tottenham hotspur 1-1

Independent:

Chelsea regain edge but Drogba's soft penalty lets Gomes off the hook
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 1


By Sam Wallace at White Hart Lane

They did not leave White Hart Lane having conquered the place but there was more of a familiar strut about the Chelsea team that departed down the stadium's tunnel yesterday evening after they recaptured a little bit of what has made this team so indomitable in the past.
Paulo Ferreira even threw his shirt into the Chelsea away end – there have been occasions over the last month when it might have been thrown back at him – and the likes of Didier Drogba and John Terry wore that grimace at an opportunity missed. It was not a victory, and one win in seven Premier League games is still their worst League run since 1999, but it felt like a corner had been turned.
Had Drogba beaten Heurelho Gomes with his penalty in injury-time at the end of the game, we would have been talking about Chelsea being back on top of the Premier League, until tonight at least, but even so there was enough evidence to suggest that the worst is behind them.
Overrun in the first half by a Spurs team who were open to the point of being naive – albeit in the usual thrilling style – Carlo Ancelotti's team rediscovered themselves after the break. Drogba came on at half-time then Frank Lampard in the 77th minute and suddenly Chelsea looked a lot more like Chelsea.
They should have won the game. Gomes' challenge on Ramires was as rash as the goalkeeper's handling for Drogba's equaliser was clumsy and when the Chelsea striker put the ball on the spot it felt like one of those pivotal moments of a season. Gomes guessed correctly and denied Drogba but that does not diminish the way Chelsea played in the second half.
As for Drogba, there was a definite bolshiness about his reaction to his goal – a stroppy, unsmiling strut to the corner flag to stare at the away fans – that suggests he has not forgiven them for their unenthusiastic response to him during the Everton and Marseilles games. Drogba is not the type to forget a slight.
He did not look happy to start on the bench either, a decision presumably made because of his poor performance in France on Wednesday night. A goal down at half-time, Ancelotti signalled for him to warm up to come on as soon as the whistle blew for the end of the first half. But a bad Drogba mood hung over proceedings right to the end.
Chelsea had 60 per cent of the possession in the game and the best of a hugely entertaining second half in which both teams went for the win with little thought for the possibility of losing. Ancelotti's team did so because they needed a result to break this poor run and Spurs did so because they know no other way.
Harry Redknapp's team had the better of the first half when Roman Pavlyuchenko scored their goal but Spurs' problem is they have no notion of how to close out a game once in front. It has made them the most entertaining team to watch this season in both the Premier League and Champions League but it has its drawbacks, too.
There was always a possibility that Chelsea would find their way back into this game when Redknapp's team began trading punches with them in a compelling second half in which the action roared back and forth from one end to the other. Redknapp makes no apologies for the way his team plays although even he must be having his reservations about Gomes.
On 70 minutes, the Brazilian allowed Drogba's shot, which was hit straight at him, to go in. In the build-up to that goal, as Drogba turned Michael Dawson, himself returning for Spurs for the first time since August, the striker appeared to use the top of his arm to control the ball.
It was Gomes who came ploughing through Ramires in injury-time to concede a penalty so blatant that no one in a white shirt bothered to argue. Last season Lampard and Drogba disputed the responsibility for penalty-taking but yesterday the former was happy to defer to his grumpy team-mate.
The penalty was poor, struck at a manageable height for Gomes and to his left side giving him an immediate chance to redeem himself. Having made excellent saves earlier in the half from Drogba and Wilson Palacios, when he sent a careless header goalwards, Gomes was back in the good books.
Spurs had taken the lead a little too easily for Ancelotti's comfort when Terry allowed Pavlyuchenko to turn away from him in the penalty area and drive his shot inside Petr Cech's near post. Spurs were the better side before the break and the regularity with which Terry pushed forward into the Spurs penalty area showed how desperate Chelsea had become for a goal.
As usual, Luka Modric was excellent and although Gareth Bale was not at his game-changing best he was still a constant worry for Chelsea. To Ferreira's credit, the old Portuguese jack-of-all-trades drew upon all his experience to restrict Spurs' left-wing phenomenon.
It is a mark of how far Spurs have come under Redknapp that they now expect to win games such as these and, like Chelsea, they too have key players missing – Rafael van der Vaart, William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas. However, with Blackpool, Aston Villa and Fulham among the Christmas opponents they have a much less challenging two weeks coming up than Chelsea.
Should Ancelotti's team lose to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday then the pressure will be back on a team who, despite their comeback yesterday, are still up against it. After United they play Arsenal on 27 December and they need Lampard and Terry back to full fitness for those games.
Lampard will play in a specially-arranged practice game on Thursday to improve his match fitness. There is no equivalent remedy for Drogba's mood swings – Ancelotti will just have to hope that his striker snaps out of whatever is bothering him.

