Tottenham and Chelsea had to settle for a share of the spoils as the battle between London's top two clubs ended in a 1-1 draw.
Honours finish even as Chelsea skipper saves his side at the death
Tottenham and Chelsea had to settle for a share of the spoils as the battle between London's top two clubs ended in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Emmanuel Adebayor's sixth goal in as many Premier League fixtures gave the home side, who remain two points clear of their capital rivals in third spot in the table, an early lead they deserved after such a bright start.
The former Arsenal striker was able to slide Gareth Bale's cross into the net after visiting goalkeeper Peter Cech had failed to cut the ball out.
The Blues were level before the break thanks to their own precision pass from the left flank, Ashley Cole's knock across leaving Daniel Sturridge with the easiest of finishes from a little more than a yard out.
Both teams had their chances to go ahead in the second half, Chelsea's best effort seeing Ramires head Juan Mata's free-kick wide when left unmarked.
However, had it not been for John Terry then the visitors would have made the short journey home with nothing to show for their efforts.
The Chelsea skipper, playing his first game since learning that he would be charged for his alleged racist comments towards Anton Ferdinand and booed throughout by the home fans, managed to slide in and deflect a goal-bound effort wide from Adebayor in the closing minutes.
Inspirational Bale
But while the Blues finished strongly it was Spurs who had started at break-neck speed, the fit-again Bale their inspiration.
With barely a minute gone, the winger burst past two defenders before seeing his shot blocked by Cole.
His next telling contribution was to set up the opener, the Welshman counter-attacking with raw pace down the wing after the excellent Sandro put in a crunching tackle to dispossess Sturridge on the halfway line.
Bale flew past Jose Bosingwa before crossing to Adebayor, who had peeled off Terry to nip in between the defender and Cech to tap home unmarked.
Branislav Ivanovic was booked for a desperate push on the midfielder on the edge of the box before Adebayor joined him in the book for an innocuous late challenge on Raul Meireles.
Spurs failed to add a second despite their early dominance, however, and the once raucous atmosphere inside White Hart Lane went flat, except for the chorus of derision with every touch taken by Terry.
Chelsea found their rhythm and equalised in the 23rd minute. Rafael van der Vaart's slide caused the ball to ricochet off Cole's hand down the Chelsea left. The ball fell back in to the path of the full-back and he crossed for Sturridge, who stabbed home at the back post.
Bosingwa then sent over an inch-perfect cross that flew over Kyle Walker, Didier Drogba chesting the ball down before seeing his left-foot drive rattle the woodwork.
Andre Villas-Boas was forced in to a change just after the half hour when Ivanovic came off with an injury and he made way for Paulo Ferreira, who came on for his first league appearance of the season.
Chelsea's injury worries deepened when John Obi Mikel limped off moments later with a groin problem and he was replaced by Oriol Romeu.
Spurs, meanwhile, had problems of their own as Van der Vaart failed to make it out for the second half, with Roman Pavlyuchenko taking his place.
Drogba played in Ramires in the early stages of the second half but Friedel put in a crucial stop with his legs before Terry sent a powerful header in to the American's arms.
Ruled out
Tottenham had the ball in the net just before the hour when Adebayor seemed to shoulder the ball past Cech from a Luka Modric free-kick, but the linesman ruled it out for offside.
Mata had a strike ruled out for the same reason at the other end before Adebayor was lucky not to receive a second booking for hacking Terry down.
Villas-Boas looked to freshen his attack up by bringing on Fernando Torres for Drogba, but it was Tottenham who suddenly looked the more dangerous side.
Cech did well to tip over Sandro's looping shot which had taken a deflection off Raul Meireles before William Gallas poked wide from the resulting corner when free in the box.
Chelsea recovered and darted up the other end and won a free-kick. Mata delivered an inch-perfect ball to find the unmarked Ramires but he inexplicably missed the target from eight yards.
Terry's desperate lunge denied Spurs at the other end and King fired at Cech in injury time, meaning the two rivals had to settle for a point apiece, a result that only suits their title rivals in Manchester.
| Tottenham Hotspur |
Team Statistics |
Chelsea |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
11 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 15 |
Fouls |
8 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 86 |
Passing Success |
83.7 |
| 12 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 91.7 |
Tackles Success |
85.2 |
| 54.8 |
Possession |
45.2 |
| 49.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.4 |
| 457 |
Total Passes |
386 |
| 27 |
Total Crosses |
19 |
| 151 |
Lost Balls |
130 |
| 48 |
Recoveries |
53 |
| 59.6 |
1st Half Poss. |
40.4 |
| 48.1 |
2nd Half Poss. |
51.9 |
|
