Credit: Imago and Sky Sports Football on X

Pete Hanson

Wed 20 May 2026 7:40, UK

Djed Spence took to X to air his displeasure that Liam Delap avoided a red card as Chelsea defeated Tottenham on Tuesday.

Tottenham were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, meaning their fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League will go down to the wire in Sunday’s finale at home to Everton.

Enzo Fernandez’s long-range stunner put the Blues ahead in the first half before Andrey Santos doubled the lead shortly before Roberto De Zerbi was lining up changes from the Tottenham dugout.

Richarlison did bring Tottenham back into the game to set up hope of a much-needed equaliser, but ultimately it was a mission that fell short.

Tottenham’s loss to Chelsea means the pressure remains firmly on with just two points separating them from 18th-place West Ham, but it was a game shrouded in controversy.

Liam Delap controversially avoids red card versus Tottenham

Spurs were already reeling from a contentious moment in the 85th minute, which saw Marc Cucurella booked for wrestling Micky van de Ven to the ground when a corner was due to be taken.

Stuart Attwell booked the Chelsea full-back but a penalty was not awarded, as it was deemed by the VAR that the corner had not yet been taken when Attwell blew for the infringement.

A few minutes later, Attwell brandished another yellow card when Delap caught Spence in the face with his elbow, despite having looked directly at the Spurs defender before catching him.

Spence, understandably, clearly felt that his opponent should have received his marching orders and posted on X with a series of laughing face emojis accompanied by a clip of the incident.

There are no guarantees that Tottenham would have gone on to clinch a point anyway, but it was just another frustration of a night full of disappointment for De Zerbi and his side.

How much would relegation cost Tottenham?

The 2025-26 campaign has been an unmitigated disaster at Tottenham, and the cost of relegation would be significantly worse than an isolated defeated at the home of a rival, who have consistently been a bogey side for Spurs.

It has been estimated that relegation could cost Tottenham in the region of £261million in terms of revenue should they make the catastrophic drop into the Championship.

Spurs made £690m in revenue last year, the ninth best in Europe, and are perform impressively commercially due to their state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But the loss of top-flight broadcast revenue would be hugely damaging, while they are already set to be hit in the pocket by missing out on Champions League money.

The stakes at home to Everton this weekend could scarcely be higher. It’s time to dig deep and get over the line.