Substitutes: Tottenham Crouch (Defoe, 60), Keane (Pavlyuchenko, 78), Sandro (Palacios, 89). Chelsea Drogba (Mikel, h-t), Sturridge (Kalou, 68), Lampard (Malouda, 77).
Booked: Tottenham Assou-Ekotto, Gomes. Chelsea Essien, Drogba.
Man of the match Modric. Match rating 7/10.
Possession Tottenham 42% Chelsea 58%.
Shots on target Tottenham 3 Chelsea 7.
Referee M Dean (Merseyside)
Attendance 35,787.


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Guardian:

Heurelho Gomes is hero and villain as Chelsea and Spurs share spoils

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Pavlyuchenko 15 Chelsea 1 Drogba 70

David Hytner at White Hart Lane

Carlo Ancelotti had admitted in the build-up to this match that Chelsea were a club in crisis and in that context it felt appropriate that they should blow an injury-time opportunity to seize all three points, with a penalty, and return to the top of the Premier League table. The incident was the climax to a thrillingly open match which advertised plenty of what is good about English football and it saw Didier Drogba step up after the referee, Mike Dean, had ruled that Heurelho Gomes had fouled Ramires inside the six-yard box.
There was little debate about the award; even Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, had no complaints. But there was, briefly, some intrigue over the identity of the taker. Redknapp closed his eyes and pictured Frank Lampard, his nephew, whose comeback from groin surgery had only started 13 minutes earlier as a substitute, putting his hand up, scoring and claiming the family bragging rights.
Lampard, though, was too raw for the moment. Drogba took responsibility. "I could see him scoring, too," Redknapp said, with a smile, but the final twist of an enthralling afternoon was for Gomes to guess correctly and save.
Chelsea's disappointment did not cut too deeply. They had pitched up at White Hart Lane on their worst run of Premier League form in more than a decade and the last thing that they needed was to concede a soft goal to Roman Pavlyuchenko to leave themselves with another mountain to climb.
But their response in the second half delighted Ancelotti, who had introduced Drogba at the beginning of it in a re-tweaked 4-4-2 formation. They earned the slice of fortune that came their way in the 70th minute when Drogba barrelled past Michael Dawson after taking a high ball; Redknapp complained that he had done so with his hand. Drogba's shot packed a punch but it was straight at Gomes. To the goalkeeper's horror, he allowed it to slip through his fingers and into the net.
Gomes would complete a quick-fire transformation from villain to hero with his penalty save but for Ancelotti, despite further dropped points and the fact that his defending champions now sit fourth in the table, there was satisfaction. The penalty miss did not matter, he suggested. His team was back, and just in time for their forthcoming fixtures against Manchester United and Arsenal.
This stadium has not been kind to Chelsea in recent years. Indeed, it has not been kind to many visiting teams of late, as Tottenham have turned it into something of a fortress. The visitors might have feared the worst when they undermined a positive start with their early concession.
Jermain Defoe was allowed to check inside from the left flank by Branislav Ivanovic. He sauntered along and then zipped a low pass in to Pavlyuchenko. Ivanovic's sloppiness was mirrored by his team-mates inside the area. John Terry was yards away from Pavlyuchenko and John Mikel Obi could not make a challenge. The Russian's finish was low and lethal.
The match thundered along, with some of the tackling shuddering bones. Michael Essien seemed to stamp on Gareth Bale, while Terry and Alan Hutton enjoyed putting down their markers.
Chelsea would have been level at the interval had Salomon Kalou converted one of three headed opportunities that were created for him. The first, on 25 minutes, was arguably the best and Gomes was required to save. Nicolas Anelka also had the ball in the net only to be pulled back, correctly, for offside.
Tottenham's defence is not known for its robustness; they have not managed a clean sheet in the league since the opening day, against Manchester City, and Chelsea's second-half barrage was the acid test for them. Redknapp had lost William Gallas, a former Chelsea centre-half, to a hamstring tear in training on Friday – the manager's prognosis sounded gloomy, as it did with Wilson Palacios, who hurt his ankle late on after a challenge from Ashley Cole. But the return of Dawson was a tonic.
The central defender had not played since he tore ligaments while playing for England at Wembley against Bulgaria on 3 September and his seamless adaptation to the pace of the game was remarkable. Sébastien Bassong also emerged with honours, together with the full-backs, Hutton and Benoît Assou-Ekotto. Dawson heard his name chanted by the home crowd.
Tottenham went close with shots from Defoe and Luka Modric immediately after the interval while Pavlyuchenko flickered but it was Chelsea who were on the front foot. Gradually, the pressure built on the Tottenham defence. Drogba forced Gomes into a smart save and the goalkeeper had to be alert to tip over a misdirected header from Palacios. The drama, however, had only just begun.


