COMMENT:Tottenham Hotspur have done the entire Premier League a favour!
Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs were brave and courageous in defeating Antonio Conte's Blues 2-0 at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night.
A reverse result would have seen Chelsea take an eight-point lead over the rest of the competition, and conversely, would have put the West Londoners 13 clear of local rivals Spurs.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Pochettino's side also allowed fierce North London rivals Arsenal to keep their Premier League record of 13 consecutive wins in tact by denying Chelsea a 14th-straight triumph.
Coincidentally, by beating Chelsea, Tottenham put themselves above the Gunners on the table, pushing Arsene Wenger's men down to fifth position and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City to fourth.
But overall, from an entire competition viewpoint, the result at 'The Lane' has breathed new life into the title race.
It shows that Spurs, if not prior, are now considered a genuine title contender.
It shows that Chelsea are human. Beatable, if you will.
It shows that Antonio Conte's almost impenetrable 3-4-2-1 (3-4-3 for argument's sake) can indeed be pierced.
It shows that Pochettino has a group of players willing to listen to instructions and follow them through for the good of the team.
It shows that a 20-year-old from League One can have a serious say in a world-class contest.
The Blues had deployed their best XI as well, so there are absolutely no excuses.
After 102 days without defeat, a negative result was bound to come at some point but not many of us predicted the nature of that inevitable loss.
Spurs showed belief. They outplayed Chelsea. All game.
Spurs were not scared like they appeared at Stamford Bridge last season when they handed Leicester City the premiership.
This squad has grown up immensely over the past six months and past lessons learned have given them the conviction that perhaps, with some required luck, they can draw the curtain on the campaign in May with 19 other sides below them.
They've won five on the spin themselves, some in devastating style, and have lay down the marker.
Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen, Victor Wanyama, Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Erik Lamela and Mousa Dembele are all names you can see on engraved on a nice piece of silverware.
But for that to become a reality, Spurs have to continue with the exact same daring mindset, fearlessness, guile and poise that won them a thoroughly deserved three points on Wednesday.
While there are two or three major chances, there remains a total of six teams who are capable of, and who now have a taste for premiership glory.
Forget last seasons anomaly. 2016/17 has seen sanity return to English football.
It is odds-on that one of the 'big six' - Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Man City, Arsenal or Manchester United - will be taking honours this season, and for good reason. They are the best six teams in the land.
And what was previously a closed title procession is now, thanks to Spurs, well and truly open for business!
