I n reality, it was only three points. All Tottenham took from their 2-0 win at Chelsea last Saturday evening was a helpful boost in the Premier League standings. But it feels far more significant than that.

This is a fixture Tottenham almost never win. In their 34 previous visits to Chelsea in the Premier League , they had won only once. It was their first win to nil at Stamford Bridge in any competition since December 1986, nearly 40 years ago. Winning at Chelsea is huge. Plenty of Spurs fans have only ever seen this happen once before, in April 2018 under Mauricio Pochettino, when their team was a formidable force.

Tottenham went into the game in the relegation zone with just one win this season – against promoted Coventry – after back-to-back 17th-place finishes, and with noteworthy absentees from their best team.…