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Mail:

Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1: Things up looking up for Carlo's battlers
By Matt Lawton

Carlo Ancelotti said there comes a moment when you either have to 'die or improve' and for Chelsea here on Sunday it arrived in the 15th minute. That was when Roman Pavlyuchenko punished them for a moment's loss of concentration with one brilliant touch and a super finish. Chelsea's season could have gone one of two ways then. Ancelotti had spoken of 'destiny' when looking ahead to this absorbing game and the two that follow, at home to Manchester United and at Arsenal, and defeat here might have sent his side down a certain path.
But, after the club's worst run in the Barclays Premier League in more than 10 years, a run in which they had taken five points from six games, they finally responded in the manner we have come to expect from the English champions. Chelsea skipper John Terry buoyed by dominant display against TottenhamThis was much better from Chelsea and in the end they were left to reflect on an opportunity squandered to win the match.Didier Drogba had the chance in second-half stoppage time after Heurelho Gomes flattened Ramires and left Mike Dean with no option but to point to the penalty spot. Gomes took half a step to the right and so invited Drogba to opt for the other side, only to then dive in that direction and save. Ancelotti nevertheless chose to focus on the positives. His side, he suggested, would leave White Hart Lane with much of their confidence restored.
'I think the bad spell is behind us,' said Chelsea's manager, having already heard John Terry declare that the real Chelsea had returned. The good news for them was that Frank Lampard had returned, too. In fact, it was only with regard to Drogba that Ancelotti still appeared to have a problem. It was a bold move to start him on the bench, and one that seemed to anger the Ivorian striker even if his form has been poor.
When Ancelotti asked him to start warming up at the end of the first half, he threw something of a tantrum. If he did not seem terribly happy with his manager, he did not appear too enamoured with Chelsea's travelling supporters either. Some fans had turned on him when he urged them to get behind the team during the 1-1 draw against Everton and he followed his slightly fortuitous 70th-minute equaliser by strutting past them here with a bit of eyeballing.Who knows how he might have reacted had he then scored the winner? Not that Chelsea deserved to take all three points, not when a Tottenham side who continue to impress under Harry Redknapp proved themselves worthy contenders in this most intriguing of title races. This was a fierce, full throttle contest; a breathless, relentless battle between two attacking teams who demanded the best of their more defensive opponents. While Terry probably edged it for the man-of-the-match award with an inspirational performance, Michael Dawson ran him close with a display that was all the more impressive for the fact that it was his first start since September. The rest of Tottenham's back four were superb also, while Wilson Palacios had one of his better games for Spurs alongside the marvellous Luka Modric . They put Michael Essien and John Mikel Obi under pressure before Ancelotti sent on Drogba for Mikel and switched to a 4-4-2 formation that matched the home team's.
Attacking on the flanks through Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale was an approach that worked well for Redknapp's side and they were good value for the advantage they established.It was created by a terrific ball from Jermain Defoe to Pavlyuchenko, aided by the fact that Branislav Ivanovic had been lured out wide and completed when the Russia striker used one touch to take the ball away from Terry before unleashing a left-foot shot that Petr Cech perhaps should have saved. Chelsea were enjoying plenty of the ball but lacked penetration without Drogba and Lampard. They had to wait until the 70th minute for the breakthrough after Drogba had been introduced.
He took advantage of Dean's failure to spot his use of an arm to control Cech's long ball and a major blunder by Gomes, who got both hands to the shot Drogba unleashed after seeing off the challenge of Dawson, yet allowed the ball to spin off his gloves, over his head and bounce across the line. What was Ancelotti saying about the lucky break not coming from 'heaven'? The problems would continue for Gomes, the penalty he then conceded adding to his embarrassment. But he made amends in some style, producing the save that reminded Redknapp why he now regards him as one of the finest goalkeepers in the league. Should Lampard have taken it? Because of a lack of match practice, Ancelotti said no. But it would have been quite a story had Lampard marked his return with a goal that would have ended a run that now stands at one win in seven.
It might have even dissuaded Terry from clashing with the same Tottenham fans who had so abused him. If nothing else it proved that, in Chelsea, there is still plenty of fight.

