Chelsea at home - never a dull moment

Terry and Cole recreate a scene from 'Blades of Glory'

For many years - too many to mention - Tottenham simply could not beat Chelsea. Yes, there was the 5-1 victory at White Hart Lane in the 2002 League Cup semi-final, when everything clicked an even Sergei Rebrov scored, but in the Premier League up until 2006, it just would not happen for Spurs.

Ever since then, however, fortunes have turned for Tottenham, who are unbeaten in five home games against a Chelsea side that have rarely left the top three of the table during that period.

Here then, courtesy of TBFWHL, is a rundown of those games, which have provided more than a few memorable moments over the last five years.

Lennon breaks the curse

Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea, November 5, 2006

At first it looked ominous for Spurs, as Claude Makelele volleyed beyond Paul Robinson from outside the area for a rare goal 15 minutes in, after Ledley King had conceded a corner whilst producing one of the best interceptions you’re ever likely to see.

But Tottenham were level ten minutes later when Dawson headed a free-kick beyond Hilario, and after the interval the hosts went ahead as Robbie Keane left a dizzied Khalid Boulahrouz for dead and saw his cross deflected to Aaron Lennon, who controlled with his right foot, and curled in with his left.

John Terry was sent off for his part in what appeared an innocuous incident but Chelsea continued in search for an equaliser and nearly had it, but Arjen Robben’s effort cannoned off the woodwork.

Spurs held on though, and secured their first home league victory over Chelsea in almost 20 years, the last having come in 1987.

Agent Keane to the rescue

Tottenham 4-4 Chelsea, March 20, 2008

This game wasn’t three minutes old before Chelsea were in front through Didier Drogba, who raced into the box unmarked to head beyond Robinson, as White Hart Lane filled with echoing boos.

Not ten minutes later, Tottenham were level as Jon Woodgate climbed highest to power the ball past then-Blues shot stopper Carlo Cudicini, but Chelsea were back in front shortly after when Michael Essien stabbed home.

Ashley Cole hardly covered himself with glory shortly before the interval with a studs-out challenge to Alan Hutton’s shin and subsequent arrogance towards referee Mike Riley, but the visitors were back in front after the break through Joe Cole, whose poked effort squeezed under Robinson’s leg to make it 3-1.

Another header, this time from Dimitar Berbatov pulled Spurs to within a goal of Chelsea, and after Essien struck the post following more good work from the excellent Joe Cole, Tom Huddlestone grabbed the equaliser with a typically controlled but powerful drive.

The game was far from over and Joe Cole scored his second of the night, drilling into the roof of the net to put Chelsea in front again.

But Spurs would have the final say when a long ball forward struck the back of Ricardo Carvalho and fell into the path of Robbie Keane, whose swerving effort from 20 yards beat Cudicini with two minutes of normal time to play.

In fact, were it not for Cudicini it might have been 5-4, but the Italian thwarted Berbatov in stoppage time with an outstretched right hand. Life is funny like that sometimes.

Modric makes his mark

Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea, March 21, 2009

Spurs and Chelsea had both made managerial changes during this season, as new managers rescued their clubs from their respective crises. Tottenham only had two points after eight games when Redknapp took over, you know…

Guus Hiddink was in charge of the visitors and had kept them in the Premier League title race as well as eventually winning an FA Cup, but any hopes of a league and cup double were severely dashed on this Saturday.

Heurelho Gomes and Petr Cech were both called into action on a handful of occasions, but the deadlock was broken five minutes after half time, when Luka Modric met a Lennon pull-back on the edge of the area and slotted into the bottom left corner.

Alex hit the crossbar at the death and Hiddink’s 100 per cent record since taking charge at Stamford Bridge was over.

Modric’s reputation has gone from strength to strength ever since – as Chelsea well know.

The perfect week

Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea, April 17, 2010

In the race for a top four place, the realistic Spurs fans were eyeing a run of fixtures in April – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United – and saying “we might just come undone there.”

But it wasn’t to be. Not shaken by their FA Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Portsmouth, Tottenham won the north London derby and carried the momentum into a clash with Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea just a few short days later.

Spurs started at breakneck speed. Modric and Gareth Bale were excellent in midfield while up front, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe were causing problems and eventually, Tottenham were awarded a penalty for handball against Terry which Defoe, for all his troubles from the spot, duly converted.

Shortly before half time, Bale doubled the advantage as he jinked inside the Chelsea penalty area at pace and beat Cech at his near post with a low drive.

Terry received a second yellow card and was dismissed and Frank Lampard scored late on but time ran out for Chelsea, not that it would matter in the long run. Ancelotti would guide the Blues to the Premier League title at the end of the season, while Spurs would reach the Champions League for the first time.

The Gomes show

Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea, December 12, 2010

It all started so well for Spurs when Pavlyuchenko produced a moment of individual class – as he so frustratingly does on inconsistent occasions – to take an excellent first touch and eliminate the Chelsea defence from the equation before smashing the ball beyond Cech with his left.

Ancelotti introduced Drogba for the second half and the Ivorian made a telling impact, most notably for Chelsea’s equaliser, brushing off Dawson and powering a shot straight at Gomes, who should save, but instead let the ball out of his grasp, leaving fans at the Lane to watch it plod into the net.

But, Gomes being Gomes, the show was not over, as the Brazilian brought down Drogba in stoppage time and gifted Chelsea a penalty and a chance to claim all three points.

Gomes went left. So did Drogba, and the erratic goalkeeper was off the hook – just about - as he palmed away the spot kick for Spurs to claim a point.

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Spurs regain that winning feeling

What has two thumbs and couldn't be more desperate to leave?

Hold tight comrades, this is the serious shit now. Rejuvenated Sunderland came to the Lane on Sunday with a cunning plan to further derail our campaign after the damage inflicted by Corporal Pulis' Stoke Taskforce the week before (ably assisted by rear gunner Foy, it must be said). But, with a helping hand from the an agent from the Soviet Hotspur branch, the good ship Tottenham was dragged back on course. Now for a game of potentially titanic proportions on Thursday night: Andre Villas Boas and the Chelsea Brigade.

Roman 'Cult Hero' Pavlyuchenko's sweet right footed strike was just about enough for Spurs to seal the points against a Sunderland side that, to their credit, came to north London with the aim to win, unlike some sides this season (we're all looking at you McCleish). Bereft of Bale's warp speed down the left flank and also without the less impressive but similarly dangerous Lennon after an early injury (reports suggest he'll be out for a fair few weeks), Spurs were lacking their usual creative edge. Midfield artists Modric and van der Vaart were redeployed to cover the wide positions, nullifying Tottenham's potency.

In fact, were it not for the continued excellence of The Honourable Bradley Friedel in goal (respect your elders), we might well have been facing the prospect of conceding a goal or, whisper it quietly, losing. Thankfully, a slice of delicious combination play resulted in the half chance for Pav, which he buried in the way only he could. Modric's clever pass found VDV and his delightful reverse pass played in the Russian to break the deadlock.

Modric may have then thrown his name into the running for the race for miss of the season (let's hope his campaign ends right there) but Spurs were a notably better side after the goal and were able to close out the win with only a few horribly nervous moments. A combination of Tackles Parker, The Boy Sandro and the King of England helped Friedel to ensure the points would be going our way.

This was no vintage performance - far from it - and there's always the chance our rivals could claim this is a sign of further weakness after our first defeat in ages last weekend. But it's been said time and time again that winning ugly is a sign of title contende... Y'know what? There's no point saying it for now, we'll leave it imagination. With Chelski and those horrible, arrogant lot from down the road both dropping points, our position was further strengthened.

Speaking of Chelsea, our game with them on Thursday is just the right amount of huge. Win (as we arguably should) and we'll be in a horribly good position for the second half of the season. Lose and, erm, we'll still be in a decent position but we'll lose a bit of credibility as title cha.. Again, sorry, I just can't bring myself to say it. Not yet. Maybe on Friday.

Chelsea are vulnerable, as they always tend to be these days, with AVB hanging onto his job by a thread if you believe the rags. A possibly injured John Terry, a disillusioned and benched/beached Frank Lampard, a £50m striker who doesn't play and John Obi Mikel. Hardly the stuff to inspire fear when you've got Tackles Parker in the ranks. One player who does inspire fear is Juan Mata - his name may lend itself to some delightfully playful headlines but this guy can definitely play.

But we'll see their Mata and raise them our Modric. Coveted by Chelsea all of last summer, the wee man made very little effort to hide his desire to leave. But so far this season, he's put his head down, performed like the champion he is and kept his mouth shut. Does he still prefer Chelsea to us? Who knows. But on the strength of this season so far, his current employers are looking more like achieving something significant. A win on Thursday would consolidate that idea.

Spurs v Chelsea. King v Drogba. Adebayor v Terry. Modric v Mata. Harry v AVB. Bring it the f*ck on.
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Ditch the self-pity and move on

Younes couldn't have picked a worse time to roll out his Petr Cech impression

WWWWDWWWWWWFOY. Tottenham's remarkable run of winning form came to a shuddering end at Stoke yesterday but the controversial decisions made by referee Chris Foy left a particularly bitter taste in the mouth.

An inept first half showing from Spurs, unbecoming of a title-chasing team, had left them 2-0 and with the prospect of scaling a metaphorical mountain in order to get anything from the game. They responded in a manner more worthy of a team that hadn't lost since the middle of August but despite having the ball in the back of the net twice and having numerous cast iron penalty shouts rejected, they left the Britannia with only a 2-1 defeat and a sense of what might have been.

