Jackson treble seals ‘maddest game ever’ with five goals disallowed, two sent off and two forced off

IT was difficult to know who to feel the most sorry for after this extraordinary night of chaos and confusion. 

Ange Postecoglou, who lost his unbeaten Premier League record and almost half of his team to red cards and injury. 

Nicolas Jackson’s hat-trick helped Chelsea beat Tottenham 4-1Richard Pelham / The Sun

Cristian Romero was one of two Spurs players sent offRichard Pelham / The Sun

VAR John Brooks, who was worked as hard as a Victorian chimney sweep in disallowing FIVE goals and reviewing several more controversial incidents. 

Or the 61,726 paying punters who paid their hard-earned money to be here but were left staring at big screens for vast periods of the night as Brooks pored over the important work across London at Stockley Park. 

This was the ultimate in remote-controlled modern football as a packed house were kept in the dark for long spells of a bitter and barmy derby.

Yet there was also a stirring sense of the old school about the way in which Tottenham’s nine men held Chelsea at bay before Nicolas Jackson’s winner and then pressed hard for an unlikely equaliser. 

Postecoglou lost Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie to red cards, as well as James Maddison and Micky Van de Ven to injury – leaving him without four of his best players for Saturday’s trip to Wolves. 

But he could be proud of the stirring resistance of those who remained, despite former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino sneaking away with all the points, thanks to a Cole Palmer penalty and two late Jackson strikes.  

Pochettino’s last appearance here was for a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United which preceded his sacking four years ago. 

His return, much discussed, was largely ignored by the Tottenham faithful. 

Destiny Udogie was also dismissed by Michael OliverRichard Pelham / The Sun

ReutersNicolas Jackson took his tally for the season to five goals[/caption]

And why should they have paid much attention? Their team had been flying, they were hardly going to boo their best manager of the last 40 years and were certainly not going to be given any hero’s reception to a Chelsea boss. 

The bedlam did not take long to unfold, Spurs taking the lead inside six minutes, thanks to a sweeping pass from James Maddison to pick out Pep Matar Sarr, who fed Kulusevski. 

The Swede’s shot took a massive deflection off Levi Colwill, who had turned his back in a way which would not have impressed Pochettino, and left Robert Sanchez helpless. 

A Pedro Porro blunder let in Sterling, who released Nicolas Jackson only for Guglielmo Vicario to push round the post. 

Then it was over to Brooks in Stockley Park as the VAR chalked off four goals in swift succession.

First Son Heung-Min was inches offside when he poked home Brennan Johnson’s cross. 

Destiny Udogie survived a VAR check for a two-footed challenge on Sterling, who was soon ploughing past a flailing Pedro and finding the net, only for Brooks to spot that he had handled as he did so. 

In the build-up to that one, Romero escaped punishment for kicking out at Colwill but the Argentinian’s time would soon come.  

It was a busy night for VAR with five goals disallowed as well as the red cardsRichard Pelham / The Sun

Moises Caicedo was the next to be denied by Brooks, the £115million man firing home but Jackson in an offside position and interfering with play.  

That ‘let-off’ was a double-edged sword for Spurs though, as Romero was red-carded for clattering his countryman Enzo Fernandes as he attempted a clearance. 

Michael Oliver was sent to his monitor, pointed to the spot and handed Romero a straight red – the home crowd roaring their disapproval when the incident was replayed on the big screens. 

Palmer equalised from the spot but, naturally, it wasn’t straightforward – Vicario deflected it onto the inside of the post before he nestled in the opposite corner.

On came the lesser-spotted Eric Dier, just in time for Jackson to turn in a cross from Sterling, who had been offside.

By this stage, Chelsea fans had pretty much given up celebrating their team’s ‘goals’. 

Still, the misery piled up for Spurs as Van de Ven pulled up with a hamstring injury as he tried to out-sprint Jackson. 

He and Maddison, who had turned an ankle, were both withdrawn by Postecoglou – whose half-time must have been spent wondering what on Earth had happened and who he had left available.

Ange Postecoglou’s unbeaten start is overRichard Pelham / The Sun

During 12 minutes of injury-time, Brooks was busy again, allowing Reece James to get away flailing arm in the face of Udogie.

But the next red card was all Oliver’s own work – Udogie sent packing for a wild challenge on Sterling which merited the full-back’s second yellow. 

From the resulting free-kick, Jackson should have scored but his weak header was turned over by a combination of the heroic Vicario and Hojbjerg. 

The remaining nine men were being roared on by a defiant home support and Chelsea were becoming increasingly panicked, continually duffing crosses and being caught offside. 

When Vicario made an extraordinary block to deny Marc Cucurella – both the keeper and Yves Bissoouma went down for treatment. 

Spurs had used all five of their subs and were briefly contemplating the prospect of going down to seven. 

When the breakthrough finally arrived on 75 minutes, Sterling sprung Tottenham’s high-line offside trap and centred for Jackson to stroke home and there was an inordinately long VAR check from Brooks who must have felt he had been out of the game for too long. 

Extraordinarily, the nine men thought they had managed an immediate equaliser when Dier volleyed past Sanchez, only for Brooks – taking his time again – to correctly rule that he was offside when Rodrigoi Bentacut flicked a free-kick into his path. 

After Son had been denied an equaliser by Sanchez, Jackson side-footed home a second from Gallagher’s pass and Tottenham’s resistance was finally over.

Cole Palmer had equalised for Chelsea before Jackson’s hat-trickRichard Pelham / The Sun