Chelsea and Tottenham’s Wembley war shows that neither Manchester United nor City will run away with the title

The first proper glimpse of the Premier League title race will not be of any consolation for Tottenham fans as they grapple with a familiar sense of disappointment at Wembley.

But both their unfortunate team and a resilient Chelsea offered a sense of what the battle for silverware will be all about this season in Sunday’s compelling collision.

Spurs did not deserve to lose, but Antonio Conte’s team found a way to win at a critical moment.

That means Mauricio Pochettino has to console himself with the fact that there was plenty on offer to suggest his players will soon feel at home in their temporary HQ.

That won’t really happen until the dust settles, because this was a painful defeat after Spurs worked so hard to draw level - but the nature of the performance will surely help in the long run.

Chelsea, meanwhile, claimed the victory - thanks to Marcos Alonso’s double strike - on an afternoon when the psychological boost it delivered was of as much value as their first three points after a shocking defeat against Burnley.

It was a muscular, relentless game with plenty of hunger and desire from both sides - as well as some impressive individual performances from the likes of David Luiz and Spurs’ elegant Danish engineer, Christian Eriksen.

Sometimes, especially early in the season, it doesn’t do to draw too many hefty conclusions. We could simply relish the fact that two good teams showed some of their best qualities in an entertaining match.

But here’s the main point about what happened in the drab, grey light of north-west London.

This was the first confrontation of the title race’s heavyweights. And its powerful and competitive nature told us more about the true realities of what is to come than anything Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool have done so far.

As for Arsenal, they have reverted to type over their first two games, with a fraught win against Leicester and a defeat at Stoke. Some may think they are already drifting out of the equation, anyway.

As for Jose Mourinho’s United, they have looked hugely imposing in beating both West Ham and Swansea 4-0.

Yet to borrow the derogatory team-talk Sir Alex Ferguson used to deliver to his United players whenever they played Spurs - ‘Lads, its Tottenham’ - well, it was West Ham and Swansea. Bigger test are to come.

The same goes for City, who have beaten newcomers Brighton - although a more stern examination of Pep Guardiola’s side and big-spending Everton’s qualifications to make this a new ‘Big Seven’ comes on Monday night.

Liverpool looked ponderous drawing with Watford and beating Palace, so Wembley enjoyed the first real sight of intensity in this battle at the top.

Nobody says ‘Lads, its Tottenham,’ anymore. But for a post which thwarted Harry Kane and a superb Thibaut Courtois save from Ben Davies, this could easily have ended differently.

The familiar Spurs qualities - allying strength, metronomic running and neat, clever inter-play - were all in evidence.

Chelsea’s first goal from Marcos Alonso’s spectacular free kick caught out Hugo Lloris. But goalkeepers these days face all kinds of trouble from spinning balls which are designed to increase the number of such strikes - and keep the TV chiefs and viewers happy.

Tottenham were caught out defensively when Alonso got in behind to score the late winner, and Pochettino will have to jump on that because fine margins will be exploited this season.

For Chelsea, this was satisfying and much-needed given the tetchy summer at Stamford Bridge.

They were patched-up but they, too, looked strong and driven just when plenty in the game were wondering whether their DNA had been skewed.

There was more than a touch of their familiar ability to triumph under pressure.

Normal service resumed there, then - and normal service for Tottenham at Wembley, unfortunately. They showed they can eventually make it a home-from-home, though.