Tottenham Hotspur & Andre Villas-Boas and Chelsea and Jose Mourinho shared the points at White Hart Lane as neither could get the upper hand in the London derby.
Gylfi Sugurdsson gave Tottenham a deserved lead in the 19th minute as the Lily Whites dominated the entire first half. A strong midfield of Paulinho, Townsend, Sigurdsson and Dembele dominated Chelsea's three of Ramires, Lampard and Mikel in the opening 45 minutes and Sigurdsson took advantage of it after a lovely ball from Eriksen.
John Terry grabbed the point for Chelsea after a 20 minute period of Chelsea supremacy, netting Juan Mata's free kick.
Chelsea continued to have the upper hand in midfield but couldn't take advantage. Fernando Torres who was given the start over Samuel Eto'o, was sent off following a second yellow in the 81st minute. Tottenham looked like the better side after Chelsea lost their front man but were not able to nick a second before the ref blew for full time.
While Torres was given the nod by Mourinho, Juan Mata was once again starting on the bench. The Spaniard was captured with a frustrated face many a time and will be even more irate after seeing the midfielders preferred over him being outclassed by Spurs in the first half.
Despite Tottenham's hold on the game before the goal, they were always going to need something slightly special to get past a solid Chelsea defence. It came in the 19th minute as Eriksen made a chance out of nothing and Sigurdsson calmly netted Roberto Soldado's lay off.
The Spurs fans had a great time at the Lane as they taunted Jose Mourinho with 'You're not special anymore'. Even after some close cut chances including a lovely move started by Andros Townsend and ending up with Paulinho giving the post a good rattling and some beautiful world class touches from Christian Eriksen, Chelsea came out after the break the better team. They slowly took a hold of the game enjoyed possession a plenty as the second half began.
Tottenham kept out chance after chance. Fine performances coming from the entire back four but after Hazard having a shot deflected wide and Oscar's 20 yarder being saved by Lloris, Mourinho's men finally got their goal. Mata came on following a fast-paced counter attack almost resulting in a second for Villas Boas' side and his perfectly placed free-kick was powerfully headed in by John Terry.
The Blues carried on to control the game and minutes after Andre Schurrle was subbed on they would have grabbed a winner should Hugo Lloris not have provided a wonderful save.
Torres was given his marching orders following a second yellow for a poor challenge in the air with Jan Vertonghen. Villas-Boas roared out orders, trying to get the winner. But despite his and Tottenham's best efforts it would not come despite a lovely chance in the closing moments from substitute, Jermaine Defoe, and a decent shot from the goalscorer, Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball
Gylfi Sugurdsson gave Tottenham a deserved lead in the 19th minute as the Lily Whites dominated the entire first half. A strong midfield of Paulinho, Townsend, Sigurdsson and Dembele dominated Chelsea's three of Ramires, Lampard and Mikel in the opening 45 minutes and Sigurdsson took advantage of it after a lovely ball from Eriksen.
John Terry grabbed the point for Chelsea after a 20 minute period of Chelsea supremacy, netting Juan Mata's free kick.
Chelsea continued to have the upper hand in midfield but couldn't take advantage. Fernando Torres who was given the start over Samuel Eto'o, was sent off following a second yellow in the 81st minute. Tottenham looked like the better side after Chelsea lost their front man but were not able to nick a second before the ref blew for full time.
While Torres was given the nod by Mourinho, Juan Mata was once again starting on the bench. The Spaniard was captured with a frustrated face many a time and will be even more irate after seeing the midfielders preferred over him being outclassed by Spurs in the first half.
Despite Tottenham's hold on the game before the goal, they were always going to need something slightly special to get past a solid Chelsea defence. It came in the 19th minute as Eriksen made a chance out of nothing and Sigurdsson calmly netted Roberto Soldado's lay off.
The Spurs fans had a great time at the Lane as they taunted Jose Mourinho with 'You're not special anymore'. Even after some close cut chances including a lovely move started by Andros Townsend and ending up with Paulinho giving the post a good rattling and some beautiful world class touches from Christian Eriksen, Chelsea came out after the break the better team. They slowly took a hold of the game enjoyed possession a plenty as the second half began.
Tottenham kept out chance after chance. Fine performances coming from the entire back four but after Hazard having a shot deflected wide and Oscar's 20 yarder being saved by Lloris, Mourinho's men finally got their goal. Mata came on following a fast-paced counter attack almost resulting in a second for Villas Boas' side and his perfectly placed free-kick was powerfully headed in by John Terry.
The Blues carried on to control the game and minutes after Andre Schurrle was subbed on they would have grabbed a winner should Hugo Lloris not have provided a wonderful save.
Torres was given his marching orders following a second yellow for a poor challenge in the air with Jan Vertonghen. Villas-Boas roared out orders, trying to get the winner. But despite his and Tottenham's best efforts it would not come despite a lovely chance in the closing moments from substitute, Jermaine Defoe, and a decent shot from the goalscorer, Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball