The TimesMarch 31, 2008
Ricardo Carvalho claims reward for afternoon of hard labourChelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0
Chelsea’s grit and determination are keeping them in the title race, but Sir Alex Ferguson has little to worry about as he heads to the Eternal City. The Manchester United manager need not waste any of his prayers on domestic matters and can devote all his attention to his side’s Champions League quarter-final against AS Roma tomorrow.
With a five-point lead and only six matches left, the title is United’s to lose, with Chelsea showing little sign of prising the trophy from their grasp. Avram Grant’s team will have to raise their game to previously unattained levels if they are to be victorious in the must-win home match against United on April 26, while a repeat of this poor performance could lead to defeat in any of their other five games.
Their first-team coach would not admit as much, but Chelsea need to win all of their matches to have any hope of winning the title. Having inherited a troubled team in fifth place, Grant deserves considerable credit for keeping them in contention for this long, but the feeling is reminiscent of last season, when Chelsea huffed and puffed to stay involved before running out of steam at the last as United’s superior class told.
With better finishing from Middlesbrough, Chelsea’s hopes could have been all but extinguished as, after a stupefying first 70 minutes, the visiting team roused themselves to strike the woodwork three times in nine minutes.
Afonso Alves was the most culpable, flashing a header wide, hitting a post with the goal at his mercy and then heading against the bar – efforts that made Gareth Southgate’s claim that it was the Brazilian’s sharpest performance since his £12 million arrival from Heerenveen all the more worrying.
Southgate continues to impress as an enterprising young manager and it is reasonable to assume that his game plan did not involve conceding an early goal, which at Stamford Bridge is the footballing equivalent of attempting to climb Mount Everest in flip-flops. As the match programme took great delight in celebrating, Chelsea have not lost a league match at home for more than four years, so giving them a head start is not advisable.
As a former central defender, Southgate will have been all the more frustrated that the only goal of the game, if not quite soft, was avoidable. Gary O’Neil’s foul on Michael Ballack by the left-hand corner of the penalty area presented Wayne Bridge with an opportunity to demonstrate his dead-ball skills and with him enjoying a rare Premier League outing while Ashley Cole rests for the Champions League quarter-final, first leg against Fenerbahçe on Wednesday, the England defender duly obliged.
Bridge’s free kick eluded all Middlesbrough’s defenders, with Ricardo Carvalho arriving at the far post to head home his first goal of the season.
Grant took a significant stride forward with his first victory against a top-four rival by beating Arsenal the previous weekend, but this could easily have been two steps back as Chelsea struggled against a team with little to play for.
Mark Schwarzer’s only involvement after Carvalho’s goal had been blocking speculative, long-range shots from John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien until he tipped Salomon Kalou’s header over the bar 70 minutes later, although Shaun Wright-Phillips did provide a perfect illustration of why he has been dropped from the England squad after his introduction as a substitute, with two bad misses.
The tone of the afternoon was set by television pictures of a Chelsea fan asleep on her neighbour’s shoulder, but the home team’s supporters were jolted out of their lethargy in the final quarter. Middlesbrough’s revival was sparked by David Wheater, whose long pass from his own half was missed by the onrushing Carlo Cudicini, giving Alves the chance to score an open goal, but he missed.
If Chelsea were worried at that stage, they were panicking a few minutes later when Adam Johnson delivered a free kick into the penalty area, from which first Alves and then Wheater hit the bar, while the substitute could have won a penalty when his cross appeared to roll down the arm of Juliano Belletti. Grant conceded that Chelsea were fortunate to stay in contention, but to judge from the attendance of 39,993 – Chelsea’s second lowest of the season – some fans are losing the faith.
How they rated
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 5 J Belletti Y 5 R Carvalho 6 J Terry 5 W Bridge 6 M Essien 6 J O Mikel 5 M Ballack 5 J Cole 6 D Drogba 6 S Kalou 5 Substitutes: S Wright-Phillips 4 (for Ballack, 65min), N Anelka (for Kalou, 78), Alex (for Drogba, 90). Not used: Hilário, A Shevchenko. Next: Man City (a).
Middlesbrough (4-4-2): M Schwarzer 6 L Young 5 D Wheater 6 E Pogatetz 5 A Taylor 5 G O’Neil 5 L Cattermole Y 5 G Boateng 5 S Downing 6 J Aliadière 5 Tuncay Sanli 4 Substitutes: A Alves 5 (for Tuncay, 65min), A Johnson (for O’Neil, 80), M Shawky (for Cattermole, 90). Not used: R Turnbull, T McMahon. Next: Man United (h). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph;
Lucky Chelsea hold out to beat MiddlesbroughBy John Ley
Chelsea (1) 1 Middlesbrough (0) 0
If Chelsea win the Premier League title they should dismantle the goal at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge and reconstruct it in their club museum, alongside Jose Mourinho's raincoat and Peter Osgood's shirt, as a standing memorial to the day it earned them three of their most valuable points.
A week after having to battle back from behind to beat Arsenal, a below-par Chelsea stuttered to another win, but only after Middlesbrough succeeded in striking a post and the crossbar three times in a 10-minute spell late in the second half.
Chelsea returned to second place thanks to an early goal from Ricardo Carvalho and remain in the pursuit for the title, sitting five points behind Manchester United with six games to play including, crucially, the visit of United on April 26. But after the enthusiastic endeavour and spirit that earned Chelsea their win over Arsenal, they failed to find any rhythm and, after missing a catalogue of chances, were fortunate not to concede late on.
Had Afonso Alves, who struck both the right-hand post and the bar following his introduction as a substitute, or David Wheater, who also hit the bar, been inches more accurate, Chelsea would now be contemplating the end of their title challenge. Instead, they fly to Turkey today ahead of their Champions League game against Fenerbahce, knowing they are still in the race.
Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager, preferred, understandably, to consider the points gained rather than the performance. "Is this wood?" he asked afterwards, grinning and tapping a table, his side's good fortune not lost on the Israeli. "I cannot say it was our best game but it was important for us to win rather than the quality of the football because we are so close to the end of the season. It was a good win and they were unlucky.
"Man United and Arsenal won yesterday so it was important for us to win, no matter how. I don't think all the three teams will take all their points. Since I came here we have chased teams and we've passed Liverpool and Arsenal. So we need to keep winning and hope that when United come here, it will still be important."
Chelsea have now taken 37 points from a possible 45 since their last defeat - at Arsenal in December - so perhaps they can be allowed a less impressive performance in what was their 79th home game without defeat in the league.
They began well enough; Didier Drogba had already troubled goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer when, in the fifth minute, Wayne Bridge's free-kick was converted by Carvalho's powerful header.
With Middlesbrough dropping deep - their performance in the early stages described by manager Gareth Southgate as "soft and floppy" - Chelsea dominated. Drogba went close twice more and then Chelsea brought on Shaun Wright-Phillips, who made an immediate impact, sending one effort just wide of the left-hand post before side-footing over from 12 yards.
Middlesbrough sent on Alves, their £12 million Brazilian, and he quickly troubled Chelsea's pedestrian defence. After directing a free header just over, he chased a long ball, saw Carlo Cudicini hesitate and rolled it against a post.
Chelsea were panicking and soon afterwards Alves struck the woodwork while David Wheater followed up and did likewise. Chelsea were becoming rattled and might have conceded a late penalty if referee Phil Dowd had decreed that Juliano Belletti deliberately handled from a Stewart Downing cross. "I've seen them given," added Southgate.
Chelsea certainly missed Frank Lampard, absent through illness, but he should return in Turkey. Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have the chance to carry their good form in the second half into next weekend's encounter with United and, in the process, could do Chelsea another favour. Luck, indeed, may still be on Grant's side.
Man of the matchWayne Bridge (Chelsea) 8
Set up Chelsea's only goalCompleted 83 per cent of passesWon all his five tackles ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Woodwork keeps edgy Chelsea in the title raceChelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0
By MATT LAWTON
Never mind the Premier League and a disgraceful decision to reschedule Chelsea's visit to Goodison Park next month, condemning them to two games in four days.
Chelsea's players also seem intent on making life as difficult as possible for themselves.
What should have been an easy victory at Stamford Bridge turned into something of an ordeal for the final 17 minutes, with only good fortune to thank for the three points which keep them in a fascinating title race.
It was extraordinary from the moment Carlo Cudicini rushed out of his area to challenge Afonso Alves to the split-second when Ricardo Carvalho appeared to use his arm to deal with a teasing cross from Stewart Downing.
Even if Middlesbrough's players were not sure, members of their coaching staff certainly thought it was a penalty.
By then, Boro had hit the Chelsea woodwork three times. Alves did so first after knocking the ball beyond the careless Cudicini and striking a long-range shot that bounced back off the post.
Then, in an amazing sequence, Alves squandered another chance by heading against the bar from a Downing corner from close range. David Wheater did the same from the rebound before Jeremie Aliadiere blazed wildly over from two yards out.
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate was left to reflect on the kind of penalty he said had been given against his side this season, while counterpart Avram Grant was able to express his relief at the result.
"They were unlucky," admitted Grant. "We controlled the ball, we controlled the game and we made a good start, and because of that I think we thought it was going to be easy."
It looked easy for the opening 45 minutes. The goal came after just six, Carvalho rising above George Boateng to meet a Wayne Bridge free-kick with a fine header that floated beyond the reach of Mark Schwarzer, and by the time the interval arrived, Boro seemed ready to throw in the towel.
"We looked like a team who had turned up just to exchange shirts with Chelsea at the end," said Southgate.
"But at half-time I told them they should have no regrets."
Southgate had a point. If this was an important match, nobody at Stamford Bridge appeared to realise, not even the supporters.
They watched in silence, although perhaps in embarrassed silence after the stick they gave Grant prior to the comeback against Arsenal the previous weekend.
'You don't know what you're doing,' they had cried. Two more victories amounts to quite a riposte from the Israeli.
Given Boro's recent performance at Arsenal, this amounted to a good result and one that could be all the more valuable if Manchester United drop points at the Riverside on Sunday.
Boro have proved something of a bogey team for United and Alves, for all his failings in front of goal yesterday, could be quite a handful now that he has another half-anhour under his belt.
Grant is convinced points will be dropped by all three teams who remain in the chase for the championship.
"I just can't see anyone taking all the points that are available to them," he said.
"But we are moving in the right direction. We have been chasing since I became manager. First we overtook Liverpool, then Arsenal. Now we are chasing United."
Catch United and the 'flair players' Grant says he wants are bound to follow.
It was interesting yesterday to open the programme and see an advertisement featuring Kaka. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but the AC Milan star is a player who features prominently on Grant's wish-list.
Someone with flair as well as the ability to finish would have killed off Boro long before Cudicini tried to press the self-destruct button.
As it was, opportunities were squandered, not least by Shaun Wright-Phillips after the winger was sent on as a replacement for Michael Ballack.
Didier Drogba also threatened, as did Mikel, but Chelsea's failure to build on the advantage that had been provided by Carvalho gave Boro cause for optimism.
The goal aside, Southgate's side were defensively strong. Schwarzer produced one or two important saves and in Wheater they have a young centre half capable of one day playing for England.
Afterwards he asked permission to enter Chelsea's room to exchange shirts with Drogba, who was only too happy to oblige.
In the end, Boro impressed going forward as well. Downing created problems for Chelsea on both flanks, not least against the defensively inept Juliano Belletti.
"We just need to change the mentality of the club and believe that we can get results against the big teams," said Southgate. Change it in time for United on Sunday and the luck might just remain with Chelsea. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Chelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0: Chelsea get lost on the way but manage to stay in title huntBy Jason BurtMonday, 31 March 2008
A Sunday lunchtime stroll for Chelsea turned into one of those wild cross-country rambles in which you get lost, end up frantically scrambling across muddy fields and through prickly hedges, only to eventually find your way and get home in one piece. Just. Results are everything at present which, for Avram Grant, is a very good thing. For this, after a bright start, was a performance to forget.
Middlesbrough struck the woodwork three times, should have had a penalty, while Afonso Alves missed with a free header. The blind panic which appeared to seize Chelsea in the final 20 minutes was astonishing. Set-pieces, for them, have suddenly provoked a Pavlovian response of imitating headless chickens. The introduction of Alves, until now a £12m misfit for Boro, seemed to trigger something in the visitors which unsettled the home side to such an extent that Grant was stood with his arms outstretched imploring the referee to blow the final whistle.
Chelsea will point out that substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips also wasted three great opportunities during that time but the wildness and lack of composure he displayed was, in itself, symptomatic of the collective loss of nerve that spread throughout the team.
In the end they held on to leap-frog Arsenal, reclaim second place in the table and reduce Manchester United's advantage to five points once again. Little wonder Grant tapped the wooden table before he sat down in the press room after the contest to admit that, yes, his team had been lucky to win and extend their unbeaten league run to 15 matches.
Not that Michael Ballack saw the denouement – unless he was watching from monitors inside the dressing room. For the second home match running the German midfielder reacted to being substituted by marching directly down the tunnel without acknowledging his manager. At least this time there was not also a chorus directed at Grant of "You don't know what your doing," (which of course he turned on its head against Arsenal by winning the game through his changes).
Indeed, there were not many choruses of anything at all. Having scored in the sixth minute through Ricardo Carvalho's towering header from 14 yards when the central defender lost George Boateng to reach Wayne Bridge's free-kick after Ballack was fouled, Chelsea threatened to cut Boro apart and their supporters sat back, ready to admire the onslaught. The goal was the Portuguese's first of the season and every Chelsea outfield player must have felt they could increase their own tally.
It was too easy. Didier Drogba, unmarked, flashed a header beyond the near post, only a last-ditch tackle by the impressive David Wheater halted Ballack, while Mark Schwarzer saved smartly with an outstretched foot when Salomon Kalou cut inside and should have scored.
No matter. A second goal appeared inevitable and that point appeared to arrive in the second half when Joe Cole's clever pass inside Boro left-back Andrew Taylor released Wright-Phillips. It was the winger's first touch and, clear on goal, he dragged it wide. Another opportunity arrived, only for Wright-Phillips to woefully sidefoot Kalou's cut-back. And then another – but this time Wright-Phillips's shot cannoned off Taylor's back and flew over.
Then Boro's Brazilian substitute suddenly had an effect. Alves is quick and big – although he does not appear keen to use that strength and is causing ripples of apprehension among Boro fans that he is a second Massimo Maccarone. When Alves was picked out by Stewart Downing he appeared set to break his scoring duck but mistimed his header completely and glanced the ball wide.
If that was exasperating for Boro, so was the moment when Alves showed his speed to reach Wheater's punt forward. With Carlo Cudicini out of his goal and stranded, the striker cut inside but his shot, from 30 yards, struck the post and bounced back into the grateful arms of the goalkeeper.
Boro's anguish was compounded by an amazing sequence of events soon after. Downing, increasingly dangerous, sent in a free-kick which was met by Wheater. The defender's header was headed on by Alves, the ball slammed against the bar and back to Wheater who also headed against the bar only for it to fall to Jérémie Aliadière who blazed his shot over. Astonishing.
An Adam Johnson cross was then controlled by Chelsea's Juliano Belletti with his chest only for the ball to roll down his arm. It appeared a penalty but the demands were waved away. At least fortune favoured one Brazilian yesterday.
Goal: Carvalho (6) 1-0.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cudicini; Belletti, Terry, Carvalho, Bridge; Essien, Mikel, Ballack (Wright-Phillips, 65); J Cole, Drogba (Alex, 89), Kalou (Anelka, 78). Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Shevchenko.
Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Taylor; O'Neil (Johnson, 80), Cattermole (Shawky, 89), Boateng, Downing; Tuncay (Alves, 65), Aliadière. Substitutes not used: Turnbull (gk), McMahon.
Referee: P Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).
Booked: Chelsea Belletti; Middlesbrough Cattermole.
Man of the match: Wheater.
Attendance: 39,993.
Chelsea's League fixtures
5 April Man City (a)
14 April Wigan (h)
17 April Everton (a)
26 April Man Utd (h)
3 May Newcastle (a)
11 May Bolton (h)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Scrappy Chelsea ride their luck to keep up pursuit
Dominic Fifield at Stamford BridgeMonday March 31, 2008The Guardian
Chelsea's pursuit has been maintained at a stagger rather than a sprint. Victory here hauled them back up to second, and within five points of the top, but this display will hardly have had Manchester United quaking in their boots. Had Afonso Alves brought the form that inflated his transfer fee as a potent scorer in the Dutch league to England, then the home side's game of catch-up might have been rendered hopeless. Regardless, this is a club sensing conspiracy.
The ramifications of the Premier League's decision to bring forward Chelsea's fixture at Everton by 48 hours to a Thursday night next month, thereby ensuring the game can be televised on Sky, has whipped up a sense of injustice. United and Arsenal will have six days between league fixtures that week.Avram Grant's side host Wigan on the Monday, on a rival television channel, then must travel to Goodison Park three days later. "I don't understand why we need to play then," bemoaned the manager. "It's unfair. When you are coming to the end of the season, it should be equal for all the teams involved."
Chelsea make uncomfortable victims but it is hard not to sympathise at such a farcical schedule. The League points to restrictive European Commission directives, and the demands of satellite broadcasters, but common sense appears to have been jettisoned. "It's unfair, what's happening," added Grant. "We need to fight in any way that we can to make it a fair decision."
A spokesman for the club insisted the decision had been made solely on television grounds - ". . . and as a result of the Premier League board failing to resolve schedule issues between broadcasters" - yet the League's stance is set in stone. Chelsea will have to put up with an unnecessary fixture pile-up and hope that momentum is with them at the time.
It had threatened to drain away here. The ease at which the hosts had edged ahead, with Ricardo Carvalho rising effortlessly for Wayne Bridge's free-kick to plant his first goal of the season beyond Mark Schwarzer with a glorious header, had set a deceptive tone. Chelsea anticipated a stroll. "We were soft and floppy," conceded Gareth Southgate of the first-half performance which saw his side sink deep and allow the home side the freedom of Stamford Bridge. "It was as if we'd come to admire Chelsea and swap shirts at the end of the game."
Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou might have scored, the former fluffing a free header, but the contest drifted. Sleepiness set in. The cameras focused on dozing home supporters in the crowd as if this pocket of the capital had forgotten that British Summer Time was upon us. It took Alves' arrival to shrug the sides awake.
The Brazilian was summoned from the substitutes' bench just after the hour to make his eighth Boro appearance since a £12m mid-winter move from the Dutch league and Heerenveen. The 27-year-old remains goalless, though quite how he failed to pilfer his first reward in England here almost defied belief.
He might have had a hat-trick within 17 minutes of his arrival, first steering Stewart Downing's excellent cross wide and then beating Carlo Cudicini to the ball some 30 yards out only to strike the far post from distance with the goal gaping invitingly. The fragility that has been evident in recent weeks at the heart of Chelsea's defence persisted, set pieces suddenly inducing panic. Downing's free-kick near the corner flag eight minutes from time saw Alves and then David Wheater nod against the bar in the confusion.
Chelsea could marvel at the escapes. By the time the substitute Adam Johnson's cross drifted from Juliano Belletti's chest on to hand in the penalty area, there seemed little chance of the visitors being awarded the penalty they warranted. Grant's luck was in. "Afonso looked sharper than he has done previously for us and I can only compare that shout with the one that was given against us at Aston Villa, when Luke Young wasn't even looking at the ball," added Southgate. "It rolled down his arm."
If the flurry of opportunities gleaned in the last quarter suggested Boro might have deserved their point, then Chelsea could justifiably point to their dominance in the opening hour. There were occasional grumblings of frustration at the Chelsea's inability to secure victory in more swashbuckling manner, Shaun Wright-Phillips blazing horribly high and wide on two occasions when he might have added a second.
Grant, however, could still depart relatively content in victory. His predecessor, Jose Mourinho, had won plenty of games as scrappy as this and was praised for the success he brought to the club. "I cannot say that was our best game," conceded the Israeli. "But at this stage of the season it's all about winning."
Man of the match Stewart Downing
The England winger maintained his form from his midweek substitute's appearance at the Stade de France, offering much needed forward thrust to Boro's approach
Best moment Drifting to the right to deliver a fine cross that was flicked wastefully wide by Afonso Alve
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
morning papers arsenal home
The TimesMarch 24, 2008
Grateful Avram Grant reverts to battering ram
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Stamford Bridge
Roman Abramovich may wish to reconsider his quest for the beautiful game after this. In the first half, Chelsea played the fast, one-touch passing football that is closest to their benefactor’s heart, and it got them nowhere. A goal down with 20 minutes remaining, they converted to the direct, aesthetically unappealing approach that has been the root of so many bad vibes from the owner’s box at Stamford Bridge, and clawed victory from the clutches of defeat. The result: Chelsea are now established as the biggest threat to Manchester United’s supremacy this season. Avram Grant, football genius, as they don’t like to sing around these parts.
The Chelsea first-team coach would be permitted a wry smile – as opposed to his standard expression, which is that of a man who has returned to find his car clamped at midnight – at his change of fortune here. Trailing to a header from Bacary Sagna, the Arsenal defender, he removed Claude Makelele for Nicolas Anelka and Michael Ballack for Juliano Belletti after 70 minutes, the second substitution bringing a chorus of disapproval from the crowd and noisy chants endorsing José Mourinho, Grant’s predecessor.
Within 12 minutes, Chelsea were ahead, thanks to the chaos caused in Arsenal’s defensive ranks by the introduction of a second striker, while the second goal was the work of a free kick from the unwelcome Belletti. Nobody sang for Grant when his instincts were proven correct, but there is still time.
This was a milestone for the new manager, with three points taken from a title rival. All eyes will now be on the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge on April 26, although Chelsea cannot afford to drop points between now and then, and need another club to do them a favour, too, with five points and an inferior goal difference the gap between them and United – Arsenal, perhaps, who must go to Old Trafford on April 13.
What Chelsea have going for them is that four of their last seven matches are at home, and Stamford Bridge remains a stronghold. No team has won here since Claudio Ranieri’s time, although when Sagna ran off Salomon Kalou to glance a header past Carlo Cudicini in the 59th minute, Arsenal were shaping to go as close as any. That the goal came from a corner by Cesc Fàbregas was no surprise. Following on from his stunning performance in the San Siro against AC Milan earlier this month, the Spaniard was rising to the occasion in another big game, pulling the strings, toying with the tempo of the occasion, slowing the play down, making it react to his bidding. Some of his passes inside the Chelsea full backs were sublime, the high points of the creative action. What changed was Chelsea’s approach, which moved from playing Arsenal fruitlessly at their own game to presenting them with the type of physical challenge that has long been an Achilles heel.
For 70 minutes, Chelsea laboured as Arsenal Lite, with excellent, swift exchanges of passing and good movement, but to little effect. It was noticeable that for all their possession their best chance of the first half came from an absolute hoof out of defence by John Terry, which dropped at the feet of Didier Drogba on the run, a poor first touch sending the ball harmlessly into the hands of Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper.
When Grant introduced Anelka as Drogba’s partner, a move which closely coincided with a rearrangement in the Arsenal back four as Sagna, the right back, left the field injured, Chelsea abandoned all pretence of trying to tickle Arsenal into submission.
Out came the battering ram, and there is nobody better to administer it than Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker, whose scoring form returned at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Undaunted by his first-half miss, he bullied Arsenal’s defence to defeat, Kolo Touré, his countryman, finding his presence particularly undesirable.
What his goals lacked in splendour they made up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. There was nothing greatly handsome about Chelsea’s 72nd-minute equaliser, other than the sheer effort put in by Drogba and Frank Lampard in battling for a long ball struck by Belletti. When it finally broke loose, Drogba’s finish was smart and decisive, and his goal ripped the guts out of Arsenal. From there, the worst that Chelsea were going to do was draw.
In the 81st minute, they upgraded. Belletti struck a free kick from the right, which Anelka flicked on, Drogba losing Touré to win the game with a shot on the half volley, struck into the ground but with enough force to beat Almunia, even though the goalkeeper got his hands to it. A minute later, Chelsea threatened again, with another Belletti cross met by Drogba, although this time Almunia tipped it round.
At the end, Chelsea looked belligerent, Arsenal humbled. Christophe Lolllichon, Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, was sent from the bench by Mark Clattenburg, the referee, during injury time for throwing the ball away, but there was little point in winding the clock down in such childish fashion. Arsenal did not have an equalising goal in them by that time, and the ineffectiveness of their own attacking substitute, Theo Walcott, introduced after 75 minutes, must have been a particular worry to Fabio Capello, the watching England manager. (Although not as big a worry as the form of Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal’s Drogba, must be to Arsène Wenger. He barely showed all game.)
This was a serious defeat and Arsenal knew it. For a month Wenger’s team had kept their head above water, not playing well but drawing matches, fooling the world that this was a blip not a slump. Now there can be no doubt. From five points clear, Arsenal are six points adrift of Manchester United and no longer in a position to guarantee qualification for the Champions League. Chelsea’s fate may only be to trot up in second place, but one would rather be in Grant’s shoes right now than Wenger’s. And that is the first time anybody has wished for that this season.
How they rated
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 7 M Essien 7 R Carvalho 7 J Terry 7 A Cole 7 M Ballack Y 6 C Makelele 6 F Lampard 7 J Cole Y 7 D Drogba Y 8 S Kalou 5 Substitutes: J Belletti 7 (for Ballack, 70min), N Anelka 6 (for Makelele, 70), J O Mikel (for J Cole, 88). Not used: Hilário, Alex. Next: Middlesbrough (h).
Arsenal: (4-4-1-1): M Almunia 6 B Sagna 7 K Touré 5 W Gallas 7 G Clichy 6 E Eboué Y 6 F Fàbregas 7 M Flamini 7 R van Persie 5 A Hleb 5 E Adebayor 5 Substitutes: A Diaby (for Sagna, 71), T Walcott (for Van Persie, 75), N Bendtner (for Flamini, 88) Not used: J Lehmann, P Senderos. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Avram Grant's stock rises after Chelsea victoryBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Of the many surprises this eventful season, the sight of Avram Grant outwitting Arsene Wenger ranks right up there. Short of Ashley Cole becoming a referee or Didier Drogba surviving a game without medical attention, the season may not produce any greater shocks than Grant getting his substitutions as right as in the 72nd minute here.
Just when the words "taxi for Grant" were forming on thousands of lips, the mood almost turned into "open-top bus for Grant" when his changes brought two goals from Drogba. Almost but not quite. Chelsea fans clearly remain sceptical about Jose Mourinho's successor. The terrace jury will be out until April 26 when Manchester United visit the Bridge. In the stock market of footballing fortunes, the wise broker will buy United in huge quantities, sell every Arsenal share sharpish, even at a loss, and hold on to Chelsea for a while longer.
There is life in the title race still, but it would be a major surprise if United faltered now. Five points clear of second-placed Chelsea, the champions effectively enjoy another point with their vastly superior goal difference (49 to Chelsea's 32). United also have the best team with goals all over, and the prolific presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the Footballer of the Year in waiting.
As United have waxed, Arsenal have waned. Eduardo's injury, William Gallas' sulk, Wenger's poor team selection at Old Trafford in the FA Cup: all have served to chip away at Arsenal's confidence. Gallas sought to rally his nervous players before kick-off with constant exhortations of "no fear".
Arsenal's captain repeated it, mantra-like, to Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor. He was clearly concerned. For 70 minutes, Arsenal held their own, even taking the lead through Bacary Sagna, but then old fears rushed back, cramping their movement.
Suddenly, the defence resembled isolated individuals, not a strong collective. Suddenly, Adebayor stopped making those clever runs. Suddenly, Fabregas and his fellow-midfielders were outmanoeuvred. Suddenly, all the doubts came flooding back over Wenger's failure to strengthen his squad in January. Chelsea recruited Nicolas Anelka. Wenger refused to open a war chest reported to contain £70 million, even though the defence urgently required cover and a top-class left-sided midfielder would have helped.
Fear seeped into Arsenal hearts. Emboldened by Grant's introduction of Anelka, Chelsea pounced. Drogba, clearly enjoying Anelka's ability to distract opposing centre-halves, sensed Arsenal's fear and went for the jugular. Like lightning, Drogba struck twice, ensuring Arsenal suffered their worst run in the league for nine years.
If the garlands were rightly thrown Drogba's way, Mark Clattenburg deserves huge praise for his handling of a derby that is occasionally of the demolition variety.Although young, the Geordie exudes an authority that players respect and he confirmed his reputation as the best referee in the country after Howard Webb.
Gathering both captains beforehand, Clattenburg urged them to make it a good, clean fight and both sides responded. Emmanuel Eboue's fuse burned for a while but Arsenal's Mr Combustible calmed down eventually. Even Ashley Cole kept his studs down and his mouth closed.
The only person who really fell foul of Clattenburg was Chelsea's goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, who was asked to vacate the dug-out for holding on to the ball and incurring the wrath of Wenger. It was the only argument Chelsea lost all afternoon.
They were definitely tested for 70 minutes. Arsenal looked confident as the game unfolded. Fabregas delivered a sublime pass to Hleb, before teeing up Robin van Persie. The Dutchman's magic wand of a left foot almost conjured up a goal; his first touch controlled the ball, his second drew a low save from Carlo Cudicini.
Back came Chelsea, suddenly going direct as an absorbing game flowed from end to end. John Terry lifted a long ball forward, which Drogba initially read well, getting goalside of Gallas. He should have scored, but misjudged the ball's speed which bounced off his knee.
Tempers briefly flared. Wenger accused Michael Ballack of diving over a Fabregas challenge. Eboue, already cautioned for breaking early from a wall, flirted with dismissal with a series of moans.
But this was football played with proper intent, with respect to the fore. Fabregas produced a superb dispossession of Salomon Kalou. Then Manuel Almunia saved brilliantly from Ballack and Joe Cole.
The drama was only beginning. The second half produced classic fare, the tone set from the moment Cudicini denied Mathieu Flamini. Back came Arsenal again, this time more fruitfully. When Fabregas curled a corner towards the near-post, all Arsenal players were closely marked apart from one. Sagna had escaped Kalou and the Frenchman's flicked header was perfect, angled to bisect Chelsea's keeper and his upright for his first Arsenal goal. Why teams do not place full-backs guarding each post remains one of the mysteries of the modern era.
The resolve in Chelsea's ranks shone through. Ballack tested Almunia again. Arsenal's defence needed to be at their best to resist the rising blue surge. When Sagna slipped and twisted his ankle, Arsenal lost one of the pillars of their defence. Reorganising the back-line produced what Wenger lamented afterwards as a "disturbance".
Too true. Eboue went to right-back, Hleb pushed across to right midfield, Van Persie shuffled across, allowing Abou Diaby in on the left of midfield. Yet it was Grant's substitutions that initially drew most concern, particularly the arrival of Juliano Belletti. Fans cried "you don't know what you are doing" and chanted for Mourinho.
What happened next was certainly special. Belletti's installation at right-back allowed the excellent Michael Essien into midfield. Belletti also made his mark, delivering a long pass to Drogba. The ball continued through to Frank Lampard and then off Toure and back to Drogba. With his right foot he sent it racing low past Almunia from 20 yards: 1-1.
Drogba's celebrations were almost as spectacular as his goal, whipping his shirt off and then throwing himself into the front row of the stalls. Clattenburg waited patiently to administer the yellow card. Drogba shrugged his shoulders, and set about embarrassing Arsenal again.
Clearly enjoying Anelka's company, Drogba plundered his second eight minutes later. Another Belletti delivery set the scene, this time Anelka becoming involved, rising above Gallas to flick the ball on to Drogba. Toure slipped, allowing the ball to travel through to Drogba, whose response was terrific. Despite being off-balance, he connected well with the ball, firing it down and in. United, though, were the big winners this weekend.
Scouting for Capello
John Terry pressed his claim for the England captaincy in front of Fabio Capello with a typically commanding display - even risking an ankle injury, such was the strength of one second-half challenge on Alexander Hleb. Joe Cole wrought havoc with his blistering pace, floating a superb cross to the back post from which fellow international Ashley Cole could have added to Arsenal's embarrassment. Frank Lampard was anonymous by comparison, the substitution of Michael Ballack indicating that his midfield partnership with the German had misfired.
Man of the match Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 9 • Two goals from four shots• Four dribbles• Two tackles---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1: Grant's last roll of the dice leaves Arsenal's title dreams in tatters
Respect. It is the issue that has gripped English football for seven stormy days and with 20 minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge yesterday it was running out fast for Avram Grant. Derision poured on him from his own team's fans, Jose Mourinho's name ringing out and the Chelsea manager on the brink of a disaster of his own making.
Two goals from Didier Drogba later and Chelsea's maligned manager at last had a Premier League victory over one of the big beasts of English football as well as a foothold in the title race. Respect? Grant might have to wait longer to hear his name sung at Stamford Bridge but give the man his due today: within 11 minutes of his two controversial substitutions Chelsea had completed a remarkable comeback that puts them second in the table and within five points of Manchester United.
The dust settles on another Grand Slam Sunday and the head says that this time these two games have almost lived up to the preposterous hype. There was a 3-0 victory for United over Liverpool after Javier Mascherano ran roughshod over the Football Association's new guidelines for showing respect to officials and was dismissed. Then a Drogba-inspired Chelsea victory after Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Before he reached the light, however, Grant had to experience his darkest moment first. His decision to take off Claude Makelele and, more controversially, Michael Ballack, on 70 minutes elicited an extraordinary response from the fans. As the German shook his head so the Chelsea support began to chant "You don't know what you're doing". By the time Ballack had trudged down the tunnel the Chelsea fans were singing the name of Grant's predecessor.
There is nothing in all the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's resources that can protect his manager from that kind of humiliation. Very quickly, the reaction of the crowd had made these two substitutions from Grant feel like a last roll of the dice; one last desperate attempt to salvage something. Chelsea's 77-game domestic unbeaten run at home was at stake; Mourinho's legacy hung heavy over him. For Grant, this move had to work.
That it was Drogba who won the game for Chelsea was bitterly ironic; he is one of a few players who will for ever be a Mourinho loyalist. As the Ivorian came off the pitch at the end there was the briefest of handshakes with Grant but a hug for his assistant, Steve Clarke. Arsène Wenger tartly pointed out that there was a suspicion of offside over the first Chelsea goal but even he could not deny that his side failed to deal with the power of Drogba.
The big winner from this weekend? Undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side's lead at the top is extended by two points and whose team have again shown that they have far fewer flaws than any of those in pursuit of them. Chelsea conceded yet another goal from a set piece; Arsenal proved themselves susceptible to the muscle and directness of Drogba. In contrast, United rumble on, still capable, you suspect, of much more should they need to produce it.
This is an ever more brittle Arsenal team, whose dream of winning the title with their beautiful, fragile style of football has surely been broken on a run of five league games without a win. Since that draw with Birmingham on 23 February they have thrown away a lead of eight points over Chelsea. Next season they hope to get all this right, to mature into a team capable of winning games like this, but that kind of transformation felt a long way away come full-time yesterday.
For Grant, however, the story could yet be about this season rather than next. Chelsea play United on 26 April at Stamford Bridge in a game that will make the difference in this title race and Ferguson's side cannot afford to drift within striking distance of Chelsea during the interim.
In the meantime, this was the day which Grant finally got his substitutions right. Derided for his mismanagement of the Carling Cup final, he repeated the same mistakes against Spurs in the 4-4 draw on Wednesday and, with 20 minutes left, the Chelsea fans' confidence in his ability to get it right was running thin. Ballack was having one of his better games, but Grant wanted to move Michael Essien into midfield, Juliano Belletti in at right-back and sacrifice Makelele for the extra striker Nicolas Anelka.
He was forced into it by Arsenal's goal which was Sagna's first for the club. Just before the hour, Cesc Fabregas struck his corner to the near post where, Salomon Kalou had failed to notice before it was too late, Sagna had run. The right-back got the sweetest of touches to guide the ball into Carlo Cudicini's net.
