LONDON -- Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso refused to blame stand-in goalkeeper Mike Penders for his key error which helped Tottenham to a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and said Cole Palmer will learn from his red card.
Tottenham headed to Chelsea knowing they'd only won one league match at Stamford Bridge in 33 seasons. But Spurs dominated much of the game, and came away with a key victory against a Chelsea side who finished with 10 men after Palmer was sent off in the 80th minute for two yellow cards.
Penders' own goal gave Spurs the lead in the 77th minute when the Chelsea keeper, deputising for the injured Emiliano Martínez, punched a corner into his own net.
It was Penders' first league start for Chelsea and from there, Spurs doubled their lead in the 87th minute through Mathys Tel, by which time Palmer had been dismissed for two yellow cards.
Palmer's first yellow was for a push on Mateus Fernandes -- an act Spurs manager Roberto de Zerbi thought warranted a red card in its own right -- and the second booking was for a late challenge on Conor Gallagher.
But despite the key error from his keeper, Alonso said the team must take collective responsibility for the defeat.
"We win and we lose together, it's part of the job to deal with and overcome mistakes. I know this myself as well. We support Mike, we support the others and he will learn from that and he will want to prove he can do better and we must show we can do better," he said.
And regarding Palmer's red card, Alonso said: "I haven't seen them but I've told that probably it was right, it was our first red card, and we need to continue in this way to have the maturity to cope in those moments. When it was 1-0, there was still 20 minutes left to go. I need to check the reaction to talk with Cole but it is one to learn from in the future."
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On whether Palmer's lack of composure was a worry, Alonso said: "It's not a concern, his focus on the game when he's enjoying it and after the 1-0 it's key to keep calm and mature."
Chelsea were without injured forward João Pedro and lacked bite in attack. "We don't know yet as there's a lot of fluid," Alonso said. "He felt it yesterday, we need to wait until tomorrow to do the tests to learn about the situation and the seriousness of the injury and we will know soon enough."
The defeat will come as a setback after Chelsea were showing progress under Alonso following a comprehensive win over Bournemouth and an impressive win at Everton. "For sure we are disappointed with the result, with the performance," Alonso said.
"At half-time we spoke and we thought it was going to be about the first goal -- the second half was about being tight, there were some half chances from them and us. It was about key moments -- and once we conceded the first goal, it changed everything. We needed a reaction, the red card went the other way, and we can do better."
