It's Lucky Chelsea Again

Chelsea paid a generous and much deserved tribute to Peter Osgood, the King of Stamford Bridge, on a day when the action took place on a luxurious new playing surface, which unaccountably could not be accomplished in time for the Champions League encounter with Barcelona.

The game against Tottenham which followed was, for the most part, devoid of the kind of passion normally associated with a London derby. Chelsea were dominant without ever achieving fluency and Spurs were resilient with only rare glimpses of anything remotely resembling attacking flair.

Given the number of opportunities which fell their way in the first half, it seemed almost inevitable that Chelsea would take the lead. In the first minute, a bright right wing break allowed Crespo to flash in a cross which narrowly eluded Joe Cole, and soon after Wright-Phillips broke past Dawson on the left and shot, only for Essien to blaze the rebound wide from 12 yards. Within minutes, however, the same two players combined to put the home side in front, when Wright-Phillips crossed to give Essien his first Chelsea goal.

The real surprise was that in first half stoppage time Spurs drew level, when Carrick’s well placed free kick enabled Dawson to out-jump Huth and head the ball down for Jenas to nip in and beat Robinson from close range to give the away side an undeserved equaliser.

After the interval, Chelsea pressed forward unconvincingly. In the 55th minute, Gallas broke through and Robinson launched himself at the Frenchman’s strike with all the grace of an RAF Hercules transport plane climbing laboriously into the air. Two minutes later, a respectable Lampard corner (one of his few achievements in this game) was met by John Terry and Robinson tipped his header over the bar.

There followed a rash of substitutions as both managers sought to affect the result. In the 68th minute, Wright-Phillips, whose performance had deteriorated after a bright start (no doubt as a result of fatigue brought on by spending so long on the field) was replaced by Duff and Cole gave way to the inevitable Drogba, then 8 minutes later Essien departed to allow Maniche his opportunity.

Almost immediately, a superb through ball from Ledley King gave Jenas the chance of a dramatic Spurs winner, but he shot weakly at Petr Cech and with 7 minutes of normal time remaining, Defoe was introduced at the expense of Robbie Keane.

By this time, Spurs were firmly on the back foot and they almost conceded when Drogba’s volley hit the post and ran free. But in the midst of stoppage time, Chelsea broke Tottenham hearts with the only real piece of excitement in the game, when William Gallas cut inside to unleash an unstoppable shot past the helpless Robinson and give Chelsea a last gasp victory which they scarcely deserved.