It would be redundant for this blog to list the various injustices from the game and become yet another voice claiming how unlucky we were. Anyone with a brain can see that poor refereeing decisions have ultimately cost us the game. It doesn't need repeating.

The harsh truth is that over the course of a 38 game season, there will be afternoons where it seems like nothing goes your way. 'Experts' will tell you that good and bad decisions tend to even themselves out thoughout the year - the theory being that for every referee-inflicted defeat, there will also be a decision-aided win. And though no-one really feels like it at present, it's important not to get too overblown on self-righteous injustice. How many times do we see Arsenal and Liverpool fans claiming that refs are out to get them and that they'd have won everything going were it not for poor decisions? Do we really want to become those types of fans?

What I found interesting and heartening was the reaction of the players on Twitter after the game. There's no telling how genuine the tweets of a Premier League footballer are - for all we know, the Spurs Press Officer was hovering over their shoulders, telling them what to write. But, assuming said tweets were indeed from the horses mouth, there was a pleasing lack of complaint coming from the players.

Kyle Walker (@kyle28walker): "Disappointed about the result was unlucky not to get anything out of it thanks to everyone who came great support as normal #wewilbouncebk"

Jermain Defoe (@IAmJermainDefoe): "Disappointed with result but have to look forward to next game great away support like always #COYS"

Emmanuel Adebayor (@Sheyiadebayor): "Very disappointed with the result. We will bounce back quickly. Its in our hands to put it right."

There was no Wilshere-style moaning about the circumstances and then dressing it up as 'banter' a few hours later. There was no screaming of injustice, guaranteed to get them a story on the Daily Mail sport website.  There was a simple acknowledgment of the facts and a willingness to right the wrongs next weekend and get another run of form going. And they all know how to spell 'disappointed' (which is nice).

It's an attitude that is, in this humble blogsworth's eyes, wholly correct and one that we as fans would do well to mimic. Complaining about Chris Foy and endlessly retweeting images of Adebayor being onside won't change what happened. Nor will raining down foul mouthed abuse on pundits when they fail to share our exaggerated sense of injustice. To attempt to immediately move on from this isn't to ignore the fact that we were robbed. But I see no good in wallowing in self pity. We've been there before (May 2006).

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Scintillating Spurs batter Bolton

RIP Gary Speed

For a few hours on Saturday, Tottenham were second in the Premier League, until Phil Jones scored the only goal of a turgid affair between Manchester United and Aston Villa.

But if Spurs continue to turn in the sort of sumptuous performance that secured a 3-0 win against Bolton at White Hart Lane on Saturday and a sixth successive Premier League win, what’s to say Harry Redknapp’s side can’t flirt with the highest reaches of the top flight for at least a little while longer?

Tottenham were explosive and on the front foot from the first whistle, and it took only six minutes for Gareth Bale to open the scoring, as the Welsh winger darted in at the near post to flick home Luka Modric’s corner, wheeling away to pay tribute to his compatriot and former Bolton man Gary Speed, by raising his customised boot to the Wanderers crowd. It was one of many salutes to the departed former Wales manager on an emotional day for British football.

The major talking point of the game followed shortly after as Gary Cahill, still a target for Spurs, was put under pressure by a combination of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor and relinquished the ball to his international team-mate before hauling him down 45 yards from goal. According to Stuart Attwell it was an offence worthy of a straight red card and Bolton were somewhat harshly reduced to 10 men, making an already ominous start look all the more intimidating for the visitors.

Had it not been for Jussi Jaaskelainen, it might have been a lot worse for Bolton before the interval. The Finnish veteran thwarted Adebayor on several occasions in the first half, as the Togolese combined with Bale and Parker regularly but saw the opposition goalkeeper keep him at bay three times in the first half.

Jermain Defoe, who started in place of Rafael van der Vaart, was left equally frustrated by Jaaskelainen in the opening 45 minutes, twice seeing close range efforts kept out. The striker looked sharp despite a lack of regular playing time and even in the absence of the Dutch playmaker - on the substitute’s bench as he continues to recover from an injury – Tottenham’s attacks were fluid, the movement between the attacking players as impressive as it has been all season.

Just five minutes after the break, Defoe was involved as Spurs doubled their lead. Kyle Walker, full of running throughout, launched a counter-attack and passed to the striker, who shifted the ball to his left, where Aaron Lennon collected, shuffled past two defenders and fired past Jaaskelainen.

That Lennon popped up on the left hand side is testament to how free-form and interchangeable Tottenham’s front line has become. Lennon and Bale are effective on either flank and able to occupy the space left by Van der Vaart behind the striker should he drift wide, while thus far, both Adebayor and Defoe have been more than willing to drop deep and collect the ball if needed. The excellent base of Modric and Parker allows it all to tick.