One goal down, Anelka and Belletti on and Sagna off injured. Within a minute Chelsea equalised. Arsenal failed to deal with Ricardo Carvalho's long ball, it bounced around the box, off Frank Lampard and into the path of Drogba, who had been offside when the original pass was played. In the first half, he had clumsily kneed a through-ball to Manuel Almunia when in on goal. This time he dispatched the equaliser past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
If that was soft then the second will have hurt Wenger even more. This time it was a ball into the area from Belletti, headed on by Anelka and, disastrously for Arsenal, missed by Kolo Touré. With a second to hit his snap-shot in the box, Drogba slammed in the winner. Could Almunia have done better? The ball bounced awkwardly but it was certainly not beyond the powers of the Arsenal goalkeeper to stop it.
There was just a brief flash of that unpleasant Chelsea attitude when goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon made an attempt to announce himself to the world by withholding the ball from Abou Diaby and was asked by the referee Mark Clattenburg to leave the dugout. That was a reminder of the bad old Chelsea, just as the nature of their comeback felt more like the indomitable Chelsea of Mourinho.
Goals: Sagna (59) 0-1; Drogba (73) 1-1; Drogba (82) 2-1.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Essien, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Anelka, 70); J Cole (Mikel, 89), Ballack (Belletti, 70), Lampard, Kalou; Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Sagna (Diaby, 71), Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Eboué, Fabregas, Flamini (Bendtner, 89), Van Persie (Walcott, 76); Hleb; Adebayor. Substitutes not used: Lehmann (gk), Senderos.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear).
Booked: Chelsea J Cole, Ballack, Drogba; Arsenal Eboué.
Man of the match: Drogba.
Attendance: 41,284.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grant's switches prove there is no substitute for decisive intervention
Kevin McCarra at Stamford BridgeMonday March 24, 2008The Guardian
Here was the Premier League season in miniature for these clubs, with Chelsea doggedly clambering upwards and Arsenal taking a tumble just when it looked as if they had a secure footing with the opening goal. The departure from normality lay in the radical effect that Avram Grant had. If his substitutions had to be deplored when Chelsea slithered to a 4-4 draw at Tottenham then the changes he made yesterday must be applauded
Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka came on to contribute to the winner, the second of Didier Drogba's goals. The chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from his own fans when that pair were introduced to address the 1-0 deficit reflected the lack of confidence in the Grant regime, but no one is entirely clear about Chelsea's actual worth nowadays.
There are rational causes for gladness around Stamford Bridge now that a fixture with a principal rival has finally been won by the Israeli. What is more, Chelsea have overtaken Arsenal to stand second in the table, five points behind the leaders Manchester United, whom they have still to meet on this ground.
The overall situation will please Sir Alex Ferguson and the Old Trafford squad but Chelsea are at least putting up a fight. They will be particularly capable of making heads ring if Drogba can go on landing blows as he did here. The Ivorian must be infuriating to Stamford Bridge devotees, since it sometimes feels as if he had no sooner set down his pen after signing for the club than the tales of his disaffection began to spread.
He was fully engaged yesterday, particularly after the interval. Arsenal were unlucky since Drogba should have been given offside in the build-up to the equaliser as the ball was launched through the middle. Nonetheless, Arsène Wenger's team began to reel from the moment they opened the scoring. That goal from the right-back Bacary Sagna exposed Chelsea's deficiencies at set-pieces, just as Tottenham had done.
The Frenchman broke away from Salomon Kalou and got in front of Frank Lampard to head in a Cesc Fábregas corner from an acute angle at the near post in the 59th minute. Before long, Sagna hurt an ankle and he eventually had to be replaced, a factor that Wenger blamed, in part, for the outbreak of confusion in his back four. As the Arsenal manager knows, of course, his squad have to be far more resilient than this in adversity.
Arsenal have improved this season, but it now looks like the early stage of a revival. In future, a larger squad will be essential and so, too, will be an enhanced hardiness because brittleness has become apparent over the pounding of the long Premier League programme. A five-point lead has, in mercurial fashion, been converted into a six-point deficit.
Arsenal's showing here was good enough for a period to suggest that the club, who had been the last to beat Chelsea on the Premier League here in February 2004, would repeat the feat. They had been developing some enterprise even before they scored, with Mathieu Flamini, for instance, seeing a raking drive blocked by the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini after 47 minutes.
Chelsea, by and large, had been toiling. The exasperation would have peaked when Kalou, with an opportunity at last, had a fresh-air shot just before the interval. In retrospect it is not too difficult to explain the downfall of Arsenal that lay ahead. Direct football was productive and it took no more than a clearance from John Terry for Drogba to tear through, only for the ball to bounce off his knee as he raced towards Manuel Almunia.
With 17 minutes to go, the striker was initially offside. Permitted to proceed, Drogba pushed a pass towards Frank Lampard and when possession came back to him he shot home confidently, past the left hand of Almunia. The winner, eight minutes from the close, saw Belletti clip a free-kick and Anelka nod it into the centre for an unmarked Drogba to fire into the net.
There might have been a hat-trick for the striker but Almunia made an excellent save after Belletti had pulled a cut-back to him. This victory contained traces of the old Chelsea in the steadfastness shown in a moment of crisis. In addition to seeing Arsenal move in front they also had to put up with handicaps, such as the hip injury that hampered Lampard.
It is, all the same, much too soon to declare that a fresh phase of Chelsea ascendancy is in the making. The hardened sceptic can also quibble over the precise amount of credit due Grant. His alterations to the line-up worked but with the team in arrears it took no feat of imagination to see some worth in sending on Belletti, an attack-minded full-back, and Anelka, an outstanding forward.
There are more delicate judgments to be made while ferrying a lead to the full-time whistle and the knee-jerk use of Alex as a third centre-half just because Tottenham were employing three attackers was misconceived last Wednesday. Grant, overall, has deserved this breathing space. Chelsea's consistency against the lesser teams was not to be sniffed at since other clubs have found it elusive. Now, too, Grant has taken a prize scalp in the Premier League.
Expressions of gratitude to Chelsea are unfashionable because the sheer wealth of the club seems to exclude affection for them. Nonetheless, it is they, with United due here on April 26, who have sustained a little suspense over the outcome of the Premier League contest.
How the managers compared
Selection
Avram Grant Michael Essien at right-back made this an attack-minded team, reflecting Chelsea's need
Arsène Wenger Resisted temptation to start with Theo Walcott, selecting Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboué; arguably strongest line-up
Tactics
Grant With Makelele deep, Lampard and Ballack supported an attacking trio. Switched to 4-4-2 before reverting to type in the last few minutes
Wenger Two midfield holders with Van Persie joining Eboué in supporting down flanks
Motivation
Grant Touchline demeanour rarely veers from impassive, yet Drogba's double had Israeli punching the air
Wenger Flashes of frustration before Sagna scored. Mood darkened by the end as realisation of defeat set in
Substitutions
Grant Introduction of Anelka and Beletti proved masterful and,
ultimately, match-winning
Wenger Injury forced Abou Diaby's entry for Sagna; Walcott for Van Persie was similarly like-for-like. Bendtner's arrival reflected desperate times
Verdict
Grant This, possibly, was the day Grant proved his quality
Wenger His team's confidence is ebbing away before his eyes---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Avram's wish is Granted as Chelsea star Drogba sinks ArsenalChelsea 2 Arsenal 1
By NEIL ASHTON
Avram Grant: Tactical Genius.
All those coaching seminars in Israel, all those mistakes in high-profile matches and all those moments of indecision have finally paid off.
"You don't know what you're doing," sang Chelsea's fans in the 70th minute. Oh yes he did.
He brought off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, replaced them with Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka and swapped 4-3-3 for 4-4-2. Genius.
Three minutes later they were level and eight minutes from time they were back in the hunt for the Barclays Premier League title.
That appeared to be unthinkable when they threw away maximum points at White Hart Lane last Wednesday and unpalatable after Bacary Sagna had put Arsenal ahead.
Suddenly it has become a distinct possibility. Who would have thought it?
Certainly no one inside Stamford Bridge when puzzled Chelsea supporters began singing the name of Jose Mourinho as Grant made the substitutions that appeared to land this game right in Arsenal's laps.
The Special One was at home with his feet up in Setubal, switching between the TV remote, sipping champagne and chuckling to himself as Chelsea set about surrendering their remarkable 77-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge.
The bubbles had almost burst. Arsenal had the game won.
The spirit of the San Siro swept through the Gunners, confidence flooded through them after William Gallas's pep talk on the pitch before the match and they dictated the tempo.
Sagna's goal put them back in the hunt for their first League title since the Invincibles in 2004.
Forget the draws with Birmingham, Aston Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough: this was the real Arsenal.
High energy when the stakes are high. Instead, they are for the high jump.
"We should have won, but couldn't cope with Chelsea's long balls," said manager Arsene Wenger.
"Defensively, we have problems."
No kidding.
Gallas failed to clear when Drogba scored Chelsea's 73rd-minute equaliser and the Arsenal captain, along with central defensive partner Kolo Toure, were to blame when they conceded another.
"This is a big setback," admitted Wenger. "We are not short of confidence, but we have drawn four of our last five games.
"We had lapses in concentration and we have paid for it. We have to swallow it, but we were in control. Chelsea played long balls and we couldn't deal with it."
More accurately they could not deal with Drogba.
Gallas kept him quiet, making him stew for 45 minutes before he finally made an impact.
When he did, Drogba was ruthless.
The shirt was ripped off when he slid towards the Chelsea fans after he lashed the equaliser beyond Manuel Almunia.
Then came his second with a swivelled finish. Almunia got a touch, but the strike was too clean and too sweet for the Arsenal keeper.
"It was about time he did that," said Grant. "We had a few players who came back from the Africa Cup of Nations who were not in the best condition, but he is better now."
Drogba has done for Arsenal. Wenger will not admit it — he is too stubborn — but his team could not cope with the aerial bombardment after Grant's impressive changes.
Arsenal were nine points clear of Chelsea on February 23 and are now one point behind them.
They were six ahead of Manchester United at the same stage, but now they are lagging behind.
Not quite Devon Loch, but Wenger is flogging a dead horse.
They were in the home straight when they beat Blackburn on February 11, but Wenger has the international week to brood about the worst run at the club in nine years. That has to hurt.
He should spend the next seven days on Fantasy Island after complaining that Drogba's first goal was offside, but at least Grant is living in the real world.
With seven games to go, Chelsea are in the chase. Five points behind United — who visit Stamford Bridge on April 26. Absorbing stuff.
Little wonder that gladiator Grant entered the auditorium with something of a swagger. Someone had just told him that he had become the most successful manager in Chelsea's history with a 76 per cent win rate in the League (compared to you know who's 75.25). Absurd.
This was the man who could not beat a big team, remember. Beaten by Manchester United in his first game, beaten at Arsenal in December, beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final and beaten by Barnsley in the FA Cup.
The margin for error is wafer thin, but at least Grant is the first to recognise it.
"Sometimes the substitutions work, sometimes they don't," he added.
"We want to have two ways of playing and I told John Terry to tell the rest of the players to switch to 4-4-2. We had two good chances before we equalised, but I'm just glad the substitutions worked out."
Lucky manager? Well, it is better than being a losing one. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
KISS OF LIFE EASTER SLAM DAY CHELSEA 2 ARSENAL 1FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Drogba fires Chelsea into second place and turns Grant into real Special One Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer Avram Grant turned the title race on its head last night - and transformed himself into Chelsea's new Special One.
Four days after his tactical tinkering cost Chelsea two vital points at Spurs, the Blues boss was staring at a cataclysmic defeat which would have ended his side's remarkable unbeaten home record and surely spelled the end of his reign.
With Chelsea trailing to Bacary Sagna's close-range header, Blues fans turned on Grant as he boldly hauled off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, sending on Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti as he switched to an orthodox 4-4-2.
Chelsea supporters chanted "You don't know what you're doing," and bellowed the name of their long-lost Special One.
It was as much a statement of contempt as Ashley Cole's behaviour towards Mike Riley at White Hart Lane four days earlier, the Chelsea fans seemingly desperate to condemn the manager they have never really accepted.
But Jose Mourinho himself could not have masterminded such a dramatic turnaround.
The move which could have killed Grant instead unleashed the predatory beast within striker Didier Drogba, who capitalised on Arsenal's sudden defensive disarray to fire a two-goal salvo which turned the game. Within a minute of the switch Drogba was clearly offside when Belletti pumped forward, although he had got back into an onside position by the time his attempted pass to Frank Lampard fell back at his feet.
And there was no doubting the finish as Drogba drilled into the bottom corner of the net to haul Chelsea level.
And when he claimed his 13th of the season eight minutes from time to kill off Arsenal, there was no arguing with the impact on both clubs' seasons.
This time Belletti's early free-kick found Anelka out-jumping William Gallas to nod down and with Kolo Toure losing his balance, Drogba was able to spin and find the other corner despite Manuel Almunia getting a touch.
It was a shocking way for Arsenal to go down to only their second league defeat of the season - now the side which could have been eight points clear a month ago suddenly finds itself out of the top two.
No wonder Grant responded like a man possessed, pumping his fists at the final whistle after finally picking up the "big" win he has sought to bolster his reign all season.
Incredibly, Grant has picked up six points more than Arsene Wenger since replacing Mourinho in September.
And in gaining 57 points out of the 75 available during his reign, he has a marginally better league record, percentage-wise, than the Portuguese during his three years in charge.
Not that any of that mattered last night for Grant, who must have been fearing the worst when Sagna was allowed to get on the end of Cesc Fabegas' near-post corner and divert home his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini paid for failing to have a team-mate on the post. At that point you would not have given a prayer for Grant. Even though his side had remained level at the break, Arsenal had been growing in confidence.
Robin van Persie snatched at one opportunity and Cudicini, all over the place, was bailed out by John Terry after heading straight to Emmanuel Eboue before hacking the ball virtually off his own goalline.
Six minutes before the break, Chelsea's uncertainty at set-pieces was underlined when Gallas turned Toure's header against the post, although an offside flag had gone up.
Just after Sagna had nudged home, Ashley Cole missed a back-post sitter and the writing seemed on the wall for Chelsea and Grant.
By the end, though, everything had changed.
Grant lives on, emboldened, invigorated and with the title still possible.
Wenger, by contrast, was a study in dejection. Who would have believed it? But they still won't chant Grant's name.
Chelsea: Cudicini 6, Essien 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7, Ballack 6 (Belletti, 70, 7), Makelele 6 (Anelka, 70, 7), Lampard 7, J Cole 7 (Mikel, 88), Drogba 8, Kalou 6
Arsenal: Almunia 6, Sagba 7 (Diaby, 72, 5) Toure 6, Gallas 5, Clichy 7, Eboue 7, Fabregas 7, Hleb 6, Flamini 6 (Bendtner, 88), Van Persie 6 (Walcott, 77), Adebayor 5
Chelsea v Arsenal
52% POSSESSION 48%
7 SHOTS ON TARGET 6
3 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5
5 OFFSIDES 1
4 CORNERS 2
11 FOULS 14
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 41,824
Man Of The Match: Drogba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
CHELSEA fans will not find it easy but they will have to consider a new chant about manager Avram Grant: You
DO know what you’re doing!
Blues supporters were sharpening the knives again for Grant, as he made a controversial double substitution on 70 minutes with the home side trailing to a Bacary Sagna header.
They were furious at the introduction of right-back Juliano Belletti for midfielder Michael Ballack, immediately after Nicolas Anelka had replaced Claude Makelele.
Chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ rang round the ground, followed by a chorus for much-loved former boss Jose Mourinho.
Grant had been heavily criticised five days earlier for his substitutions at Tottenham, where Chelsea conceded a late goal to draw 4-4, and it seemed he had messed up once more.
But this time the Israeli had the last laugh, as Didier Drogba struck twice to turn the game around.
The winner came with eight minutes left, after the two subs had combined to set up the Ivory Coast star.
It still was not enough for Grant to get any credit, with the fans preferring to get stuck into former Blue and current Arsenal skipper William Gallas.
Yet the result means Chelsea are now Manchester United’s closest challengers in the Premier League title race, only five points adrift. It was the first time Grant had won against one of the top teams and they host United at the Bridge on April 26.
Despite all their off-field troubles and claims of in-fighting, they are hanging in there.
Drogba wants to leave in the summer and has little or no rapport with Grant. But he is still doing the business.
His two goals made it 13 for his club in a season in which he has suffered a prolonged injury absence and been on duty at the African Nations Cup.
As for Arsenal, their title challenge is falling apart.
They had drawn their previous four games to lose top spot and manager Arsene Wenger had vowed they would get back on track and win the championship.
But this second league defeat of the season could be a mortal blow.
It was great news for United boss Alex Ferguson. He joked he wanted both these teams to lose but a victory for Chelsea was far preferable to one for Arsenal.
Gallas had wanted a win badly and went round his players at the start eyeballing them all, telling them to show ‘no fear’. Yet there appeared to be fear on both sides, even to tackle, because of the FA’s current clampdown on discipline.
Nobody wanted to put a foot in and it was definitely somewhat tame for the first half.
There were a lot of long balls from Chelsea and Drogba should have scored when he raced on to John Terry’s hoof. But he lost control and Manuel Almunia gathered.
Salomon Kalou had an air shot from six yards and Almunia saved superbly to his left from Ballack.
The game came to life in the second half, sparked by right-back Sagna’s header on 59 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas delivered a corner to the near post and Sagna got ahead of Kalou and Frank Lampard to head his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini scrambled across in vain to keep it out.
Soon after, Sagna had to go off as he twisted an ankle clearing the ball and the visitors lost their shape.
Grant made his substitutions, putting former Gunner Anelka up front alongside Drogba and switching Michael Essien from right-back into midfield.
Despite the vitriol from the stands, Chelsea were level within three minutes — though Wenger complained it should have been disallowed for offside against both Drogba and Anelka. His argument was a strong one. But the linesman missed it and Drogba met Belletti’s through ball as it sailed over Gallas. He took a return pass from Lampard and then rifled a low shot beyond Almunia.
Drogba whipped his shirt off in celebration, earning a booking in the process. On another day, it would have driven him demented. But he merely patted referee Mark Clattenburg on the shoulder and trotted off.
