to be fixed for the Argentine, especially given the pressure they had the champions under.
Shorn of so many of their most creative players, Chelsea were going to have to come up with something special to breach that Tottenham defence, but the wing-back offered precisely that.
On 24 minutes, after Dele Alli had tripped David Luiz, Alonso curled in a perfect free-kick to make it 1-0. Alvaro Morata had actually missed a much easier chance to open the scoring on five minutes when somehow heading wide, but Antonio Conte’s side couldn’t really think they deserved more. Tottenham had been battering them, and really pinning the champions back.
The last 10 minutes of the first half alone were torture for Chelsea, as a relentlessly effervescent Kane hit the post and so many crosses flashed across Thibaut Courtois’s box. Christian Eriksen also saw a free-kick go just wide, having also taken out half of Chelsea’s midfield with one deft turn.
As good as Spurs were at that point, though, the game did take on that familiar pattern that led to a familiar problem.
Just like in the FA Cup semi-final, they had so much of the ball and so much energy… but couldn’t really force their way through. It was all a bit blunt in the wrong way, most of their attacks ending with swung-in crosses. It is probably the one remaining problem with this Spurs side, a predictability that truly denies them from taking that next step.
Yes, they were someway impressive, but also frustrating. That frustration also told with a few abrasive challenges, particularly from Eric Dier on David Luiz. The England international was actually probably lucky to stay on.
While there was also an element of luck in Chelsea staying in the lead for so long, and their set-up was undoubtedly down to their depleted squad rather than any concerted tactic, the truth was that it quite suited the champions. Beyond the late first-half flurry and a few Kane runs, they dealt with most Spurs threats fairly comfortably. Hugo Lloris’s backline also had to be alert to quick Chelsea bursts, infrequent as they were. Willian was a constant threat, however, like when he smashed the post from distance on 73 minutes.
This was then the big challenge for Tottenham, to break Chelsea down, to get that big result in such a situation - to offer the inspiration required.
They ultimately failed that challenge, with the manner of their equaliser only emphasising the point. It wasn't one of their players who scored. Just when it looked like Pochettino could do with something different from the bench, that bit of unpredictability, the unpredictable happened. Conte brought on Batshuayi, and he proceeded to bury Eriksen’s 82nd-minute free-kick into his own net.
Wembley was by now rocking and looking like Spurs could really turn it around… only for Alonso to completely turn the game on its head. He burst through the left after a Victor Wanyama error and powerfully drilled the ball under the body of the despairing Lloris.
Spurs were beaten again. Wembley felt like a problem again. Chelsea felt like champions again.
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Sun:
MAKING HIS MARC Tottenham 1 Chelsea 2
Marcos Alonso brace secures dramatic late win for Antonio Conte at Wembley
Spaniard hit free-kick before Michy Batshuayi scored own-goal but popped up late on with last-gasp winner
By Jamie Gordon and Anthony Chapman
But Spanish wing-back Alonso spared his pal's blushes with a late winner to ruin the North Londoner's league opener at their new home.
Mauricio Pochettino's side won just one of five games at the national stadium last season and have tasted success just twice since the refurbished arena opened a decade ago.
The Blues, meanwhile, bounced back from their opening-day horror show at home to Burnley by downing their London rivals.
Alvaro Morata wasted a glorious early chance on his full debut as he headed wide from six yards under no pressure from the Spurs defence.
AWOL striker Diego Costa probably fell off his sunbed laughing as his replacement missed the sort of chance he would have buried last season.
Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane - who has never scored in August - all had sights of goal for Spurs but they were hit with a sucker punch after 24 minutes.
Alli was penalised for a trip on David Luiz and Alonso stepped up to bend the free-kick into the top corner.
Kane and Ben Davies brought superb saves from Thibaut Courtois and when the England hitman finally beat the Belgian he saw his effort crash back off the post.
Spurs started quickly in the second half but struggled to break down a disciplined Chelsea back three, with David Luiz sitting deep in midfield.
Victor Wanyama was set free on the edge of the area by a neat move but sliced his effort well wide with just over 20 minutes to play.
Soon later, Morata had a chance to put the game beyond Spurs after a brilliant run from Willian but Jan Vertonghen got back to block his right-footed effort.
Chelsea continued to play on the break and Willian rattled the woodwork, with the hosts beginning to look leggy after pressing high on a large playing-surface all game.
Pochettino's side kept plugging away and looked to have earned a draw when Batshuayi, who had just come on for Morata, was bamboozled by Eriksen's whipped delivery.
But Alonso struck past Hugo Lloris from a tight angle to seal victory in an entertaining contest.
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