MATCH FACTS

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Gomes 5; Hutton 6, Dawson 7, Bassong 7, Assou- Ekotto 6; Lennon 6, Palacios 6 (Sandro 89min), Modric 6, Bale 6; Defoe 6 (Crouch 60, 5), Pavlyuchenko 7 (Keane 78). Subs not used: Cudicini, Corluka, Bentley, Dos Santos. Booked: Assou-Ekotto. Scorer: Pavlyuchenko 15.
CHELSEA (4-3-2-1): Cech 6; Ferreira 5, Ivanovic 7, Terry 8, Cole 6; Ramires 6, Mikel 5 (Drogba 46, 6), Essien 7; Kalou 6 (Sturridge 68, 4), Malouda 6 (Lampard 78); Anelka 6. Subs not used: Turnbull, Van Aanholt, Bruma, McEachran. Booked: Essien, Drogba. Scorer: Drogba 70.
Man of the match: John Terry.
Referee: Mike Dean 6.
Attendance: 35,787

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Star:

TOTTENHAM 1 - CHELSEA 1 - BLUNDER THEN GOMES STEALS DROGBA THUNDER
By David Woods

DIDIER DROGBA and Heurelho Gomes were both hero and villain for their respective teams yesterday in a pulsating clash at White Hart Lane.
Drogba scored the equaliser for Chelsea, then fluffed a great chance at the death by failing to convert a penalty.
Gomes produced one of the gaffes we thought he had eradicated from his game to spill Drogba’s shot into the net in the 70th minute.
Then he gave away the spot-kick, barging over Ramires, before picking himself up to dive to his left to keep out Drogba’s less than convincing effort.
Earlier he had also pulled off a couple of cracking saves as Tottenham tried to prove they have what it takes to be the equal of Chelsea domestically as well as in Europe.
Had Drogba scored in stoppage-time Carlo Ancelotti’s Blues would have gone top again and Harry Redknapp’s title ambitions would have taken a huge knock from which it would have been hard to recover.
As it stands, Chelsea remain fourth with just one win in seven, while Spurs stay in the hunt.
This, though, was a much improved performance from champions Chelsea.
They started well and finished strongly and were boosted by the return of Frank Lampard, who came on as a late substitute.
They certainly did not look like a team in crisis, as has been suggested recently.
Having been dropped by Ancelotti, Drogba came off the bench at the break and struck for the Blues 25 minutes later.
His celebration – if it can be called that – was bizarre, to say the least.
With a face like thunder, he marched towards the Chelsea fans to his right and, looking as glum as can be, gave them the stare.
Eight days earlier supporters at Stamford Bridge had given Drogba stick as he urged them to get behind the team as they stuttered to a 1-1 draw with Everton. This, presumably, was payback.
After what happened later, he may just be wishing he had gone in for something more traditional.
Until then it had looked like one Russian Roman was going to sour further the mood of another Russian Roman.
Roman Pavlyuchenko pounced in the 16th minute as the west Londoners produced some more of the sloppy defending which has marred their campaign recently and led to claims that billionaire owner Roman Abramovich might be losing patience with Ancelotti.
It came after Jermain Defoe drifted wide left to pick up a deep ball from Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
If Branislav Ivanovic gave Defoe too much room to pick out Pavlyuchenko, it was nothing to the error of centre-back partner John Terry.
For the simplest of cutbacks saw Terry melt away, leaving the striker to fire into the corner from 15 yards for his ninth goal of the season. To be fair to Terry, he was immense for the rest of the game.
There was bite to the Blues, with dangerous left-winger Gareth Bale feeling the full force of challenges from Michael Essien and Paulo Ferreira.
In the 54th minute Drogba forced Gomes into a smart save with a swerving 30-yard drive. The Brazilian did even better seconds later when Wilson Palacios almost headed a Florent Malouda centre into his own net.
The gloves came off for Drogba in the 68th minute as he threw his black ones to the sidelines, and two minutes later he out-muscled Michael Dawson, who otherwise did well on his return from injury.
Dawson lost touch of where the ball was, allowing Drogba to rifle home a fierce, angled half-volley – although replays showed he touched the ball with his arm as Cech’s punt dropped to him.
It was straight at Gomes, but the keeper was unable to push away, fumbling the ball over his head and watching it dribble into the net. Frank Lampard made his eagerly-awaited return in the 78th minute, having been out since September, and was caught late by Wilson Palacios seconds after. Welcome back Frank!
In stoppage-time Drogba flicked into the box and Ramires looked set to poke home until Gomes bundled him over.
A moody and sensitive character, it will be interesting to see how Drogba reacts to both being dropped and then failing to clinch what could have been a season-changing win for Chelsea.
Old Trafford next Sunday will be an interesting place to find out!