Defoe finally had a goal to his name when Bale met another Modric corner and flicked the ball into the 29-year-old’s path, leaving him with the simplest of tap-ins and putting the game beyond any possible doubt.

Spurs could have had more as Jaaskelainen saved from Parker again, while Defoe saw another shot kept out before hitting the near post, but three goals proved to be more than enough as Redknapp’s charges extended their unbeaten run to 11 league games – the draw away to Newcastle the only relative blot in the copybook.

The current Tottenham team is producing some of the finest football seen at White Hart Lane in recent history, while the exploits of Modric and Bale evoke memories of David Ginola in his pomp or Paul Gascoigne’s inspirational performances in the 1991 FA Cup run. The younger among us dare not compare this squad to any of Bill Nicholson’s trophy-winning assemblies. Not yet at least. Not without the return of some silverware.

There are still difficult tests to come before the halfway point in the season, including the dreaded trip to the Britannia Stadium and the visit of Everton, who were good value for a point at White Hart Lane last season, while Chelsea, for all their apparent frailties, are still no pushovers.

For now though, Tottenham sit comfortably third, with a game in hand over United offering the chance to potentially move into second. Spurs fans, for the time being, can at least dare to dream.

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Spurs made to pay for stuttering start as fringe players fail to fire

Recreating 'Reservoir Dogs' could not lift the boys

After Blackburn Rovers’ exit from the League Cup at the hands of Cardiff City on Tuesday night, Steve Kean suggested his side had “forfeited” the game to concentrate on Premier League survival.

And, while Tottenham are approaching the halfway point of the season with the opportunity to strengthen their hold on a place in the top four, Harry Redknapp showed no signs of surrendering the club’s place in the Europa League against PAOK ahead of the clash at White Hart Lane.

The competition’s credibility has been called into question plenty of times in the past, but with Spurs needing three points to move into the top two of Group A, Redknapp elected to start Luka Modric, who was missing from the victory over West Brom due to illness, and Aaron Lennon.

It was a strong-looking Tottenham side, which also featured Jermain Defoe, Steven Pienaar and William Gallas, signalling Redknapp’s intent to stay in the tournament.

But Redknapp’s intent was undermined inside 15 minutes at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, as PAOK raced into a two-goal lead.

Dimitris Salpingidis was left unmarked and headed beyond Heurelho Gomes from close range after just six minutes, as Gallas and Sebastien Bassong allowed a gaping hole between them for the Greek international to run into.

Barely seven minutes later, Spurs were cut open again as PAOK countered, made the most of the abundance of space afforded to them and doubled their lead through Stefanos Athanasiadis, who finished comfortably, again unmarked.

Only then did Tottenham stir, but there was an incisive edge lacking from attacks; Danny Rose and Jake Livermore were guilty of giving away possession too often, while the road to recovery from injury for Steven Pienaar appears to be a long one, as the midfielder continues to struggle to reproduce his best Everton form.

Harry Kane, the sole youth academy product on display for Spurs, showed plenty of industry, but clear cut chances were few and far between, though it was the 19-year-old’s effort on goal which offered the home side a route back into the game.

Kane’s shot amid a goalmouth scramble struck the arm of Kostas Stafylidis on the line, the defender was dismissed and Modric coolly converted the resulting penalty.

After the interval, Spurs asserted their dominance but, despite wave after wave of attack looking increasingly ominous for PAOK, the Greek side somehow held firm from deep inside their own half.

Kane headed over from close range and Pienaar scuffed an excellent chance, while the second half introductions of Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker and Yago Falque were further evidence of Redknapp’s desperation to get a result.

Spurs did have the ball in the net in bizarre circumstances after Defoe was played onside by a stricken Pablo Contreras, who had cleared off the line and been hurtled into by the striker shortly before the goal, but the match officials, who were perhaps the only thing worse than Tottenham’s performance in the opening 15 minutes, conspired not to give the would-be equaliser.

There is still come confusion over whether the goal was chalked off for a foul, or for an offside - impossible in the circumstances -but in truth, had Defoe’s strike been given, with Contreras floored on the goal line, it would surely have left a bad taste in the mouth.

With Spurs needing a convincing victory over Shamrock Rovers in Ireland and for PAOK to beat Rubin Kazan, Redknapp has conceded the Europa League is all over bar the shouting for his side.

Most Tottenham fans – and Redknapp himself – would admit elimination from the competition is not necessarily a bad thing given the club sit third in the Premier League, with a game in hand over Manchester United, who are only two points ahead as the festive period approaches.

But there is little else to be gained from a performance that ultimately left much to be desired, and asked questions of some of the club’s fringe players.

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