Gallas and Kolo Toure were struggling to cope with Chelsea’s two-pronged attack and Anelka scuffed a good chance wide.
But on 82 minutes Chelsea bagged the winner. It was started by coach Steve Clarke, who jumped off the bench to encourage Belletti to take a quick free-kick.
The delivery was perfect and Anelka climbed above Gallas to flick the ball on.
Toure lost his footing and Drogba swivelled and shot home via Almunia’s outstretched right hand.
As time ticked down, the Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lolichon was sent off for not giving the ball back to Abou Diaby.
Not much respect there and none from ex-Arsenal man Ashley Cole, as he cocked an ear to the Gunners supporters mocking them about the score.
Considering the stick that he had taken all game, we can let Ashley off for once.
Grateful Avram Grant reverts to battering ram
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Stamford Bridge
Roman Abramovich may wish to reconsider his quest for the beautiful game after this. In the first half, Chelsea played the fast, one-touch passing football that is closest to their benefactor’s heart, and it got them nowhere. A goal down with 20 minutes remaining, they converted to the direct, aesthetically unappealing approach that has been the root of so many bad vibes from the owner’s box at Stamford Bridge, and clawed victory from the clutches of defeat. The result: Chelsea are now established as the biggest threat to Manchester United’s supremacy this season. Avram Grant, football genius, as they don’t like to sing around these parts.
The Chelsea first-team coach would be permitted a wry smile – as opposed to his standard expression, which is that of a man who has returned to find his car clamped at midnight – at his change of fortune here. Trailing to a header from Bacary Sagna, the Arsenal defender, he removed Claude Makelele for Nicolas Anelka and Michael Ballack for Juliano Belletti after 70 minutes, the second substitution bringing a chorus of disapproval from the crowd and noisy chants endorsing José Mourinho, Grant’s predecessor.
Within 12 minutes, Chelsea were ahead, thanks to the chaos caused in Arsenal’s defensive ranks by the introduction of a second striker, while the second goal was the work of a free kick from the unwelcome Belletti. Nobody sang for Grant when his instincts were proven correct, but there is still time.
This was a milestone for the new manager, with three points taken from a title rival. All eyes will now be on the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge on April 26, although Chelsea cannot afford to drop points between now and then, and need another club to do them a favour, too, with five points and an inferior goal difference the gap between them and United – Arsenal, perhaps, who must go to Old Trafford on April 13.
What Chelsea have going for them is that four of their last seven matches are at home, and Stamford Bridge remains a stronghold. No team has won here since Claudio Ranieri’s time, although when Sagna ran off Salomon Kalou to glance a header past Carlo Cudicini in the 59th minute, Arsenal were shaping to go as close as any. That the goal came from a corner by Cesc Fàbregas was no surprise. Following on from his stunning performance in the San Siro against AC Milan earlier this month, the Spaniard was rising to the occasion in another big game, pulling the strings, toying with the tempo of the occasion, slowing the play down, making it react to his bidding. Some of his passes inside the Chelsea full backs were sublime, the high points of the creative action. What changed was Chelsea’s approach, which moved from playing Arsenal fruitlessly at their own game to presenting them with the type of physical challenge that has long been an Achilles heel.
For 70 minutes, Chelsea laboured as Arsenal Lite, with excellent, swift exchanges of passing and good movement, but to little effect. It was noticeable that for all their possession their best chance of the first half came from an absolute hoof out of defence by John Terry, which dropped at the feet of Didier Drogba on the run, a poor first touch sending the ball harmlessly into the hands of Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper.
When Grant introduced Anelka as Drogba’s partner, a move which closely coincided with a rearrangement in the Arsenal back four as Sagna, the right back, left the field injured, Chelsea abandoned all pretence of trying to tickle Arsenal into submission.
Out came the battering ram, and there is nobody better to administer it than Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker, whose scoring form returned at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Undaunted by his first-half miss, he bullied Arsenal’s defence to defeat, Kolo Touré, his countryman, finding his presence particularly undesirable.
What his goals lacked in splendour they made up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. There was nothing greatly handsome about Chelsea’s 72nd-minute equaliser, other than the sheer effort put in by Drogba and Frank Lampard in battling for a long ball struck by Belletti. When it finally broke loose, Drogba’s finish was smart and decisive, and his goal ripped the guts out of Arsenal. From there, the worst that Chelsea were going to do was draw.
In the 81st minute, they upgraded. Belletti struck a free kick from the right, which Anelka flicked on, Drogba losing Touré to win the game with a shot on the half volley, struck into the ground but with enough force to beat Almunia, even though the goalkeeper got his hands to it. A minute later, Chelsea threatened again, with another Belletti cross met by Drogba, although this time Almunia tipped it round.
At the end, Chelsea looked belligerent, Arsenal humbled. Christophe Lolllichon, Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, was sent from the bench by Mark Clattenburg, the referee, during injury time for throwing the ball away, but there was little point in winding the clock down in such childish fashion. Arsenal did not have an equalising goal in them by that time, and the ineffectiveness of their own attacking substitute, Theo Walcott, introduced after 75 minutes, must have been a particular worry to Fabio Capello, the watching England manager. (Although not as big a worry as the form of Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal’s Drogba, must be to Arsène Wenger. He barely showed all game.)
This was a serious defeat and Arsenal knew it. For a month Wenger’s team had kept their head above water, not playing well but drawing matches, fooling the world that this was a blip not a slump. Now there can be no doubt. From five points clear, Arsenal are six points adrift of Manchester United and no longer in a position to guarantee qualification for the Champions League. Chelsea’s fate may only be to trot up in second place, but one would rather be in Grant’s shoes right now than Wenger’s. And that is the first time anybody has wished for that this season.
How they rated
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 7 M Essien 7 R Carvalho 7 J Terry 7 A Cole 7 M Ballack Y 6 C Makelele 6 F Lampard 7 J Cole Y 7 D Drogba Y 8 S Kalou 5 Substitutes: J Belletti 7 (for Ballack, 70min), N Anelka 6 (for Makelele, 70), J O Mikel (for J Cole, 88). Not used: Hilário, Alex. Next: Middlesbrough (h).
Arsenal: (4-4-1-1): M Almunia 6 B Sagna 7 K Touré 5 W Gallas 7 G Clichy 6 E Eboué Y 6 F Fàbregas 7 M Flamini 7 R van Persie 5 A Hleb 5 E Adebayor 5 Substitutes: A Diaby (for Sagna, 71), T Walcott (for Van Persie, 75), N Bendtner (for Flamini, 88) Not used: J Lehmann, P Senderos. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Avram Grant's stock rises after Chelsea victoryBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Of the many surprises this eventful season, the sight of Avram Grant outwitting Arsene Wenger ranks right up there. Short of Ashley Cole becoming a referee or Didier Drogba surviving a game without medical attention, the season may not produce any greater shocks than Grant getting his substitutions as right as in the 72nd minute here.
Just when the words "taxi for Grant" were forming on thousands of lips, the mood almost turned into "open-top bus for Grant" when his changes brought two goals from Drogba. Almost but not quite. Chelsea fans clearly remain sceptical about Jose Mourinho's successor. The terrace jury will be out until April 26 when Manchester United visit the Bridge. In the stock market of footballing fortunes, the wise broker will buy United in huge quantities, sell every Arsenal share sharpish, even at a loss, and hold on to Chelsea for a while longer.
There is life in the title race still, but it would be a major surprise if United faltered now. Five points clear of second-placed Chelsea, the champions effectively enjoy another point with their vastly superior goal difference (49 to Chelsea's 32). United also have the best team with goals all over, and the prolific presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the Footballer of the Year in waiting.
As United have waxed, Arsenal have waned. Eduardo's injury, William Gallas' sulk, Wenger's poor team selection at Old Trafford in the FA Cup: all have served to chip away at Arsenal's confidence. Gallas sought to rally his nervous players before kick-off with constant exhortations of "no fear".
Arsenal's captain repeated it, mantra-like, to Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor. He was clearly concerned. For 70 minutes, Arsenal held their own, even taking the lead through Bacary Sagna, but then old fears rushed back, cramping their movement.
Suddenly, the defence resembled isolated individuals, not a strong collective. Suddenly, Adebayor stopped making those clever runs. Suddenly, Fabregas and his fellow-midfielders were outmanoeuvred. Suddenly, all the doubts came flooding back over Wenger's failure to strengthen his squad in January. Chelsea recruited Nicolas Anelka. Wenger refused to open a war chest reported to contain £70 million, even though the defence urgently required cover and a top-class left-sided midfielder would have helped.
Fear seeped into Arsenal hearts. Emboldened by Grant's introduction of Anelka, Chelsea pounced. Drogba, clearly enjoying Anelka's ability to distract opposing centre-halves, sensed Arsenal's fear and went for the jugular. Like lightning, Drogba struck twice, ensuring Arsenal suffered their worst run in the league for nine years.
If the garlands were rightly thrown Drogba's way, Mark Clattenburg deserves huge praise for his handling of a derby that is occasionally of the demolition variety.Although young, the Geordie exudes an authority that players respect and he confirmed his reputation as the best referee in the country after Howard Webb.
Gathering both captains beforehand, Clattenburg urged them to make it a good, clean fight and both sides responded. Emmanuel Eboue's fuse burned for a while but Arsenal's Mr Combustible calmed down eventually. Even Ashley Cole kept his studs down and his mouth closed.
The only person who really fell foul of Clattenburg was Chelsea's goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, who was asked to vacate the dug-out for holding on to the ball and incurring the wrath of Wenger. It was the only argument Chelsea lost all afternoon.
They were definitely tested for 70 minutes. Arsenal looked confident as the game unfolded. Fabregas delivered a sublime pass to Hleb, before teeing up Robin van Persie. The Dutchman's magic wand of a left foot almost conjured up a goal; his first touch controlled the ball, his second drew a low save from Carlo Cudicini.
Back came Chelsea, suddenly going direct as an absorbing game flowed from end to end. John Terry lifted a long ball forward, which Drogba initially read well, getting goalside of Gallas. He should have scored, but misjudged the ball's speed which bounced off his knee.
Tempers briefly flared. Wenger accused Michael Ballack of diving over a Fabregas challenge. Eboue, already cautioned for breaking early from a wall, flirted with dismissal with a series of moans.
But this was football played with proper intent, with respect to the fore. Fabregas produced a superb dispossession of Salomon Kalou. Then Manuel Almunia saved brilliantly from Ballack and Joe Cole.
The drama was only beginning. The second half produced classic fare, the tone set from the moment Cudicini denied Mathieu Flamini. Back came Arsenal again, this time more fruitfully. When Fabregas curled a corner towards the near-post, all Arsenal players were closely marked apart from one. Sagna had escaped Kalou and the Frenchman's flicked header was perfect, angled to bisect Chelsea's keeper and his upright for his first Arsenal goal. Why teams do not place full-backs guarding each post remains one of the mysteries of the modern era.
The resolve in Chelsea's ranks shone through. Ballack tested Almunia again. Arsenal's defence needed to be at their best to resist the rising blue surge. When Sagna slipped and twisted his ankle, Arsenal lost one of the pillars of their defence. Reorganising the back-line produced what Wenger lamented afterwards as a "disturbance".
Too true. Eboue went to right-back, Hleb pushed across to right midfield, Van Persie shuffled across, allowing Abou Diaby in on the left of midfield. Yet it was Grant's substitutions that initially drew most concern, particularly the arrival of Juliano Belletti. Fans cried "you don't know what you are doing" and chanted for Mourinho.
What happened next was certainly special. Belletti's installation at right-back allowed the excellent Michael Essien into midfield. Belletti also made his mark, delivering a long pass to Drogba. The ball continued through to Frank Lampard and then off Toure and back to Drogba. With his right foot he sent it racing low past Almunia from 20 yards: 1-1.
Drogba's celebrations were almost as spectacular as his goal, whipping his shirt off and then throwing himself into the front row of the stalls. Clattenburg waited patiently to administer the yellow card. Drogba shrugged his shoulders, and set about embarrassing Arsenal again.
Clearly enjoying Anelka's company, Drogba plundered his second eight minutes later. Another Belletti delivery set the scene, this time Anelka becoming involved, rising above Gallas to flick the ball on to Drogba. Toure slipped, allowing the ball to travel through to Drogba, whose response was terrific. Despite being off-balance, he connected well with the ball, firing it down and in. United, though, were the big winners this weekend.
Scouting for Capello
John Terry pressed his claim for the England captaincy in front of Fabio Capello with a typically commanding display - even risking an ankle injury, such was the strength of one second-half challenge on Alexander Hleb. Joe Cole wrought havoc with his blistering pace, floating a superb cross to the back post from which fellow international Ashley Cole could have added to Arsenal's embarrassment. Frank Lampard was anonymous by comparison, the substitution of Michael Ballack indicating that his midfield partnership with the German had misfired.
Man of the match Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 9 • Two goals from four shots• Four dribbles• Two tackles---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1: Grant's last roll of the dice leaves Arsenal's title dreams in tatters
Respect. It is the issue that has gripped English football for seven stormy days and with 20 minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge yesterday it was running out fast for Avram Grant. Derision poured on him from his own team's fans, Jose Mourinho's name ringing out and the Chelsea manager on the brink of a disaster of his own making.
Two goals from Didier Drogba later and Chelsea's maligned manager at last had a Premier League victory over one of the big beasts of English football as well as a foothold in the title race. Respect? Grant might have to wait longer to hear his name sung at Stamford Bridge but give the man his due today: within 11 minutes of his two controversial substitutions Chelsea had completed a remarkable comeback that puts them second in the table and within five points of Manchester United.
The dust settles on another Grand Slam Sunday and the head says that this time these two games have almost lived up to the preposterous hype. There was a 3-0 victory for United over Liverpool after Javier Mascherano ran roughshod over the Football Association's new guidelines for showing respect to officials and was dismissed. Then a Drogba-inspired Chelsea victory after Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Before he reached the light, however, Grant had to experience his darkest moment first. His decision to take off Claude Makelele and, more controversially, Michael Ballack, on 70 minutes elicited an extraordinary response from the fans. As the German shook his head so the Chelsea support began to chant "You don't know what you're doing". By the time Ballack had trudged down the tunnel the Chelsea fans were singing the name of Grant's predecessor.
There is nothing in all the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's resources that can protect his manager from that kind of humiliation. Very quickly, the reaction of the crowd had made these two substitutions from Grant feel like a last roll of the dice; one last desperate attempt to salvage something. Chelsea's 77-game domestic unbeaten run at home was at stake; Mourinho's legacy hung heavy over him. For Grant, this move had to work.
That it was Drogba who won the game for Chelsea was bitterly ironic; he is one of a few players who will for ever be a Mourinho loyalist. As the Ivorian came off the pitch at the end there was the briefest of handshakes with Grant but a hug for his assistant, Steve Clarke. Arsène Wenger tartly pointed out that there was a suspicion of offside over the first Chelsea goal but even he could not deny that his side failed to deal with the power of Drogba.
The big winner from this weekend? Undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side's lead at the top is extended by two points and whose team have again shown that they have far fewer flaws than any of those in pursuit of them. Chelsea conceded yet another goal from a set piece; Arsenal proved themselves susceptible to the muscle and directness of Drogba. In contrast, United rumble on, still capable, you suspect, of much more should they need to produce it.
This is an ever more brittle Arsenal team, whose dream of winning the title with their beautiful, fragile style of football has surely been broken on a run of five league games without a win. Since that draw with Birmingham on 23 February they have thrown away a lead of eight points over Chelsea. Next season they hope to get all this right, to mature into a team capable of winning games like this, but that kind of transformation felt a long way away come full-time yesterday.
For Grant, however, the story could yet be about this season rather than next. Chelsea play United on 26 April at Stamford Bridge in a game that will make the difference in this title race and Ferguson's side cannot afford to drift within striking distance of Chelsea during the interim.
In the meantime, this was the day which Grant finally got his substitutions right. Derided for his mismanagement of the Carling Cup final, he repeated the same mistakes against Spurs in the 4-4 draw on Wednesday and, with 20 minutes left, the Chelsea fans' confidence in his ability to get it right was running thin. Ballack was having one of his better games, but Grant wanted to move Michael Essien into midfield, Juliano Belletti in at right-back and sacrifice Makelele for the extra striker Nicolas Anelka.
He was forced into it by Arsenal's goal which was Sagna's first for the club. Just before the hour, Cesc Fabregas struck his corner to the near post where, Salomon Kalou had failed to notice before it was too late, Sagna had run. The right-back got the sweetest of touches to guide the ball into Carlo Cudicini's net.
One goal down, Anelka and Belletti on and Sagna off injured. Within a minute Chelsea equalised. Arsenal failed to deal with Ricardo Carvalho's long ball, it bounced around the box, off Frank Lampard and into the path of Drogba, who had been offside when the original pass was played. In the first half, he had clumsily kneed a through-ball to Manuel Almunia when in on goal. This time he dispatched the equaliser past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
If that was soft then the second will have hurt Wenger even more. This time it was a ball into the area from Belletti, headed on by Anelka and, disastrously for Arsenal, missed by Kolo Touré. With a second to hit his snap-shot in the box, Drogba slammed in the winner. Could Almunia have done better? The ball bounced awkwardly but it was certainly not beyond the powers of the Arsenal goalkeeper to stop it.
There was just a brief flash of that unpleasant Chelsea attitude when goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon made an attempt to announce himself to the world by withholding the ball from Abou Diaby and was asked by the referee Mark Clattenburg to leave the dugout. That was a reminder of the bad old Chelsea, just as the nature of their comeback felt more like the indomitable Chelsea of Mourinho.
Goals: Sagna (59) 0-1; Drogba (73) 1-1; Drogba (82) 2-1.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Essien, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Anelka, 70); J Cole (Mikel, 89), Ballack (Belletti, 70), Lampard, Kalou; Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Sagna (Diaby, 71), Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Eboué, Fabregas, Flamini (Bendtner, 89), Van Persie (Walcott, 76); Hleb; Adebayor. Substitutes not used: Lehmann (gk), Senderos.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear).
Booked: Chelsea J Cole, Ballack, Drogba; Arsenal Eboué.
