Palmer and Jackson scored the winning goals for the Blues.

Chelsea ended nine-man Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season as Nicolas Jackson’s hat-trick inspired a 4-1 win in a chaotic clash filled with VAR drama on Monday.

Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino was able to savour a sweet victory over Tottenham on his first return to the club since his sacking in 2019. But the Argentine’s revenge mission was overshadowed by an incredible litany of controversial incidents including red cards for Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie.

Dejan Kulusevski had given Tottenham an early lead, but Romero was dismissed for a foul that led to Cole Palmer’s equaliser from the penalty spot before half-time. Referee Michael Oliver and the over-worked VAR officials sent off Udogie soon after the break for his second booking. Both teams had goals disallowed by VAR, while Tottenham’s misfortune also included losing England playmaker James Maddison and Dutch defender Micky van de Ven to first-half injuries.

Chelsea finally made the most of their numerical advantage when Senegal striker Jackson netted three times in the closing stages to hand Tottenham their first defeat in 11 league games. Ange Postecoglou’s team remain in second place, one point behind leaders Manchester City, while Chelsea moved up to 10th place after their first win in three league games.

Pochettino was given a largely warm reception by Tottenham fans in recognition of a five-year reign that included taking them to their maiden Champions League final. But there could be no doubting his pleasure at inflicting a first league defeat on his former employers this term, especially given the extraordinary circumstances of one of the Premier League’s most incendiary matches.

Tottenham had made the perfect start in the sixth minute when Kulusevski seized on Chelsea’s slack marking to unleash a powerful shot that took a hefty deflection off Levi Colwill as it bounced past wrong-footed keeper Robert Sanchez.