Derby County 2 Chelsea 2

By John Curtis, PA Sport

The Derby sub scored 30 seconds after the 90 minutes were up, stabbing the ball home from close range after Kevin Harper's cross and Paulo Wanchope's initial effort caused confusion in the Chelsea box.

It was cruel luck on the Londoners, who had woken up in the second half after a poor first 45 minutes to take what appeared to be a match-winning 2-1 lead.

Horacio Carbonari's deflected freekick put Derby in front at the break but two goals in four second-half minutes by Tore Andre Flo and Gustavo Poyet saw Chelsea in control.

They looked set to collect all three points as the match drifted into stoppage time but Sturridge, dropped to the bench after a poor season in front of goal so far, salvaged a draw.

Manchester United's draw at Tottenham meant the Stamford Bridge club would have gone top for the first time since November 1989 had they held out.

But it still means Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford on Wednesday is set up beautifully.

Chelsea started like a team which had six changes from the one which began Wednesday's 2-1 defeat of Villa, with the absence of Marcel Desailly hitting the Blues hardest.

Flo, the Norwegian supersub, did not look quite as dangerous as when he has been introduced from the bench this season and even Gianfranco Zola - five goals in five games before today - was subdued.

Chelsea simply never got started in the first half, with the likes of Bernard Lambourde and Bjarne Goldbaek looking to be inadequate stand-ins for Roberto Di Matteo and Albert Ferrer.

But a half-time talking-to all but did the business and despite Sturridge's late goal, there are now few people who can possibly doubt Chelsea's credentials as serious championship challengers.

Title-chasers need to have good squads and both Chelsea goalscorers began the midweek game on the bench.

This was only Flo's ninth start of the season but he came on to grab the winner against Villa on Wednesday and today he kick-started Chelsea into life.

And Poyet has now scored nine goals this campaign - not bad for a midfielder who missed the final seven months of 1997/98 with a serious knee injury.

Chelsea could have taken the lead as early as the second minute, Stamford Bridge old boy Tony Dorigo hacking Lambourde's header off the line, but that was their best chance before the interval.

Derby went close from their own flag-kick, Spencer Prior and Rory Delap just unable to divert Lars Bohinen's cross goalwards, before going in front on 26 minutes.

Wise fouled Darryl Powell more than 30 yards out and Carbonari - nicknamed "Bazooka" in his native Argentina for his explosive shooting - fired the set-piece goalwards.

Goalkeeper Ed de Goey may well have had the original effort covered but it took a wicked deflection off what appeared to be Lambourde's outstretched boot and flew into the bottom corner.

Even that failed to stir the visitors into life, with Flo and Poyet seeing tame efforts fail to trouble Derby keeper Mart Poom.

But it all changed after the interval as Chelsea proved too hot for Derby to handle.

On 55 minutes, Morris' pass found Flo and he kept his cool to clip the ball over the advancing Poom to equalise for his sixth goal of the season.

Poyet then had a shot saved by Poom but Derby's reprieve did not last long and they found themselves behind after 59 minutes. Poyet's clever turn fooled fellow South American Carbonari and he sent a low drive fizzing beyond Poom and just inside the far post.

Chelsea were in charge after going in front, though de Goey had to make a smart save to deny Wanchope.

But just as the visiting fans looked like they would be heading back down the M1 with all three points, a triple substitution - Derby bringing on Harper, Sturridge and Stefan Schnoor - helped give them a draw.

Teams

Derby: Poom, Carbonari (Sturridge 79), Powell, Dorigo, Wanchope, Delap, Bohinen (Schnoor 79), Laursen, Prior, Eranio, Baiano (Harper 79).

Subs Not Used: Hoult, Elliot.

Booked: Powell, Carbonari, Wanchope.

Goals: Carbonari 26, Sturridge 90.

Chelsea: De Goey, Leboeuf, Goldbaek (Petrescu 46), Poyet, Wise, Duberry, Le Saux, Flo, Lambourde, Zola (Nicholls 89), Morris (Babayaro 89).

Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Di Matteo.

Booked: Flo.

Goals: Flo 55, Poyet 59.

Att: 29,056

Ref: P Jones (Loughborough).