Man of the match: Drogba.
Attendance: 41,284.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grant's switches prove there is no substitute for decisive intervention
Kevin McCarra at Stamford BridgeMonday March 24, 2008The Guardian
Here was the Premier League season in miniature for these clubs, with Chelsea doggedly clambering upwards and Arsenal taking a tumble just when it looked as if they had a secure footing with the opening goal. The departure from normality lay in the radical effect that Avram Grant had. If his substitutions had to be deplored when Chelsea slithered to a 4-4 draw at Tottenham then the changes he made yesterday must be applauded
Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka came on to contribute to the winner, the second of Didier Drogba's goals. The chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from his own fans when that pair were introduced to address the 1-0 deficit reflected the lack of confidence in the Grant regime, but no one is entirely clear about Chelsea's actual worth nowadays.
There are rational causes for gladness around Stamford Bridge now that a fixture with a principal rival has finally been won by the Israeli. What is more, Chelsea have overtaken Arsenal to stand second in the table, five points behind the leaders Manchester United, whom they have still to meet on this ground.
The overall situation will please Sir Alex Ferguson and the Old Trafford squad but Chelsea are at least putting up a fight. They will be particularly capable of making heads ring if Drogba can go on landing blows as he did here. The Ivorian must be infuriating to Stamford Bridge devotees, since it sometimes feels as if he had no sooner set down his pen after signing for the club than the tales of his disaffection began to spread.
He was fully engaged yesterday, particularly after the interval. Arsenal were unlucky since Drogba should have been given offside in the build-up to the equaliser as the ball was launched through the middle. Nonetheless, Arsène Wenger's team began to reel from the moment they opened the scoring. That goal from the right-back Bacary Sagna exposed Chelsea's deficiencies at set-pieces, just as Tottenham had done.
The Frenchman broke away from Salomon Kalou and got in front of Frank Lampard to head in a Cesc Fábregas corner from an acute angle at the near post in the 59th minute. Before long, Sagna hurt an ankle and he eventually had to be replaced, a factor that Wenger blamed, in part, for the outbreak of confusion in his back four. As the Arsenal manager knows, of course, his squad have to be far more resilient than this in adversity.
Arsenal have improved this season, but it now looks like the early stage of a revival. In future, a larger squad will be essential and so, too, will be an enhanced hardiness because brittleness has become apparent over the pounding of the long Premier League programme. A five-point lead has, in mercurial fashion, been converted into a six-point deficit.
Arsenal's showing here was good enough for a period to suggest that the club, who had been the last to beat Chelsea on the Premier League here in February 2004, would repeat the feat. They had been developing some enterprise even before they scored, with Mathieu Flamini, for instance, seeing a raking drive blocked by the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini after 47 minutes.
Chelsea, by and large, had been toiling. The exasperation would have peaked when Kalou, with an opportunity at last, had a fresh-air shot just before the interval. In retrospect it is not too difficult to explain the downfall of Arsenal that lay ahead. Direct football was productive and it took no more than a clearance from John Terry for Drogba to tear through, only for the ball to bounce off his knee as he raced towards Manuel Almunia.
With 17 minutes to go, the striker was initially offside. Permitted to proceed, Drogba pushed a pass towards Frank Lampard and when possession came back to him he shot home confidently, past the left hand of Almunia. The winner, eight minutes from the close, saw Belletti clip a free-kick and Anelka nod it into the centre for an unmarked Drogba to fire into the net.
There might have been a hat-trick for the striker but Almunia made an excellent save after Belletti had pulled a cut-back to him. This victory contained traces of the old Chelsea in the steadfastness shown in a moment of crisis. In addition to seeing Arsenal move in front they also had to put up with handicaps, such as the hip injury that hampered Lampard.
It is, all the same, much too soon to declare that a fresh phase of Chelsea ascendancy is in the making. The hardened sceptic can also quibble over the precise amount of credit due Grant. His alterations to the line-up worked but with the team in arrears it took no feat of imagination to see some worth in sending on Belletti, an attack-minded full-back, and Anelka, an outstanding forward.
There are more delicate judgments to be made while ferrying a lead to the full-time whistle and the knee-jerk use of Alex as a third centre-half just because Tottenham were employing three attackers was misconceived last Wednesday. Grant, overall, has deserved this breathing space. Chelsea's consistency against the lesser teams was not to be sniffed at since other clubs have found it elusive. Now, too, Grant has taken a prize scalp in the Premier League.
Expressions of gratitude to Chelsea are unfashionable because the sheer wealth of the club seems to exclude affection for them. Nonetheless, it is they, with United due here on April 26, who have sustained a little suspense over the outcome of the Premier League contest.
How the managers compared
Selection
Avram Grant Michael Essien at right-back made this an attack-minded team, reflecting Chelsea's need
Arsène Wenger Resisted temptation to start with Theo Walcott, selecting Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboué; arguably strongest line-up
Tactics
Grant With Makelele deep, Lampard and Ballack supported an attacking trio. Switched to 4-4-2 before reverting to type in the last few minutes
Wenger Two midfield holders with Van Persie joining Eboué in supporting down flanks
Motivation
Grant Touchline demeanour rarely veers from impassive, yet Drogba's double had Israeli punching the air
Wenger Flashes of frustration before Sagna scored. Mood darkened by the end as realisation of defeat set in
Substitutions
Grant Introduction of Anelka and Beletti proved masterful and,
ultimately, match-winning
Wenger Injury forced Abou Diaby's entry for Sagna; Walcott for Van Persie was similarly like-for-like. Bendtner's arrival reflected desperate times
Verdict
Grant This, possibly, was the day Grant proved his quality
Wenger His team's confidence is ebbing away before his eyes---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Avram's wish is Granted as Chelsea star Drogba sinks ArsenalChelsea 2 Arsenal 1
By NEIL ASHTON
Avram Grant: Tactical Genius.
All those coaching seminars in Israel, all those mistakes in high-profile matches and all those moments of indecision have finally paid off.
"You don't know what you're doing," sang Chelsea's fans in the 70th minute. Oh yes he did.
He brought off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, replaced them with Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka and swapped 4-3-3 for 4-4-2. Genius.
Three minutes later they were level and eight minutes from time they were back in the hunt for the Barclays Premier League title.
That appeared to be unthinkable when they threw away maximum points at White Hart Lane last Wednesday and unpalatable after Bacary Sagna had put Arsenal ahead.
Suddenly it has become a distinct possibility. Who would have thought it?
Certainly no one inside Stamford Bridge when puzzled Chelsea supporters began singing the name of Jose Mourinho as Grant made the substitutions that appeared to land this game right in Arsenal's laps.
The Special One was at home with his feet up in Setubal, switching between the TV remote, sipping champagne and chuckling to himself as Chelsea set about surrendering their remarkable 77-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge.
The bubbles had almost burst. Arsenal had the game won.
The spirit of the San Siro swept through the Gunners, confidence flooded through them after William Gallas's pep talk on the pitch before the match and they dictated the tempo.
Sagna's goal put them back in the hunt for their first League title since the Invincibles in 2004.
Forget the draws with Birmingham, Aston Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough: this was the real Arsenal.
High energy when the stakes are high. Instead, they are for the high jump.
"We should have won, but couldn't cope with Chelsea's long balls," said manager Arsene Wenger.
"Defensively, we have problems."
No kidding.
Gallas failed to clear when Drogba scored Chelsea's 73rd-minute equaliser and the Arsenal captain, along with central defensive partner Kolo Toure, were to blame when they conceded another.
"This is a big setback," admitted Wenger. "We are not short of confidence, but we have drawn four of our last five games.
"We had lapses in concentration and we have paid for it. We have to swallow it, but we were in control. Chelsea played long balls and we couldn't deal with it."
More accurately they could not deal with Drogba.
Gallas kept him quiet, making him stew for 45 minutes before he finally made an impact.
When he did, Drogba was ruthless.
The shirt was ripped off when he slid towards the Chelsea fans after he lashed the equaliser beyond Manuel Almunia.
Then came his second with a swivelled finish. Almunia got a touch, but the strike was too clean and too sweet for the Arsenal keeper.
"It was about time he did that," said Grant. "We had a few players who came back from the Africa Cup of Nations who were not in the best condition, but he is better now."
Drogba has done for Arsenal. Wenger will not admit it — he is too stubborn — but his team could not cope with the aerial bombardment after Grant's impressive changes.
Arsenal were nine points clear of Chelsea on February 23 and are now one point behind them.
They were six ahead of Manchester United at the same stage, but now they are lagging behind.
Not quite Devon Loch, but Wenger is flogging a dead horse.
They were in the home straight when they beat Blackburn on February 11, but Wenger has the international week to brood about the worst run at the club in nine years. That has to hurt.
He should spend the next seven days on Fantasy Island after complaining that Drogba's first goal was offside, but at least Grant is living in the real world.
With seven games to go, Chelsea are in the chase. Five points behind United — who visit Stamford Bridge on April 26. Absorbing stuff.
Little wonder that gladiator Grant entered the auditorium with something of a swagger. Someone had just told him that he had become the most successful manager in Chelsea's history with a 76 per cent win rate in the League (compared to you know who's 75.25). Absurd.
This was the man who could not beat a big team, remember. Beaten by Manchester United in his first game, beaten at Arsenal in December, beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final and beaten by Barnsley in the FA Cup.
The margin for error is wafer thin, but at least Grant is the first to recognise it.
"Sometimes the substitutions work, sometimes they don't," he added.
"We want to have two ways of playing and I told John Terry to tell the rest of the players to switch to 4-4-2. We had two good chances before we equalised, but I'm just glad the substitutions worked out."
Lucky manager? Well, it is better than being a losing one. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
KISS OF LIFE EASTER SLAM DAY CHELSEA 2 ARSENAL 1FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Drogba fires Chelsea into second place and turns Grant into real Special One Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer Avram Grant turned the title race on its head last night - and transformed himself into Chelsea's new Special One.
Four days after his tactical tinkering cost Chelsea two vital points at Spurs, the Blues boss was staring at a cataclysmic defeat which would have ended his side's remarkable unbeaten home record and surely spelled the end of his reign.
With Chelsea trailing to Bacary Sagna's close-range header, Blues fans turned on Grant as he boldly hauled off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, sending on Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti as he switched to an orthodox 4-4-2.
Chelsea supporters chanted "You don't know what you're doing," and bellowed the name of their long-lost Special One.
It was as much a statement of contempt as Ashley Cole's behaviour towards Mike Riley at White Hart Lane four days earlier, the Chelsea fans seemingly desperate to condemn the manager they have never really accepted.
But Jose Mourinho himself could not have masterminded such a dramatic turnaround.
The move which could have killed Grant instead unleashed the predatory beast within striker Didier Drogba, who capitalised on Arsenal's sudden defensive disarray to fire a two-goal salvo which turned the game. Within a minute of the switch Drogba was clearly offside when Belletti pumped forward, although he had got back into an onside position by the time his attempted pass to Frank Lampard fell back at his feet.
And there was no doubting the finish as Drogba drilled into the bottom corner of the net to haul Chelsea level.
And when he claimed his 13th of the season eight minutes from time to kill off Arsenal, there was no arguing with the impact on both clubs' seasons.
This time Belletti's early free-kick found Anelka out-jumping William Gallas to nod down and with Kolo Toure losing his balance, Drogba was able to spin and find the other corner despite Manuel Almunia getting a touch.
It was a shocking way for Arsenal to go down to only their second league defeat of the season - now the side which could have been eight points clear a month ago suddenly finds itself out of the top two.
No wonder Grant responded like a man possessed, pumping his fists at the final whistle after finally picking up the "big" win he has sought to bolster his reign all season.
Incredibly, Grant has picked up six points more than Arsene Wenger since replacing Mourinho in September.
And in gaining 57 points out of the 75 available during his reign, he has a marginally better league record, percentage-wise, than the Portuguese during his three years in charge.
Not that any of that mattered last night for Grant, who must have been fearing the worst when Sagna was allowed to get on the end of Cesc Fabegas' near-post corner and divert home his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini paid for failing to have a team-mate on the post. At that point you would not have given a prayer for Grant. Even though his side had remained level at the break, Arsenal had been growing in confidence.
Robin van Persie snatched at one opportunity and Cudicini, all over the place, was bailed out by John Terry after heading straight to Emmanuel Eboue before hacking the ball virtually off his own goalline.
Six minutes before the break, Chelsea's uncertainty at set-pieces was underlined when Gallas turned Toure's header against the post, although an offside flag had gone up.
Just after Sagna had nudged home, Ashley Cole missed a back-post sitter and the writing seemed on the wall for Chelsea and Grant.
By the end, though, everything had changed.
Grant lives on, emboldened, invigorated and with the title still possible.
Wenger, by contrast, was a study in dejection. Who would have believed it? But they still won't chant Grant's name.
Chelsea: Cudicini 6, Essien 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7, Ballack 6 (Belletti, 70, 7), Makelele 6 (Anelka, 70, 7), Lampard 7, J Cole 7 (Mikel, 88), Drogba 8, Kalou 6
Arsenal: Almunia 6, Sagba 7 (Diaby, 72, 5) Toure 6, Gallas 5, Clichy 7, Eboue 7, Fabregas 7, Hleb 6, Flamini 6 (Bendtner, 88), Van Persie 6 (Walcott, 77), Adebayor 5
Chelsea v Arsenal
52% POSSESSION 48%
7 SHOTS ON TARGET 6
3 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5
5 OFFSIDES 1
4 CORNERS 2
11 FOULS 14
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 41,824
Man Of The Match: Drogba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
CHELSEA fans will not find it easy but they will have to consider a new chant about manager Avram Grant: You
DO know what you’re doing!
Blues supporters were sharpening the knives again for Grant, as he made a controversial double substitution on 70 minutes with the home side trailing to a Bacary Sagna header.
They were furious at the introduction of right-back Juliano Belletti for midfielder Michael Ballack, immediately after Nicolas Anelka had replaced Claude Makelele.
Chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ rang round the ground, followed by a chorus for much-loved former boss Jose Mourinho.
Grant had been heavily criticised five days earlier for his substitutions at Tottenham, where Chelsea conceded a late goal to draw 4-4, and it seemed he had messed up once more.
But this time the Israeli had the last laugh, as Didier Drogba struck twice to turn the game around.
The winner came with eight minutes left, after the two subs had combined to set up the Ivory Coast star.
It still was not enough for Grant to get any credit, with the fans preferring to get stuck into former Blue and current Arsenal skipper William Gallas.
Yet the result means Chelsea are now Manchester United’s closest challengers in the Premier League title race, only five points adrift. It was the first time Grant had won against one of the top teams and they host United at the Bridge on April 26.
Despite all their off-field troubles and claims of in-fighting, they are hanging in there.
Drogba wants to leave in the summer and has little or no rapport with Grant. But he is still doing the business.
His two goals made it 13 for his club in a season in which he has suffered a prolonged injury absence and been on duty at the African Nations Cup.
As for Arsenal, their title challenge is falling apart.
They had drawn their previous four games to lose top spot and manager Arsene Wenger had vowed they would get back on track and win the championship.
But this second league defeat of the season could be a mortal blow.
It was great news for United boss Alex Ferguson. He joked he wanted both these teams to lose but a victory for Chelsea was far preferable to one for Arsenal.
Gallas had wanted a win badly and went round his players at the start eyeballing them all, telling them to show ‘no fear’. Yet there appeared to be fear on both sides, even to tackle, because of the FA’s current clampdown on discipline.
Nobody wanted to put a foot in and it was definitely somewhat tame for the first half.
There were a lot of long balls from Chelsea and Drogba should have scored when he raced on to John Terry’s hoof. But he lost control and Manuel Almunia gathered.
Salomon Kalou had an air shot from six yards and Almunia saved superbly to his left from Ballack.
The game came to life in the second half, sparked by right-back Sagna’s header on 59 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas delivered a corner to the near post and Sagna got ahead of Kalou and Frank Lampard to head his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini scrambled across in vain to keep it out.
Soon after, Sagna had to go off as he twisted an ankle clearing the ball and the visitors lost their shape.
Grant made his substitutions, putting former Gunner Anelka up front alongside Drogba and switching Michael Essien from right-back into midfield.
Despite the vitriol from the stands, Chelsea were level within three minutes — though Wenger complained it should have been disallowed for offside against both Drogba and Anelka. His argument was a strong one. But the linesman missed it and Drogba met Belletti’s through ball as it sailed over Gallas. He took a return pass from Lampard and then rifled a low shot beyond Almunia.
Drogba whipped his shirt off in celebration, earning a booking in the process. On another day, it would have driven him demented. But he merely patted referee Mark Clattenburg on the shoulder and trotted off.
Gallas and Kolo Toure were struggling to cope with Chelsea’s two-pronged attack and Anelka scuffed a good chance wide.
But on 82 minutes Chelsea bagged the winner. It was started by coach Steve Clarke, who jumped off the bench to encourage Belletti to take a quick free-kick.
The delivery was perfect and Anelka climbed above Gallas to flick the ball on.
Toure lost his footing and Drogba swivelled and shot home via Almunia’s outstretched right hand.
As time ticked down, the Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lolichon was sent off for not giving the ball back to Abou Diaby.
Not much respect there and none from ex-Arsenal man Ashley Cole, as he cocked an ear to the Gunners supporters mocking them about the score.
Considering the stick that he had taken all game, we can let Ashley off for once.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
morning papers spurs away
Telegraph:
Robbie Keane has last word for Spurs in classicBy Henry Winter at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 Chelsea (2) 4
Avram Grant continues to fluff his lines on the big stage. The Chelsea coach's negative substitution of an attacker, Salomon Kalou, for a centre-half, Alex, invited Spurs on, setting up a thrilling climax in which Robbie Keane struck a marvellous equaliser which will have been celebrated as wildly by followers of Arsenal and Manchester United as by the Tottenham faithful.
As well as showing the weakness in the dugout, Chelsea also showed their studs, and Ashley Cole should have been banished for a horrific lunge at Alan Hutton deemed worthy of only a yellow card by Mike Riley. Spurs were livid. The Riley report could be interesting. The Hutton report would be more damning.
