toptop
Chelsea
extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points after a 4-0
win over Tottenham.
After a largely forgettable first half at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening,
the game sprang into life on 56 minutes.
Samuel Eto'o - only starting the game thanks to an injury to Fernando Torres in
the pre-match warm-up - intercepted a Jan Vertonghen back-pass to fire home
under Hugo Lloris.
Then just minutes later, Eto'o won a penalty off Younes Kaboul as he went down
under his challenge in the box. The Spurs man saw red and Eden Hazard tucked
away the spot-kick.
The Chelsea win was sealed with just a couple of minutes left as substitute
Demba Ba helped himself to two goals in two minutes.
His first came as Sandro's slip allowed him to fire home from close range,
before yet another defensive blunder from Spurs, this time from Kyle Walker's
headed back-pass, saw him control and stroke the ball past Lloris.
The result was harsh on Spurs, who had set up with a shape looking to contain
Chelsea, and they were more than doing their job until a defensive error from
Vertonghen opened the door for Jose Mourinho's side.
The victory extended Mourinho's unbeaten Premier League home record to 75 games
and took Chelsea seven clear of Liverpool and Arsenal, and nine clear of
third-placed Manchester City - who do have three games in hand.
Chelsea had made one change following the win at Fulham - Frank Lampard
replacing Oscar - but Torres' late blow brought in Eto'o, who was caught
narrowly offside in the opening minute.
Three minutes later, the Cameroon striker was found by Andre Schurrle and played
the ball on to Hazard, who rounded Lloris but fired into the side-netting with
the goal empty.
It was a glorious opportunity and a surprising miss for a player enjoying a
scintillating season.
But Spurs had their chances too. Nabil Bentaleb found himself through on goal in
the left channel following Emmanuel Adebayor's header down, but the Algerian
midfielder snatched at his shot, with his team-mates queueing up.
Greater conviction, one way or the other, would likely have seen Spurs take the
lead.
Petr Cech had to be alert when Gary Cahill's clearance went only as far as
Sandro, whose volley was well saved.
Spurs were having the better of the action, but Chelsea lurked menacingly for
their chance.
A loose Bentaleb pass presented Eto'o with the ball, but the striker was forced
wide by a combination of the midfielder and Kaboul and shot into the
side-netting.
Oscar replaced Lampard at the interval and Chelsea's reshuffled midfield left
Vertonghen in space, but his attempted lob never troubled Cech.
Kaboul headed straight at Cech from Gylfi Sigurdsson's corner and Schurrle twice
had tame efforts at the other end before pressurising Vertonghen into a blind
panic.
The Belgian slipped and, from the ground, returned the ball hopefully and
centrally before watching on helplessly as Eto'o nipped in to find the bottom
corner.
Moments later, it was two when Hazard's cross behind the Spurs defence found
Eto'o and Kaboul was adjudged to have tripped the striker, who tumbled to the
turf.
Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot, then reached for his pocket to
dismiss Kaboul.
Hazard sent Lloris the wrong way to give Chelsea a two-goal advantage with 30
minutes remaining.
The Belgium forward tried to tee up Eto'o in the 75th minute, but the pass was
short and the striker was then replaced by Ba.
Oscar snatched at a shot when played in by fellow substitute Willian before Ba
benefited from more hapless Spurs defending.
Sandro, who dropped into centre-back following Kaboul's departure, was unable to
deal with Oscar's cross and Ba tucked in.
Another followed when Lloris' clearance kick looped into the air and Walker
inexplicably headed backwards towards the goalkeeper. Ba intercepted the ball
before passing into an empty net.
Click Here For Official Team Sheet
Teams
Chelsea Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta, Lampard
(Oscar 45), Ramires, Matic, Schurrle (Willian 66), Hazard, Eto’o (Ba 76)
Subs Not Used Schwarzer, Kalas, Mikel, Salah
Booked Lampard, Azpilicueta
Goals Eto’o 56, Hazard 60 (pen), Ba 88, 89
Tottenham Hotspur Lloris, Naughton, Dawson (c) (Fryers 72),
Kaboul, Vertonghen, Sandro, Bentaleb, Walker, Sigurdsson (Paulinho 61), Lennon,
Adebayor
Subs Not Used Friedel, Soldado, Townsend, Chadli, Kane
Booked Bentaleb, Sandro, Naughton
Sent Off Kaboul
Goals
Attendance 41,598
Referee Michael Oliver