| Chelsea 2v1Tottenham | |
Scorer: Lampard (44) Scorer: Kalou (88) | Scorer: Sandro (18) |
A late Salomon Kalou winner keeps the title race well and truly alive after Chelsea came from behind to beat Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
The Ivorian, relegated to the bench today but brought on with half an hour to go, slid home the winner two minutes from time to complete an excellent comeback against a resilient Spurs side who had led through Sandro's long-ranger early on.
Didier Drogba hit the bar before a controversially-awarded Frank Lampard goal, which may or may not have crossed the line, drew Chelsea level just before half-time.
The win, which was on the balance of play deserved, looked for long periods to be beyond the Blues but now sees us three points behind Manchester United who meet Arsenal in London on Sunday.
Chelsea came into this as the Premier League's form team, having taken 23 points from the last nine games, while in contrast Spurs had won just won of their last 10 in all competitions, and arrived at Stamford Bridge having not tasted victory here since 1990.
Fernando Torres did enough in his goalscoring cameo against West Ham last week to persuadeCarlo Ancelotti to recall him to the starting line-up, joining Didier Drogba at the front of a 4-4-2 formation. John Terry was making his 500th Chelsea appearance, John Mikel Obi his 200th, and Drogba was appearing in the Premier League for the 200th time.
Spurs recalled Aaron Lennon to the right flank while Sandro, international team-mate of David Luiz and Chelsea subs Ramires and Alex was in central midfield. Benoit Assou-Ekotto was ruled out with a hamstring problem so Vedran Corluka deputised at left-back.
Former Chelsea men William Gallas, in central defence, and Carlo Cudicini, on the bench, were in the visitors' squad.
Despite the later 5.30pm kick-off, the game began in bright, warm sunshine with an electric atmosphere at the Bridge. The energy transferred itself onto the pitch, with both sides looking for a quick start but lacking a little finesse.
The first shooting opportunity fell to Tottenham's lone forward Roman Pavlyuchenko after aBranislav Ivanovic slip had left him in space, the Russian firing wide of the far post.
At the other end Torres had the beating of Corluka but his low shot was deflected behind for a corner which Ivanovic could only head wide.
Four minutes later Drogba almost had Chelsea in front, his 35-yard free-kick bouncing back off the crossbar with Heurelho Gomes beaten. Michael Essien and Florent Malouda then each had a low drive saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
It was looking like a Chelsea goal could be imminent, but football has a habit of providing the unexpected, and that was exactly what Sandro's opener for Tottenham was.
Rafael van der Vaart fed the midfielder 30 yards from goal with a bouncing pass, and few inside the stadium would have expected the 22-year-old to shoot, even fewer anticipating that his drive would end up in the top corner past a bamboozled Petr Cech.
Despite the setback, Chelsea and Torres in particular were taking the game to Spurs, and it was his work again that provided Essien with a decent headed opportunity, Gomes tipping over before Drogba flicked on for the Spaniard but he could only stoop to head high.
Ivanovic was having a difficult time, finding little reward in his forward forays down the right while also having to mark the dangerous Gareth Bale, for whom a foul on by the Serb was punished with a yellow card by referee Andre Marriner.
The man in the middle had another call to make five minutes before half-time when Frank Lampard went down under a challenge from Sandro inside the area, though by waving play on he looked to have got the call right.
Suddenly Marriner was centre of attention. A minute before half-time he had an even bigger call, Lampard's shot spilled towards goal by Gomes, who scrambled to retrieve it.
Some replays suggested the ball had not crossed the line, others suggested it may have done, but the goal was awarded and Chelsea were deservedly level right on half-time.
The second half began with Gomes receiving a huge reception from the home support, but redeeming himself slightly with his own fans by palming away a Drogba drive that had power and swerve.
Malouda brought another low stop from the goalkeeper before Ancelotti made his first change,Ramires on for Essien as Chelsea went 4-3-3. Harry Redknapp followed suit by bringing off Pavlyuchenko, just booked, for Jermain Defoe.
Salomon Kalou quickly followed Ramires on, replacing Torres and taking up a right-wing slot. With his first touch he could have put his side in front, Gomes parrying another booming Drogba free-kick straight to him but his shot flying over.
Chelsea were in the ascendancy, finally getting hold of Modric and Van der Vaart by pressing harder in midfield. The Spurs pair had been having too easy a time.
A Kaboul challenge on Malouda brought another Chelsea penalty shout with three-quarters of the game gone, but the defender had just, and only just, played the ball before Gomes gathered.
The game looked as if it would have another twist before it was over.
Lampard came close twice, firing wide both times, before Drogba was able to take another look from a free-kick seven minutes from time, this time right on the edge of the Spurs box, albeit on the right-hand corner.
Rather than shoot, he opted to square the ball across the area and found Terry who would have desperately wanted to mark his special day with a goal, though he could only half-connect and Gomes could fall on the ball.
There were still a few minutes to play though, and you can never write Chelsea off.
Drogba battled his way into the area holding off a pair of challenges before attempting to pull the trigger and mishitting his effort across goal, where Kalou was waiting to slide home a vital winner on 88 minutes.
Four minutes of time added on brought no more chances for Spurs, and Chelsea's title hopes live on.