The first half had contained enough drama for a whole game, conjuring up three goals in a frantic first 20 minutes and concluding with Ashley Cole's horrific lunge. It was breathless stuff, with no quarter asked or granted, particularly not from a visiting corps clearly in merciless mood.
Drogba had shown Chelsea's ruthless intent early on, although his headed goal was cloaked in controversy. Essien, allowed to roam through Claude Makelele's assiduous anchoring, charged upfield, eventually losing possession as Pascal Chimbonda slid in. Riley bizarrely deemed the challenge illegal.
Almost 30 yards out, the free-kick appeared perfectly placed for a Frank Lampard special but Drogba claimed responsibility, taking two steps and bending the ball into the leaping bodies in the wall. It cannoned clear, Drogba screaming for a handling offence before realising Chelsea still had the initiative.
The ball was in the domain of John Terry, who rolled back the years to when he was a more creative player on the park pitches of east London. The Chelsea captain elegantly lifted the ball across from the left towards the far post. Drogba had read Terry's intentions, darting in ahead of the slow-reacting Jermaine Jenas to nod Chelsea in front.
Jenas swiftly made amends. When Claude Makelele was penalised for climbing over Aaron Lennon, probably the one person in the Premier League the Frenchman could tower over, Jenas took charge of the free-kick on the right. The England international's delivery was magnificent, the ball hoisted to the far post.
As Terry clutched a handful of Dimitar Berbatov's shirt to prevent the Bulgarian reaching the ball, Jenas' free-kick continued to Jonathan Woodgate. One of the most uplifting sights for Spurs fans this year has been Woodgate rising high, having eluded his marker - in this case Drogba - to headed powerfully in.
Tottenham were triumphant, their fans taunting Chelsea relentlessly over the Carling Cup final outcome. Chelsea responded with ditties about Spurs' bruising encounter with the Old Bill in Seville last year.
Largely unimpressive since that Wembley success, Spurs now played with greater conviction. The determination flooding through Juande Ramos' men was evident, painfully so for Essien as Didier Zokora hit him with a meaty man-and-ball challenge.
Essien is made of strong stuff, though, and shortly after climbing to his feet he swept Chelsea ahead. Joe Cole made the telling break, dribbling through the middle. With Essien and Drogba lurking on the edge of the area, Cole released the ball, which rebounded from Drogba to Essien. His response was magnificent, the ball lifted unerringly over Robinson for his first of the season.
The goal simply reflected Chelsea's superiority, particularly in a midfield dominated by Essien, Makelele and Frank Lampard. Spurs strove to find an equaliser and when Jenas wriggled in from the left, Drogba threw himself in to try to block. Inevitably, Drogba stayed down, nursing another seemingly terminal injury, stirring unrest among the home fans. A plastic bottle was thrown on to the pitch as Drogba miraculously recovered.
A good game then turned nasty, Derby-day fireworks erupting. Chimbonda fouled Joe Cole, who gave the linesman some choice London invective for ignoring the offence. Cole was booked, Lampard should have followed him for catching Jenas, and then came Ashley Cole's assault on Hutton, an offence that deserved more than yellow and triggered a near brawl.
Adding insult to iniquity, Ashley Cole set the scene for Chelsea's third, delivering a quick throw-in to Makelele, who swiftly found Kalou. Chelsea's No 21 cleverly worked the ball across the edge of the area to Joe Cole, who darted around Chimbonda.
Still the angle was tight. Still Robinson had to be negotiated. Cole's shot sped through Robinson's legs, clipped the keeper's heel and looped up and in, to Robinson's deep anguish. "England's No 4," the Chelsea hordes chanted.
Even before Robinson regained some pride with an outstanding save from Drogba, Spurs had pulled a goal back. When Tom Huddlestone curled over a corner, Berbatov leaned gently into Terry, opening up a yard of space. As the ball dropped in, Berbatov flicked a header, almost languidly, high into the net.
Still the tempo never ebbed in a classic match. Cudicini saved superbly from Keane. Essien hit a post. Huddlestone dived disgracefully and was deservedly booked.
As the spell-binding entertainment continued, Huddlestone displayed his more positive side. Keane clipped over a corner from the left and Berbatov's presence caused chaos in the box, allowing the ball to fly through to Huddlestone. What a response! The midfielder drilled the ball unerringly in past Cudicini: 3-3.
But there was more, remarkably so. When Spurs foolishly conceded possession on the right, Chelsea leapt into life, Drogba finding Joe Cole. The England international again ghosted around Chimbonda and found the net with a brilliant finish, the ball placed at speed past the exposed Robinson.
But then came Keane. What a finish! What a game!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail:
Unbelievable - a 4-4 thriller as Spurs stop Chelsea and Cole makes horror tackle
By NEIL ASHTON
Ashley Cole was caught up in a red card storm last night as Chelsea's title ambitions were blown apart on a dramatic night at White Hart Lane.
Cole escaped with a booking after a horror tackle on Tottenham defender Alan Hutton during an incredible 4-4 draw.
Spurs players surrounded referee Mike Riley following the challenge in the first half and furious assistant manager Gus Poyet told fourth official Steve Bennett: 'That is a f****** red card and you know it.'
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said: 'The referee decided it was a yellow card, but we've seen tackles which were much less serious and they have earned red cards.
'Robbie Keane was sent off for a tackle less serious than that against Birmingham. But we have to respect the officials' decisions.
'It's best not to dwell on that kind of action. We're just very fortunate there weren't any injuries to players.'
This incredible match boiled over when Frank Lampard took out Jermaine Jenas, who had to be substituted at half-time, but there was more to come.
The major flashpoint occurred when Cole clashed with Hutton and Tottenham demanded the left back's dismissal. Players clashed as they walked down the tunnel and Poyet could be seen remonstrating with Cole.
Poyet said: 'It would be unfair on Ashley to talk about only his challenge after the game we had. I prefer not to go into it, but it looked strange.'
Incredibly, Chelsea manager Avram Grant claimed he did not see the incident — even though it happened in front of the Chelsea bench.
Grant said: 'The assistant referee was in my way. I saw the Tottenham bench jump up, but the referee was two metres away. We must respect his decision.'
Chelsea were awesome in the first half and they appeared intent on heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal level on points in the Barclays Premier League.
Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead after two minutes and, although Jonathan Woodgate equalised for Tottenham, Michael Essien put them back in front with a delicious lob.
Man of the match Joe Cole scored after the break, but Spurs fought back with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Joe Cole appeared to have won it for Chelsea with a brilliant turn and shot, but Robbie Keane's curled effort in the 88th minute secured a point for Spurs.
Grant added: 'It's very disappointing to lead 1-0 and 3-1, then to concede goals from two corners and a free-kick.
'I don't know whether to laugh. One of our strengths is that we defend well against corners and free-kicks, yet Tottenham have scored five from set-pieces against us in two games.
I don't know how to explain that. It's very unusual for us. There was a big mistake from us and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. But we showed a great spirit in the team.
'We're closer to Arsenal than we were before. We'll be at home on Sunday and we'll come to fight to win the game. We're five points off the top, still in the race and we'll continue fighting.'
Chelsea's game plan was undone by a series of bizarre tactical substitutions that invited Spurs to attack.
Their confusion was illustrated in the closing moments when Drogba approached assistant manager Steve Clarke and asked: 'What are we supposed to be doing?'
Spurs were rewarded when Keane scored one of the best goals of his career.
Ramos added: 'At 3-1 and in the second half against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be very difficult, but the game was very open.
'The team believed in themselves and scoring the goal to make it 3-2 quite soon afterwards made things a bit more open and possible.
'It reminds me of the 6-4 against Reading, and against Aston Villa we had a 4-4 result at White Hart Lane. They were spectacular games, too.'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Indy:
Tottenham 4 Chelsea 4: Chelsea hopes fade as Grant's tactics are exposed in thrillerBy Sam WallaceThursday, 20 March 2008
While Avram Grant fiddled, Chelsea's title ambitions burned. It was, quite simply, the most extraordinary game of the season so far - a conflagration of eight goals, three Tottenham comebacks and another set of bizarre tactical decisions from a Chelsea manager who just cannot get it right in the big games.
When the dust had settled after Robbie Keane's brilliant 88th-minute equaliser, Grant was left to wonder whether this was the moment that his club's title ambitions died. Manchester United are five points ahead, Chelsea's opportunity to draw level with Arsenal in second place has gone. Roman Abramovich cannot grumble about the entertainment value but he must take issue at the way Grant’s team are blowing their chances of a trophy.
This was the game that had everything. There was a sublime performance from Joe Cole, whose two goals made him the outstanding performer before Grant's decision to substitute him with Chelsea 4-3 up. And on the dark side there was an horrendous studs-up challenge from Ashley Cole before half-time that could have broke Alan Hutton's leg and was met with a terrible decision from Mike Riley who booked Cole instead of sending him off.
Against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and, in the last two games against Spurs, Grant has failed to beat the big beasts of English football. Juande Ramos picked the same XI that beat Chelsea in last month's Carling Cup final and, by the skin of his teeth, has again frustrated Grant. At 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 up his Chelsea team should have won this game, yet by the end even Grant's own players seemed baffled by his substitutions.
With his team 3-2 in the lead, having led 3-1, the Chelsea manager tried to close out the game in Jose Mourinho-fashion by bolstering his defence. He sent on the Brazilian defender Alex da Costa as sweeper in what seemed like a counter-move to Ramos's decision to bring on Darren Bent, a third striker. But on the pitch, Chelsea lost their shape, Didier Drogba looked to the bench in despair and Tom Huddlestone equalised. The game was in the balance again.
Then, after Joe Cole had seemingly got Grant off the hook with a brilliant second goal to put his team 4-3 in the lead, the Chelsea manager struck again. Off came Cole this time for Michael Ballack and Chelsea were caught cold once again. After a clearance struck Ricardo Carvalho's back, Keane hit a 20-yard equaliser past Carlo Cudicini and Grant must have felt the cold sweat break out on his forehead. Ramos had out-thought him.
Tiny margins for error; huge consequences. The basis of the five trophies won by Mourinho was a sure-footedness in pressurised situations. It is the hallmark of all great managers and, once again, Ramos showed he has that judgement in abundance. Grant seems to lack it. The Spurs manager made two substitutions – his key call was Bent coming on for Ledley King on 68 minutes – and he got it right.
It was telling that, at 4-4 in the very last moments of the match, Grant was lucky that Spurs did not take all three points. The excellent Dimitar Berbatov twisted into space and had a clear shot at goal that only Cudicini's desperate save stopped. Sunday at Stamford Bridge provides Grant with his shot at redemption against Arsenal, but on this evidence there is no doubt which team will win if it comes down to the manager's decisions.
Take a deep breath and go back to the start. Four minutes into the game and Drogba met John Terry's peach of a cross with a downward header past Paul Robinson. It was the Ivorian's first Premier League goal since 11 September, his first goal in any competition since the Carling Cup final.
1-1: on 12 minutes Jonathan Woodgate, who had lost Drogba for the first goal, headed home Jermaine Jenas' free-kick for the equaliser. 2-1 to Chelsea: on 19 minutes Joe Cole's throughball took a touch off Drogba before Michael Essien lifted a brilliant chip over Robinson. Then it started to get nasty.
Terry's knee caught Berbatov's head as the two tumbled in the Chelsea area. Lampard went straight through Jenas and at half-time the Spurs man was substituted for Huddlestone. Riley did not even book Lampard but his worst decision was to come. Just before half-time, Hutton moved in to control a ball by the touchline and from out of the frame came Ashley Cole, lunging, stretching and with studs raised. Had Hutton's foot been grounded when Cole connected with his leg then the injury would have been disastrous. The card was yellow but should have been red.
3-1 to Chelsea: on 52 minutes, Joe Cole took the long route around Pascal Chimbonda in the right channel before striking a low shot that cannoned off Robinson's legs and in. 3-2: six minutes later the Tottenham comeback began. Huddlestone's corner found Berbatov who flighted a header into the corner. 3-3: on 75 minutes a loose corner fell to Huddlestone who drilled in the equaliser.
The finale. 4-3: another goal from Joe Cole who burst through and struck the ball into the roof of Robinson's goal on 80 minutes and was then substituted. 4-4: Keane's riposte, White Hart Lane in raptures. In the 90th minute, Grant sent on Andrei Shevchenko but it was a bit late then to be changing a team that had already been pulled apart by its own manager.
Goals: Drogba (3) 0-1; Woodgate (12) 1-1; Essien (20) 1-2; J Cole (52) 1-3; Berbatov (61) 2-3; Huddlestone (75) 3-3; J Cole (80) 3-4; Keane (88) 4-4.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent, 68), Chimbonda; Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone, h-t), Zokora, Malbranque; Keane, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Tainio, Dawson.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira (Shevchenko, 89), Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Ballack, 82), Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Alex, 71); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Wright-Phillips.
Referee: M Riley (Yorkshire).
Booked: Tottenham Keane, Huddlestone; Chelsea J Cole, A Cole.
Man of the match: J Cole.
Attendance: 36,178--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keane blunts Chelsea challenge in thriller
Kevin McCarra at White Hart LaneThursday March 20, 2008The Guardian
If there are no more trophies to be pursued this season, Tottenham Hotspur might still take vast satisfaction from savaging Chelsea's campaign for the title. They did so in an almost inconceivably galling way here last night, recovering from 3-1 and 4-3 down. The exquisite goal with which they secured the draw two minutes from the close would have been memorable in even the most insignificant match, with Robbie Keane bending a finish round Carlo Cudicini from the fringes of the penalty area after the ball had bounced to him off the back of Ricardo Carvalho.
Unfortunately for Avram Grant, people will not stay entranced by the spectacle for long and Chelsea lag five points behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester United. The Chelsea manager's plans were misconceived when the Carling Cup final was lost to Tottenham last month and here he threw the contest open when attempting to shut down the match. He inclined to misguided caution once the opposition had trimmed the deficit to 3-2 when Dimitar Berbatov climbed above John Terry to head home a corner from the substitute Tom Huddlestone in the 61st minute.Juande Ramos introduced another forward in Darren Bent and Grant reacted by removing an attacker in Salomon Kalou so that he could have an additional centre-back in Alex. That simply encouraged Tottenham and diminished the best aspect of Chelsea's display, their fluid menace. The game was level at 3-3 after 75 minutes, when a Keane corner broke to Huddlestone and he finished with a well-controlled drive.
Still Chelsea had enough individuality to respond, with Joe Cole restoring the lead 10 minutes from the end. He took a through-pass from Didier Drogba and fired high into the net. He had been giving a superb display and there was no benefit in sparing him the remainder of the evening, as Grant did by introducing Michael Ballack. Once again the effect would have been heartening for Tottenham.
Chelsea's prospects of regaining the title are diminished and on Sunday they meet the side who remain above them in second place, Arsenal. Much had seemed to be running in favour of Grant's team. On the verge of the interval, for instance, Ashley Cole ought to have been sent off for a terrible airborne lunge in which the defender's left boot was sunk into the right shin of the Spurs full-back Alan Hutton.
Mike Riley, the referee, was somehow persuaded that a booking would suffice. The justifiable anger was great although it does not seem that the punishment can be upgraded retrospectively since there is no indication that the official did not see the incident clearly. There was seething resentment and the Tottenham assistant manager, Gus Poyet, had an arm round the neck of Cole as he remonstrated with him while the sides were going off at half-time.
Chelsea, as a whole, ought still to have been remembering this occasion, watched by the England head coach Fabio Capello, with pride. Instead they can merely be relieved that Cudicini denied Berbatov a winner in stoppage-time. The rematch with the identical Tottenham starting XI that had overcome them at Wembley last month, however, was still excruciating for the visitors, particularly since there had been long passages of encouragement for them. Chelsea were often polished and had the lead in the third minute.
A Drogba free-kick was hit into the wall and after Claude Makelele had directed play out to the left the Ivorian was free at the far post to head in a deep cross from Terry. That was Drogba's first Premier League goal since November 11.
Tottenham were level in the 12th minute. Jermaine Jenas lifted in a free-kick from the right and, as Drogba elected to assist Terry with the marking of Berbatov, Jonathan Woodgate headed home untroubled. That, even so, did nothing to undermine the perception that Chelsea were the slicker.
After 20 minutes, Joe Cole made a penetrating run before Michael Essien got between Ledley King and Pascal Chimbonda to loft the ball over Paul Robinson with the outside of his right foot. Chelsea's advantage was stretched in the 52nd minute as Joe Cole collected a ball from Makelele on the right, beat Chimbonda and hit the net with a finish which broke off Robinson.
The mastery proved to be mere illusion. Grant will naturally be aghast that famously sturdy Chelsea were so flimsy at set pieces in particular, but whatever the reasons he is in charge of a team whose remaining home fixtures with Arsenal and United no longer look as if they will be the basis of a triumph. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesMarch 20, 2008
Robbie Keane ensures Tottenham haunt Avram Grant once moreTottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4(Marc Aspland)
How Chelsea must hate Tottenham Hotspur. Beaten by them in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last month, it was the North London side who again thwarted their ambitions, this time in the Barclays Premier League and in an astonishing eight-goal extravaganza at White Hart Lane last night.
Chelsea led three times — once by 3-1 midway in the second half — but had to settle for a draw when Robbie Keane curled home a shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute. After playing catch-up with Arsenal for much of the season, they would have moved level on points with them in second place had they held on for victory.
Instead, they will have to wait until Sunday, when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge. With Manchester United playing Liverpool at Old Trafford, on the same day, the top-of-the-table scrap could take on a completely different complexion by Monday morning. The title race is far from over.
Yet it might have been so much worse for Chelsea, with Tottenham — 2-1 winners after extra time at Wembley — going agonisingly close to stealing a remarkable win in the last throes of stoppage time. Dimitar Berbatov’s close-range shot was destined for the net until Carlo Cudicini, the goalkeeper, stuck out an arm. “We could have won it,” Juande Ramos, the Tottenham head coach, said, still in a state of some disbelief.
