Tottenham and Chelsea were forced to share the spoils
as the battle for supremacy in the capital ended in
stalemate at White Hart Lane.
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• Cole: Title race wide open
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Spurs started at break-neck speed, taking the lead through
Emmanuel Adebayor's tap-in, but they soon faded and
the Blues equalised with Daniel Sturridge's 10th of
the campaign.
Ramires wasted two gilt-edged chances to give the Blues
what would have been a morale-boosting victory and Didier
Drogba rattled the woodwork as Spurs were made to hang
on for a point.
The result means Spurs remain two points ahead of Chelsea
having played one match more, but Harry Redknapp will
be disappointed not to have inflicted a telling blow
on their neighbours in a game they went in to as favourites.
Blues captain John Terry, playing his first game since
learning that he would be charged for his alleged racist
comments towards Anton Ferdinand, was hounded for the
majority of the match by the home crowd, but performed
solidly throughout.
Heckled during the warm-up, Terry received a frosty
reception as he took to the field and a huge boo greeted
his first touch.
Spurs looked out-of-sorts against Sunderland on Sunday
without Gareth Bale flying down the left flank and the
fit-again Welshman was the catalyst for the hosts' early
dominance.
With barely a minute gone, the winger burst past two
defenders before seeing his shot blocked by Ashley Cole.
Tottenham maintained a relentless tempo in the opening
stages and took the lead after seven minutes.
Sandro put in a crunching tackle to dispossess Sturridge
on the halfway line and the Brazilian released Bale
down the left.
The winger flew past Jose Bosingwa before crossing
to Adebayor, who had peeled off Terry to nip in between
the defender and Petr Cech to tap home unmarked.
Villas-Boas cut a worried figure, crouching and fretting
on the touchline as Spurs pushed for a second.
Ivanovic was booked for a desperate push on Bale 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.
Chelsea found their rhythm and equalised in the 23rd
minute. Rafael van der Vaart's slide caused the ball
to ricochet off Ashley 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 after
giving Ledley King the slip at the back post.
Despite the now incessant chanting aimed his way, Terry,
and Chelsea, grew in confidence.
The defender snatched the ball off Adebayor in a dangerous
position before cutting out Modric's cross-field ball
with a lion-hearted diving header.
Jose Bosingwa then sent over an inch-perfect cross
that flew over Kyle Walker, Drogba chested the ball
down and rattled the woodwork with a fierce half-volley
as Chelsea started to take a grip on the game.
Villas-Boas was forced in to a change just after the
half hour when Branislav Ivanovic came off with an injury
and he made way for Paulo Ferreira, who came on for
his first league appearance of the season.
Just before half-time Ramires went into the book for
a dangerous two-footed tackle on Bale, who went down
clutching his ankle, but he picked himself up and carried
on.
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 was forced off at half-time, 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.
Tottenham had the ball in the net just before the hour
when Adebayor chested the ball past Cech from a Modric
free-kick, but the linesman flagged for offside.
Chelsea thought they should have had a penalty when
the ball struck Benoit Assou-Ekotto's hand in the box
but referee Howard Webb waved play on.
Juan Mata had a strike ruled out for offside and 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 Meireles before 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 headed
wide from eight yards.
At the other end, Bale left four Chelsea defenders
in his wake before finding Adebayor unmarked at the
back post. The former Arsenal man wasted his golden
opportunity by dribbling a weak shot wide.
King fired at Cech in injury time as Spurs aimed to
snatch a winner, but it did not come and the final whistle
arrived, closely followed by a homage from Terry to
the travelling fans in the far corner.
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