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Sun:

Tottenham 1 Chelsea 1
By SHAUN CUSTIS


CARLO ANCELOTTI kept the Drog chained in his kennel for 45 minutes - and when he let him off the leash it was mayhem.
Chelsea boss Ancelotti's decision to drop Didier Drogba to the subs bench did not go down well with the Ivory Coast striker.
And he was an angry man as he entered the fray at the start of the second half.
On 70 minutes Drogba equalised Roman Pavlyuchenko's 15th-minute strike by firing through the hands of Heurelho Gomes and did not even raise an arm in acknowledgement.
He strutted across the penalty area without a hint of a smile, glared at his own visiting fans celebrating in the corner of White Hart Lane and jogged back to the centre-spot.
The reaction was a response to some of the stick he had been getting during the draw against Everton and the Champions League defeat in Marseille.
But Drogba ended up with egg on his face in injury time when he had the chance to win it for the Blues after Gomes barged over Ramires in the penalty area.
Up he stepped and struck his spot-kick - and keeper Gomes redeemed himself with a diving save to his left.
Drogba finished the match with his hands held together in prayer, appealing to the supporters for peace and telling them he was sorry.
Chelsea have now won only one of their last seven games in the Premier League, earning just six points from a possible 21.
But, had Drogba scored, they would have gone back to the top of the table.
And this was a much better Blues performance than anything they have produced since the upset caused when assistant boss Ray Wilkins got the bullet.
In the second half they really roughed up Spurs as Drogba put himself about and made his point that he should have been on from the start.
The sight of Frank Lampard coming off the bench after nearly four months out with injury was another positive sign for the crucial Christmas period.
Spurs will be disappointed they did not get the victory because it would have closed the gap on the top four.
But they had a go and created plenty of chances of their own.
There was no disgrace in losing two points here in what was a cracking battle.
They went ahead as one Roman, Pavlyuchenko, sent a message to another Roman, Chelsea owner Abramovich, that Tottenham are serious kiddies when it comes to challenging them for silverware.
Jermain Defoe held off Branislav Ivanovic and when his pass came in, Pavlyuchenko had one touch which took him comfortably away from John Terry - who stood rooted to the spot as the shot flashed past Petr Cech at his near post.
It was Terry's one mistake on a day when he showed he is almost back to his best after all his troubles on and off the pitch.
He was a colossus at the centre of the Blues defence and it is vital he stays fit if Chelsea are to get their title aspirations back on track.
This was one of the most committed Premier League games you are ever likely to see.
One particular Alan Hutton tackle on Ramires sent shudders reverberating down Tottenham High Road.
But at times it did overstep the mark, such as when Michael Essien went in with his studs on Gareth Bale's ankle.
It was nasty but Essien did not even have a foul given against him, let alone get booked.
The normally mild-mannered Bale was fuming. But he is going to have to get used to it now that he has been identified as one of Tottenham's biggest dangers.
Chelsea finished the first half strongly, although Salomon Kalou could not direct either of his two headed chances on target and when Nicolas Anelka netted he was given offside.
Enter the Drog after a big cuddle and words of encouragement from Lampard, who had clearly seen the red mist in his eyes.
Drogba hit a right-foot shot which Gomes saved and Spurs, with defender Michael Dawson playing his first game for four months, had to dig in.
But with 20 minutes left, Dawson could not hold off Drogba, who knocked the ball on with his shoulder then smashed a shot straight at Gomes.
The Tottenham keeper went down on his haunches and let the ball slip through his fingers and into the net.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp argued afterwards that Drogba had handled - and he might have had a point.
No matter, the goal stood and Chelsea powered on looking for the winner, with Lampard replacing Florent Malouda to add to the attacking options.
It seemed to have worked out. After the board went up for four minutes of added time, Drogba fed Ramires in the box.
The Brazilian got a touch just before being flattened by his fellow countryman Gomes, who was having a bit of a nightmare.
Lampard is usually the penalty taker but, having been out for so long, he did not argue with Drogba as the stroppy striker grabbed the ball to take the kick.
Gomes cleverly feinted to his right before diving the other way and Drogba was denied.
Relief for Spurs, despair for Chelsea and fantastic entertainment for everyone else.

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