And it could have been so much worse for Chelsea had Ashley Cole, the England left back, been sent off — as he should have been — shortly before half-time for a studs-up challenge on Alan Hutton, the Tottenham right back. That Mike Riley, the referee, opted for a yellow card rather than a red spared Cole a suspension.
Cole’s reaction to the incident was inexcusable, too. He turned his back on Riley, and it was not exactly the example to set, the day after the FA had announced its £200 million-worth of investment in grassroots football. The showing of greater respect to referees is one of its key objectives.
Still, having done more than enough to win, with Joe Cole imperious in front of Fabio Capello, the England manager, Chelsea will fight another day. “There were so many positives to take from the game but, in the end, it was disappointing,” Avram Grant, the first-team coach, said. “At least we are closer to Arsenal than before.”
Grant was roundly criticised for his starting line-up at Wembley, mostly for deploying Nicolas Anelka out of position on the left flank and for leaving Joe Cole and Michael Ballack on the bench for too long. Last night, Joe Cole started, Ballack was among the substitutes and Anelka was left out because of a thigh injury.
Grant made six changes from the side that so underperformed at Wembley and, after three minutes, was rewarded when Chelsea went ahead. Didier Drogba battered a free kick into the defensive wall but Claude Makelele regained possession and released John Terry on the edge of the area. The Chelsea captain crossed to the far post and Drogba, running in alone, was allowed to head past Paul Robinson. For all Tottenham’s attacking splendour, their defensive deficiencies were laid bare again. And Chelsea, with revenge on their minds, appeared to be in the mood for it.
Strangely, though, they failed to build on their advantage. Ramos fielded the same team that had beaten Chelsea last month and it was Jonathan Woodgate, who scored the injury-time winner to secure the 2-1 victory on that occasion, who returned to haunt them with another header. This time, Woodgate did not need the good fortune of the ball hitting him in the face. Jermaine Jenas slung over a curling free kick from the right and Woodgate rose high above Drogba to send a looping header over Cudicini.
Chelsea were quick to respond. Joe Cole wriggled his way towards the home area, with barely a challenge, and passed the ball for Michael Essien comfortably to chip in.
Ashley Cole’s lunge at Hutton brought the half to a shuddering halt and prompted heated exchanges among the occupants of both benches.
Their passion undimmed, Chelsea stretched their lead after the break. There was only one outcome when Joe Cole latched on to Salomon Kalou’s pass and rounded Pascal Chimbonda. As Robinson came out, Cole guided the ball in off the goalkeeper’s body.
Game over? By no means. Tottenham bucked up their ideas and pushed forward, more in desperation than by design. Tom Huddlestone swung over a corner from the right and Berbatov, making his first real contribution to the game, headed beyond Cudicini.
Worse was to follow for Chelsea when Huddlestone slammed in the equaliser in the 74th minute. However, Joe Cole quickly responded when he left Chimbonda standing again and drove his shot over Robinson into the roof of the net. Keane’s late equaliser only provided another twist in what is becoming a fascinating race to the top.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson — A Hutton, J Woodgate, L King (sub: D Bent, 69min), P Chimbonda — A Lennon, D Zokora, J Jenas (sub: T Huddlestone, 46), S Malbranque — R Keane, D Berbatov. Substitutes not used: R Cerny, T Tainio, M Dawson. Booked: Keane, Huddlestone.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): C Cudicini — P Ferreira (sub: A Shevchenko, 89), R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — C Makelele — J Cole (sub: M Ballack, 83), M Essien, F Lampard, S Kalou (sub: Alex, 71) — D Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilário, Wright-Phillips. Booked: J Cole, A Cole.
Referee: M Riley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Spurs 4 Chelsea 4By SHAUN CUSTIS
JUST when Avram Grant was winning over the critics again, Chelsea blew it on a night of stunning goals, high drama and controversy. Three times the Blues led — inspired by the brilliant Joe Cole — only to throw it away. Robbie Keane was the Tottenham hero with a stunning 20-yard curler two minutes from time. And it came just four days after Keane’s tantrum at being substituted in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City. Chelsea are now five points behind leaders Manchester United. And — had it not been for an unbelievable save by Carlo Cudicini from Dimitar Berbatov’s shot with seconds to go — they would have left White Hart Lane with nothing. A shocking tackle by Ashley Cole on Spurs defender Alan Hutton on 44 minutes added to an incredible night. The England left-back should have been sent off for the awful lunge on the Scot but ref Mike Riley showed him only a yellow card. But the bottom line is that Chelsea slipped up when it mattered once more. Boss Grant is just not doing it in the big games. His side have drawn with Liverpool and Everton, lost to Arsenal, been beaten by Manchester United and now thrown away a lead at Spurs. The latest failure also came on the back of the Carling Cup Final defeat to Juande Ramos’ men and the shocking FA Cup exit to Barnsley. Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Bolton means the Premier League title has slipped further away with only eight games to play. The Gunners visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday and if Chelsea stumble again it could be all over. You have to feel sorry for Joe Cole who was sensational in front of watching England boss Fabio Capello. The Italian is not convinced English players possess the technical skills to match foreign opponents — but Cole is surely an exception. At times it was a one-man show. Grant made a fatal error in taking him off with seven minutes left in an attempt to protect a 4-3 lead. He also withdrew Salomon Kalou and replaced him with defender Alex when they were 3-2 up. Jose Mourinho had a knack of getting it right with substitutions. Grant has just not got it. Games like these are why the Premier League is the most popular in the world and millions are spent on the rights to watch it. You could not take your eyes off it from the moment Didier Drogba opened the scoring on three minutes. Skipper John Terry’s cross picked out the Ivory Coast hit-man at the far post and he headed home for his first league goal since November 11 in a draw with Everton. Jonathan Woodgate — who won the Carling Cup for Spurs in extra-time — climbed high above Drogba to head the equaliser on 12 minutes. But then Joe Cole began to weave his magic. His mazy dribble through the centre set up Michael Essien who stabbed a chip over the top of the bemused Paul Robinson to restore the lead. As half-time approached tempers boiled over when Ashley Cole launched himself at Spurs full-back Alan Hutton with studs up and both feet off the ground. Cole connected with Hutton just below his knee-cap and was nowhere near the ball. The Spurs bench, players and crowd were incensed. Assistant boss Gus Poyet screamed at fourth official Steve Bennett and referee Riley to send Cole off. That led to a verbal dust-up between Frank Lampard and Poyet. It seemed Cole was facing an early bath but Riley let him off with a yellow card. He was a lucky boy. Poyet waited for Cole to remonstrate with him as the defender headed down the tunnel at half-time — and then Poyet made his point to Riley again. It was a minor miracle that Hutton came back out after the interval. Joe Cole continued to turn it on for Capello although it required the generosity of Pascal Chimbonda to let him in for No 3 on 52 minutes. Kalou’s pass sent Cole away and he ran past Chimbonda without being challenged. Keeper Robinson came out to try and close him down but Cole’s shot cannoned off the keeper’s leg and bounced into the far corner. Game over. Or so it seemed. On the hour Spurs pulled one back when Berbatov climbed above Terry to loop a header into the top corner. Cudicini — who turned out to be something of a Chelsea hero despite conceding four goals — saved superbly from Keane’s close-range effort to preserve the visitors’ lead. Then Spurs levelled as Keane’s corner found its way to sub Tom Huddlestone on the right of the box. The young midfielder, 21, has a reputation for pile-drivers and he did not disappoint with a rocket into the far corner. But Joe Cole was still not finished and when Drogba played him in, the England trickster left the hapless Chimbonda sprawling on the ground before rifling a shot high into the net. Chelsea were back ahead with 11 minutes left. Surely that was it. No. Not at White Hart Lane where the goals have been flooding in all season — at both ends. Cole came off, Michael Ballack went on and Spurs hit back again with two minutes remaining — although it was tough luck on Chelsea’s part. A hopeful punt towards the Blues box hit Ricardo Carvalho on the back and Keane seized on it to fire home from 20 yards. What a difference a few days make. Keane moved from villain to hero with one brilliant strike. But he did prove why he should be kept on until the end. Cudicini’s outstretched left hand prevented Berbatov completing a victory which would have gone down in Spurs history. Wow.
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Mirror:
KIDS LIFT FOR ROM
A Villa Yth 2 Chelsea Yth 3 (Chelsea win 4-3 on agg)
Adam Phillip gave Roman Abramovich a boost last night by helping Chelsea reach the FA Youth Cup final.
Substitute Phillip scored the winner in a stormy clash at Villa Park to set-up a two-legged final with Manchester City after the first leg ended 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Harry Forrester gave Villa the perfect start before Sergio Tejera Rodriguez and Gael Kaku put the Blues ahead.
Forrester made it 2-2 but Phillip sealed it.
Chelsea's Lee Sawyer and Villa's Matthew Roome were both sent off.
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Robbie Keane has last word for Spurs in classicBy Henry Winter at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur (1) 4 Chelsea (2) 4
Avram Grant continues to fluff his lines on the big stage. The Chelsea coach's negative substitution of an attacker, Salomon Kalou, for a centre-half, Alex, invited Spurs on, setting up a thrilling climax in which Robbie Keane struck a marvellous equaliser which will have been celebrated as wildly by followers of Arsenal and Manchester United as by the Tottenham faithful.
As well as showing the weakness in the dugout, Chelsea also showed their studs, and Ashley Cole should have been banished for a horrific lunge at Alan Hutton deemed worthy of only a yellow card by Mike Riley. Spurs were livid. The Riley report could be interesting. The Hutton report would be more damning.
The first half had contained enough drama for a whole game, conjuring up three goals in a frantic first 20 minutes and concluding with Ashley Cole's horrific lunge. It was breathless stuff, with no quarter asked or granted, particularly not from a visiting corps clearly in merciless mood.
Drogba had shown Chelsea's ruthless intent early on, although his headed goal was cloaked in controversy. Essien, allowed to roam through Claude Makelele's assiduous anchoring, charged upfield, eventually losing possession as Pascal Chimbonda slid in. Riley bizarrely deemed the challenge illegal.
Almost 30 yards out, the free-kick appeared perfectly placed for a Frank Lampard special but Drogba claimed responsibility, taking two steps and bending the ball into the leaping bodies in the wall. It cannoned clear, Drogba screaming for a handling offence before realising Chelsea still had the initiative.
The ball was in the domain of John Terry, who rolled back the years to when he was a more creative player on the park pitches of east London. The Chelsea captain elegantly lifted the ball across from the left towards the far post. Drogba had read Terry's intentions, darting in ahead of the slow-reacting Jermaine Jenas to nod Chelsea in front.
Jenas swiftly made amends. When Claude Makelele was penalised for climbing over Aaron Lennon, probably the one person in the Premier League the Frenchman could tower over, Jenas took charge of the free-kick on the right. The England international's delivery was magnificent, the ball hoisted to the far post.
As Terry clutched a handful of Dimitar Berbatov's shirt to prevent the Bulgarian reaching the ball, Jenas' free-kick continued to Jonathan Woodgate. One of the most uplifting sights for Spurs fans this year has been Woodgate rising high, having eluded his marker - in this case Drogba - to headed powerfully in.
Tottenham were triumphant, their fans taunting Chelsea relentlessly over the Carling Cup final outcome. Chelsea responded with ditties about Spurs' bruising encounter with the Old Bill in Seville last year.
Largely unimpressive since that Wembley success, Spurs now played with greater conviction. The determination flooding through Juande Ramos' men was evident, painfully so for Essien as Didier Zokora hit him with a meaty man-and-ball challenge.
Essien is made of strong stuff, though, and shortly after climbing to his feet he swept Chelsea ahead. Joe Cole made the telling break, dribbling through the middle. With Essien and Drogba lurking on the edge of the area, Cole released the ball, which rebounded from Drogba to Essien. His response was magnificent, the ball lifted unerringly over Robinson for his first of the season.
The goal simply reflected Chelsea's superiority, particularly in a midfield dominated by Essien, Makelele and Frank Lampard. Spurs strove to find an equaliser and when Jenas wriggled in from the left, Drogba threw himself in to try to block. Inevitably, Drogba stayed down, nursing another seemingly terminal injury, stirring unrest among the home fans. A plastic bottle was thrown on to the pitch as Drogba miraculously recovered.
A good game then turned nasty, Derby-day fireworks erupting. Chimbonda fouled Joe Cole, who gave the linesman some choice London invective for ignoring the offence. Cole was booked, Lampard should have followed him for catching Jenas, and then came Ashley Cole's assault on Hutton, an offence that deserved more than yellow and triggered a near brawl.
Adding insult to iniquity, Ashley Cole set the scene for Chelsea's third, delivering a quick throw-in to Makelele, who swiftly found Kalou. Chelsea's No 21 cleverly worked the ball across the edge of the area to Joe Cole, who darted around Chimbonda.
Still the angle was tight. Still Robinson had to be negotiated. Cole's shot sped through Robinson's legs, clipped the keeper's heel and looped up and in, to Robinson's deep anguish. "England's No 4," the Chelsea hordes chanted.
Even before Robinson regained some pride with an outstanding save from Drogba, Spurs had pulled a goal back. When Tom Huddlestone curled over a corner, Berbatov leaned gently into Terry, opening up a yard of space. As the ball dropped in, Berbatov flicked a header, almost languidly, high into the net.
Still the tempo never ebbed in a classic match. Cudicini saved superbly from Keane. Essien hit a post. Huddlestone dived disgracefully and was deservedly booked.
As the spell-binding entertainment continued, Huddlestone displayed his more positive side. Keane clipped over a corner from the left and Berbatov's presence caused chaos in the box, allowing the ball to fly through to Huddlestone. What a response! The midfielder drilled the ball unerringly in past Cudicini: 3-3.
But there was more, remarkably so. When Spurs foolishly conceded possession on the right, Chelsea leapt into life, Drogba finding Joe Cole. The England international again ghosted around Chimbonda and found the net with a brilliant finish, the ball placed at speed past the exposed Robinson.
But then came Keane. What a finish! What a game!
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Mail:
Unbelievable - a 4-4 thriller as Spurs stop Chelsea and Cole makes horror tackle
By NEIL ASHTON
Ashley Cole was caught up in a red card storm last night as Chelsea's title ambitions were blown apart on a dramatic night at White Hart Lane.
Cole escaped with a booking after a horror tackle on Tottenham defender Alan Hutton during an incredible 4-4 draw.
Spurs players surrounded referee Mike Riley following the challenge in the first half and furious assistant manager Gus Poyet told fourth official Steve Bennett: 'That is a f****** red card and you know it.'
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said: 'The referee decided it was a yellow card, but we've seen tackles which were much less serious and they have earned red cards.
'Robbie Keane was sent off for a tackle less serious than that against Birmingham. But we have to respect the officials' decisions.
'It's best not to dwell on that kind of action. We're just very fortunate there weren't any injuries to players.'
This incredible match boiled over when Frank Lampard took out Jermaine Jenas, who had to be substituted at half-time, but there was more to come.
The major flashpoint occurred when Cole clashed with Hutton and Tottenham demanded the left back's dismissal. Players clashed as they walked down the tunnel and Poyet could be seen remonstrating with Cole.
Poyet said: 'It would be unfair on Ashley to talk about only his challenge after the game we had. I prefer not to go into it, but it looked strange.'
Incredibly, Chelsea manager Avram Grant claimed he did not see the incident — even though it happened in front of the Chelsea bench.
Grant said: 'The assistant referee was in my way. I saw the Tottenham bench jump up, but the referee was two metres away. We must respect his decision.'
Chelsea were awesome in the first half and they appeared intent on heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal level on points in the Barclays Premier League.
Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead after two minutes and, although Jonathan Woodgate equalised for Tottenham, Michael Essien put them back in front with a delicious lob.
Man of the match Joe Cole scored after the break, but Spurs fought back with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Joe Cole appeared to have won it for Chelsea with a brilliant turn and shot, but Robbie Keane's curled effort in the 88th minute secured a point for Spurs.
Grant added: 'It's very disappointing to lead 1-0 and 3-1, then to concede goals from two corners and a free-kick.
'I don't know whether to laugh. One of our strengths is that we defend well against corners and free-kicks, yet Tottenham have scored five from set-pieces against us in two games.
I don't know how to explain that. It's very unusual for us. There was a big mistake from us and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. But we showed a great spirit in the team.
'We're closer to Arsenal than we were before. We'll be at home on Sunday and we'll come to fight to win the game. We're five points off the top, still in the race and we'll continue fighting.'
Chelsea's game plan was undone by a series of bizarre tactical substitutions that invited Spurs to attack.
Their confusion was illustrated in the closing moments when Drogba approached assistant manager Steve Clarke and asked: 'What are we supposed to be doing?'
Spurs were rewarded when Keane scored one of the best goals of his career.
Ramos added: 'At 3-1 and in the second half against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be very difficult, but the game was very open.
'The team believed in themselves and scoring the goal to make it 3-2 quite soon afterwards made things a bit more open and possible.
'It reminds me of the 6-4 against Reading, and against Aston Villa we had a 4-4 result at White Hart Lane. They were spectacular games, too.'
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Tottenham 4 Chelsea 4: Chelsea hopes fade as Grant's tactics are exposed in thrillerBy Sam WallaceThursday, 20 March 2008
While Avram Grant fiddled, Chelsea's title ambitions burned. It was, quite simply, the most extraordinary game of the season so far - a conflagration of eight goals, three Tottenham comebacks and another set of bizarre tactical decisions from a Chelsea manager who just cannot get it right in the big games.
When the dust had settled after Robbie Keane's brilliant 88th-minute equaliser, Grant was left to wonder whether this was the moment that his club's title ambitions died. Manchester United are five points ahead, Chelsea's opportunity to draw level with Arsenal in second place has gone. Roman Abramovich cannot grumble about the entertainment value but he must take issue at the way Grant’s team are blowing their chances of a trophy.
This was the game that had everything. There was a sublime performance from Joe Cole, whose two goals made him the outstanding performer before Grant's decision to substitute him with Chelsea 4-3 up. And on the dark side there was an horrendous studs-up challenge from Ashley Cole before half-time that could have broke Alan Hutton's leg and was met with a terrible decision from Mike Riley who booked Cole instead of sending him off.
