Feisty Battle of Sydney Harbour Bridge between Chelsea and Tottenham saw old rivalries reignited while youngster who suffered brutal humiliation under Igor Tudor is ready to play key role for Roberto De Zerbi, writes KIERAN GILL

No such thing as a ‘friendly’ fixture between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Not even when you pick it up and move it to the other side of the planet. For a while here, the locals thought they were being treated to their own Battle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Spurs in particular initially looked like they were more interested in roughing up their fellow tourists. We had Jan Paul van Hecke clattering Joao Pedro, which was an intriguing clash in itself because when they were at Brighton together, the pair were involved in a training-ground punch-up.

Levi Colwill and Dominic Solanke scuffled away from the ball. Conor Gallagher went through Dario Essugo, which led to several Chelsea players surrounding their old pal in anger. Wesley Fofana complained that Gallagher poked him in the eye. Van Hecke elbowed Joao Pedro in the rib cage.

It was feisty, but in a weird way, it was beneficial. It meant this friendly was not played at some snoozy pace, as if the players figured it was simply a practice match. There was an intensity to it all. First, Spurs took the lead via Sandro Tonali’s 20-yard strike which had the help of a Colwill deflection. Then, Chelsea equalised with Jamie Gittens crossing for the head of Estevao Willian.

Spurs seemed in control until Kevin Danso received his red card. The only surprise is that it was not for a nasty challenge, but for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Danso had only been on the field for three minutes when he let the ball run behind him and he dragged down Joao Pedro. It was a deserved red, if a little strange to see one actually shown in a friendly.

From then on, Chelsea at least got to practice trying to unlock a deep defensive line. They did not, and Richarlison snatched victory for Spurs in stoppage time by tapping in the rebound.

There was no shortage of feistiness as Chelsea met Tottenham in Sydney Harbour on Saturday

The pre-season tussle was far from friendly at times as both teams sought the bragging rights

Chelsea really should have won this friendly, and the primary reason they did not was Antonin Kinsky, the goalkeeper who appears to be Roberto De Zerbi’s No 1 choice going into the next season.

Kinsky, 23, should not only be remembered for being substituted after 17 minutes away at Atletico Madrid. He can forge a fine career, perhaps even in the Premier League, if supported properly.

De Zerbi is ready to do that, and it is hard to decide which one of his saves was the best here.

He denied Estevao Willian twice as well as Joao Pedro. When Andy Robertson tried to chest the ball back to Kinsky, it actually fell to Joao Pedro, who was ready to run away in celebration. But Kinsky was there – again.

It was intriguing watching how Spurs set themselves up. When their two central defenders split apart, Kinsky became the third centre back in between them, owing to his passing ability.

A minor injury for Robert Sanchez meant Chelsea had to rely on Teddy Sharman-Lowe, 23, in goal. The plan for next season is for Sanchez and Mike Penders to compete together.

Penders is still on his post-World Cup break, but you do wonder whether he should have cut short his downtime to come to Sydney to try to impress Xabi Alonso. Sanchez's small issue could have been an opportunity. Instead, Penders isn't here yet, and Sharman-Lowe started in goal instead.

Teddy Sharman-Lowe will likely be Xabi Alonso's third-choice goalkeeper but he started Down Under with Mike Penders still absent

Penders’ last appearance at club level was for Strasbourg, on loan from Chelsea, on May 17. He went away with Belgium for the World Cup, though went unused in all six of their games, with Thibaut Courtois preferred. The Belgians exited at the quarter-final stage on July 10.

During this pre-season, Jamie Gittens has impressed, both in the games played and in training. The Mykhailo Mudryk news is now public. He is set to join up with Chelsea in this pre-season because he can finally return to being a footballer again.

That means Gittens is set for even more competition, from Mudryk and, of course, Morgan Rogers after he joined from Aston Villa for £117million.