Against Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and, in the last two games against Spurs, Grant has failed to beat the big beasts of English football. Juande Ramos picked the same XI that beat Chelsea in last month's Carling Cup final and, by the skin of his teeth, has again frustrated Grant. At 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 up his Chelsea team should have won this game, yet by the end even Grant's own players seemed baffled by his substitutions.
With his team 3-2 in the lead, having led 3-1, the Chelsea manager tried to close out the game in Jose Mourinho-fashion by bolstering his defence. He sent on the Brazilian defender Alex da Costa as sweeper in what seemed like a counter-move to Ramos's decision to bring on Darren Bent, a third striker. But on the pitch, Chelsea lost their shape, Didier Drogba looked to the bench in despair and Tom Huddlestone equalised. The game was in the balance again.
Then, after Joe Cole had seemingly got Grant off the hook with a brilliant second goal to put his team 4-3 in the lead, the Chelsea manager struck again. Off came Cole this time for Michael Ballack and Chelsea were caught cold once again. After a clearance struck Ricardo Carvalho's back, Keane hit a 20-yard equaliser past Carlo Cudicini and Grant must have felt the cold sweat break out on his forehead. Ramos had out-thought him.
Tiny margins for error; huge consequences. The basis of the five trophies won by Mourinho was a sure-footedness in pressurised situations. It is the hallmark of all great managers and, once again, Ramos showed he has that judgement in abundance. Grant seems to lack it. The Spurs manager made two substitutions – his key call was Bent coming on for Ledley King on 68 minutes – and he got it right.
It was telling that, at 4-4 in the very last moments of the match, Grant was lucky that Spurs did not take all three points. The excellent Dimitar Berbatov twisted into space and had a clear shot at goal that only Cudicini's desperate save stopped. Sunday at Stamford Bridge provides Grant with his shot at redemption against Arsenal, but on this evidence there is no doubt which team will win if it comes down to the manager's decisions.
Take a deep breath and go back to the start. Four minutes into the game and Drogba met John Terry's peach of a cross with a downward header past Paul Robinson. It was the Ivorian's first Premier League goal since 11 September, his first goal in any competition since the Carling Cup final.
1-1: on 12 minutes Jonathan Woodgate, who had lost Drogba for the first goal, headed home Jermaine Jenas' free-kick for the equaliser. 2-1 to Chelsea: on 19 minutes Joe Cole's throughball took a touch off Drogba before Michael Essien lifted a brilliant chip over Robinson. Then it started to get nasty.
Terry's knee caught Berbatov's head as the two tumbled in the Chelsea area. Lampard went straight through Jenas and at half-time the Spurs man was substituted for Huddlestone. Riley did not even book Lampard but his worst decision was to come. Just before half-time, Hutton moved in to control a ball by the touchline and from out of the frame came Ashley Cole, lunging, stretching and with studs raised. Had Hutton's foot been grounded when Cole connected with his leg then the injury would have been disastrous. The card was yellow but should have been red.
3-1 to Chelsea: on 52 minutes, Joe Cole took the long route around Pascal Chimbonda in the right channel before striking a low shot that cannoned off Robinson's legs and in. 3-2: six minutes later the Tottenham comeback began. Huddlestone's corner found Berbatov who flighted a header into the corner. 3-3: on 75 minutes a loose corner fell to Huddlestone who drilled in the equaliser.
The finale. 4-3: another goal from Joe Cole who burst through and struck the ball into the roof of Robinson's goal on 80 minutes and was then substituted. 4-4: Keane's riposte, White Hart Lane in raptures. In the 90th minute, Grant sent on Andrei Shevchenko but it was a bit late then to be changing a team that had already been pulled apart by its own manager.
Goals: Drogba (3) 0-1; Woodgate (12) 1-1; Essien (20) 1-2; J Cole (52) 1-3; Berbatov (61) 2-3; Huddlestone (75) 3-3; J Cole (80) 3-4; Keane (88) 4-4.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent, 68), Chimbonda; Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone, h-t), Zokora, Malbranque; Keane, Berbatov. Substitutes not used: Cerny (gk), Tainio, Dawson.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Ferreira (Shevchenko, 89), Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele; J Cole (Ballack, 82), Essien, Lampard, Kalou (Alex, 71); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Wright-Phillips.
Referee: M Riley (Yorkshire).
Booked: Tottenham Keane, Huddlestone; Chelsea J Cole, A Cole.
Man of the match: J Cole.
Attendance: 36,178--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Keane blunts Chelsea challenge in thriller
Kevin McCarra at White Hart LaneThursday March 20, 2008The Guardian
If there are no more trophies to be pursued this season, Tottenham Hotspur might still take vast satisfaction from savaging Chelsea's campaign for the title. They did so in an almost inconceivably galling way here last night, recovering from 3-1 and 4-3 down. The exquisite goal with which they secured the draw two minutes from the close would have been memorable in even the most insignificant match, with Robbie Keane bending a finish round Carlo Cudicini from the fringes of the penalty area after the ball had bounced to him off the back of Ricardo Carvalho.
Unfortunately for Avram Grant, people will not stay entranced by the spectacle for long and Chelsea lag five points behind the Premier League leaders, Manchester United. The Chelsea manager's plans were misconceived when the Carling Cup final was lost to Tottenham last month and here he threw the contest open when attempting to shut down the match. He inclined to misguided caution once the opposition had trimmed the deficit to 3-2 when Dimitar Berbatov climbed above John Terry to head home a corner from the substitute Tom Huddlestone in the 61st minute.Juande Ramos introduced another forward in Darren Bent and Grant reacted by removing an attacker in Salomon Kalou so that he could have an additional centre-back in Alex. That simply encouraged Tottenham and diminished the best aspect of Chelsea's display, their fluid menace. The game was level at 3-3 after 75 minutes, when a Keane corner broke to Huddlestone and he finished with a well-controlled drive.
Still Chelsea had enough individuality to respond, with Joe Cole restoring the lead 10 minutes from the end. He took a through-pass from Didier Drogba and fired high into the net. He had been giving a superb display and there was no benefit in sparing him the remainder of the evening, as Grant did by introducing Michael Ballack. Once again the effect would have been heartening for Tottenham.
Chelsea's prospects of regaining the title are diminished and on Sunday they meet the side who remain above them in second place, Arsenal. Much had seemed to be running in favour of Grant's team. On the verge of the interval, for instance, Ashley Cole ought to have been sent off for a terrible airborne lunge in which the defender's left boot was sunk into the right shin of the Spurs full-back Alan Hutton.
Mike Riley, the referee, was somehow persuaded that a booking would suffice. The justifiable anger was great although it does not seem that the punishment can be upgraded retrospectively since there is no indication that the official did not see the incident clearly. There was seething resentment and the Tottenham assistant manager, Gus Poyet, had an arm round the neck of Cole as he remonstrated with him while the sides were going off at half-time.
Chelsea, as a whole, ought still to have been remembering this occasion, watched by the England head coach Fabio Capello, with pride. Instead they can merely be relieved that Cudicini denied Berbatov a winner in stoppage-time. The rematch with the identical Tottenham starting XI that had overcome them at Wembley last month, however, was still excruciating for the visitors, particularly since there had been long passages of encouragement for them. Chelsea were often polished and had the lead in the third minute.
A Drogba free-kick was hit into the wall and after Claude Makelele had directed play out to the left the Ivorian was free at the far post to head in a deep cross from Terry. That was Drogba's first Premier League goal since November 11.
Tottenham were level in the 12th minute. Jermaine Jenas lifted in a free-kick from the right and, as Drogba elected to assist Terry with the marking of Berbatov, Jonathan Woodgate headed home untroubled. That, even so, did nothing to undermine the perception that Chelsea were the slicker.
After 20 minutes, Joe Cole made a penetrating run before Michael Essien got between Ledley King and Pascal Chimbonda to loft the ball over Paul Robinson with the outside of his right foot. Chelsea's advantage was stretched in the 52nd minute as Joe Cole collected a ball from Makelele on the right, beat Chimbonda and hit the net with a finish which broke off Robinson.
The mastery proved to be mere illusion. Grant will naturally be aghast that famously sturdy Chelsea were so flimsy at set pieces in particular, but whatever the reasons he is in charge of a team whose remaining home fixtures with Arsenal and United no longer look as if they will be the basis of a triumph. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The TimesMarch 20, 2008
Robbie Keane ensures Tottenham haunt Avram Grant once moreTottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4(Marc Aspland)
How Chelsea must hate Tottenham Hotspur. Beaten by them in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last month, it was the North London side who again thwarted their ambitions, this time in the Barclays Premier League and in an astonishing eight-goal extravaganza at White Hart Lane last night.
Chelsea led three times — once by 3-1 midway in the second half — but had to settle for a draw when Robbie Keane curled home a shot from 20 yards in the 88th minute. After playing catch-up with Arsenal for much of the season, they would have moved level on points with them in second place had they held on for victory.
Instead, they will have to wait until Sunday, when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge. With Manchester United playing Liverpool at Old Trafford, on the same day, the top-of-the-table scrap could take on a completely different complexion by Monday morning. The title race is far from over.
Yet it might have been so much worse for Chelsea, with Tottenham — 2-1 winners after extra time at Wembley — going agonisingly close to stealing a remarkable win in the last throes of stoppage time. Dimitar Berbatov’s close-range shot was destined for the net until Carlo Cudicini, the goalkeeper, stuck out an arm. “We could have won it,” Juande Ramos, the Tottenham head coach, said, still in a state of some disbelief.
And it could have been so much worse for Chelsea had Ashley Cole, the England left back, been sent off — as he should have been — shortly before half-time for a studs-up challenge on Alan Hutton, the Tottenham right back. That Mike Riley, the referee, opted for a yellow card rather than a red spared Cole a suspension.
Cole’s reaction to the incident was inexcusable, too. He turned his back on Riley, and it was not exactly the example to set, the day after the FA had announced its £200 million-worth of investment in grassroots football. The showing of greater respect to referees is one of its key objectives.
Still, having done more than enough to win, with Joe Cole imperious in front of Fabio Capello, the England manager, Chelsea will fight another day. “There were so many positives to take from the game but, in the end, it was disappointing,” Avram Grant, the first-team coach, said. “At least we are closer to Arsenal than before.”
Grant was roundly criticised for his starting line-up at Wembley, mostly for deploying Nicolas Anelka out of position on the left flank and for leaving Joe Cole and Michael Ballack on the bench for too long. Last night, Joe Cole started, Ballack was among the substitutes and Anelka was left out because of a thigh injury.
Grant made six changes from the side that so underperformed at Wembley and, after three minutes, was rewarded when Chelsea went ahead. Didier Drogba battered a free kick into the defensive wall but Claude Makelele regained possession and released John Terry on the edge of the area. The Chelsea captain crossed to the far post and Drogba, running in alone, was allowed to head past Paul Robinson. For all Tottenham’s attacking splendour, their defensive deficiencies were laid bare again. And Chelsea, with revenge on their minds, appeared to be in the mood for it.
Strangely, though, they failed to build on their advantage. Ramos fielded the same team that had beaten Chelsea last month and it was Jonathan Woodgate, who scored the injury-time winner to secure the 2-1 victory on that occasion, who returned to haunt them with another header. This time, Woodgate did not need the good fortune of the ball hitting him in the face. Jermaine Jenas slung over a curling free kick from the right and Woodgate rose high above Drogba to send a looping header over Cudicini.
Chelsea were quick to respond. Joe Cole wriggled his way towards the home area, with barely a challenge, and passed the ball for Michael Essien comfortably to chip in.
Ashley Cole’s lunge at Hutton brought the half to a shuddering halt and prompted heated exchanges among the occupants of both benches.
Their passion undimmed, Chelsea stretched their lead after the break. There was only one outcome when Joe Cole latched on to Salomon Kalou’s pass and rounded Pascal Chimbonda. As Robinson came out, Cole guided the ball in off the goalkeeper’s body.
Game over? By no means. Tottenham bucked up their ideas and pushed forward, more in desperation than by design. Tom Huddlestone swung over a corner from the right and Berbatov, making his first real contribution to the game, headed beyond Cudicini.
Worse was to follow for Chelsea when Huddlestone slammed in the equaliser in the 74th minute. However, Joe Cole quickly responded when he left Chimbonda standing again and drove his shot over Robinson into the roof of the net. Keane’s late equaliser only provided another twist in what is becoming a fascinating race to the top.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): P Robinson — A Hutton, J Woodgate, L King (sub: D Bent, 69min), P Chimbonda — A Lennon, D Zokora, J Jenas (sub: T Huddlestone, 46), S Malbranque — R Keane, D Berbatov. Substitutes not used: R Cerny, T Tainio, M Dawson. Booked: Keane, Huddlestone.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): C Cudicini — P Ferreira (sub: A Shevchenko, 89), R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole — C Makelele — J Cole (sub: M Ballack, 83), M Essien, F Lampard, S Kalou (sub: Alex, 71) — D Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilário, Wright-Phillips. Booked: J Cole, A Cole.
Referee: M Riley. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Spurs 4 Chelsea 4By SHAUN CUSTIS
JUST when Avram Grant was winning over the critics again, Chelsea blew it on a night of stunning goals, high drama and controversy. Three times the Blues led — inspired by the brilliant Joe Cole — only to throw it away. Robbie Keane was the Tottenham hero with a stunning 20-yard curler two minutes from time. And it came just four days after Keane’s tantrum at being substituted in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City. Chelsea are now five points behind leaders Manchester United. And — had it not been for an unbelievable save by Carlo Cudicini from Dimitar Berbatov’s shot with seconds to go — they would have left White Hart Lane with nothing. A shocking tackle by Ashley Cole on Spurs defender Alan Hutton on 44 minutes added to an incredible night. The England left-back should have been sent off for the awful lunge on the Scot but ref Mike Riley showed him only a yellow card. But the bottom line is that Chelsea slipped up when it mattered once more. Boss Grant is just not doing it in the big games. His side have drawn with Liverpool and Everton, lost to Arsenal, been beaten by Manchester United and now thrown away a lead at Spurs. The latest failure also came on the back of the Carling Cup Final defeat to Juande Ramos’ men and the shocking FA Cup exit to Barnsley. Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Bolton means the Premier League title has slipped further away with only eight games to play. The Gunners visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday and if Chelsea stumble again it could be all over. You have to feel sorry for Joe Cole who was sensational in front of watching England boss Fabio Capello. The Italian is not convinced English players possess the technical skills to match foreign opponents — but Cole is surely an exception. At times it was a one-man show. Grant made a fatal error in taking him off with seven minutes left in an attempt to protect a 4-3 lead. He also withdrew Salomon Kalou and replaced him with defender Alex when they were 3-2 up. Jose Mourinho had a knack of getting it right with substitutions. Grant has just not got it. Games like these are why the Premier League is the most popular in the world and millions are spent on the rights to watch it. You could not take your eyes off it from the moment Didier Drogba opened the scoring on three minutes. Skipper John Terry’s cross picked out the Ivory Coast hit-man at the far post and he headed home for his first league goal since November 11 in a draw with Everton. Jonathan Woodgate — who won the Carling Cup for Spurs in extra-time — climbed high above Drogba to head the equaliser on 12 minutes. But then Joe Cole began to weave his magic. His mazy dribble through the centre set up Michael Essien who stabbed a chip over the top of the bemused Paul Robinson to restore the lead. As half-time approached tempers boiled over when Ashley Cole launched himself at Spurs full-back Alan Hutton with studs up and both feet off the ground. Cole connected with Hutton just below his knee-cap and was nowhere near the ball. The Spurs bench, players and crowd were incensed. Assistant boss Gus Poyet screamed at fourth official Steve Bennett and referee Riley to send Cole off. That led to a verbal dust-up between Frank Lampard and Poyet. It seemed Cole was facing an early bath but Riley let him off with a yellow card. He was a lucky boy. Poyet waited for Cole to remonstrate with him as the defender headed down the tunnel at half-time — and then Poyet made his point to Riley again. It was a minor miracle that Hutton came back out after the interval. Joe Cole continued to turn it on for Capello although it required the generosity of Pascal Chimbonda to let him in for No 3 on 52 minutes. Kalou’s pass sent Cole away and he ran past Chimbonda without being challenged. Keeper Robinson came out to try and close him down but Cole’s shot cannoned off the keeper’s leg and bounced into the far corner. Game over. Or so it seemed. On the hour Spurs pulled one back when Berbatov climbed above Terry to loop a header into the top corner. Cudicini — who turned out to be something of a Chelsea hero despite conceding four goals — saved superbly from Keane’s close-range effort to preserve the visitors’ lead. Then Spurs levelled as Keane’s corner found its way to sub Tom Huddlestone on the right of the box. The young midfielder, 21, has a reputation for pile-drivers and he did not disappoint with a rocket into the far corner. But Joe Cole was still not finished and when Drogba played him in, the England trickster left the hapless Chimbonda sprawling on the ground before rifling a shot high into the net. Chelsea were back ahead with 11 minutes left. Surely that was it. No. Not at White Hart Lane where the goals have been flooding in all season — at both ends. Cole came off, Michael Ballack went on and Spurs hit back again with two minutes remaining — although it was tough luck on Chelsea’s part. A hopeful punt towards the Blues box hit Ricardo Carvalho on the back and Keane seized on it to fire home from 20 yards. What a difference a few days make. Keane moved from villain to hero with one brilliant strike. But he did prove why he should be kept on until the end. Cudicini’s outstretched left hand prevented Berbatov completing a victory which would have gone down in Spurs history. Wow.
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Mirror:
KIDS LIFT FOR ROM
A Villa Yth 2 Chelsea Yth 3 (Chelsea win 4-3 on agg)
Adam Phillip gave Roman Abramovich a boost last night by helping Chelsea reach the FA Youth Cup final.
Substitute Phillip scored the winner in a stormy clash at Villa Park to set-up a two-legged final with Manchester City after the first leg ended 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Harry Forrester gave Villa the perfect start before Sergio Tejera Rodriguez and Gael Kaku put the Blues ahead.
Forrester made it 2-2 but Phillip sealed it.
Chelsea's Lee Sawyer and Villa's Matthew Roome were both sent off.
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