Heurelho Gomes' gaffes almost gift Chelsea all three points
Chelsea have, in recent weeks, seen their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League been overtaken by Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City. Thanks in kind to poor form from the Londoners and a resurgency in performances by the other three
clubs. But this weekend, Chelsea had the chance to reclaim that lead at the top by one point, albeit for only a mere twenty four hours, but being back at the top might just've reinvigorated their season nonetheless.
To go top again, Chelsea needed to inflict defeat upon another team who is benefitting from a collective improvement in performances, Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham are a team who have certainly revived their season after a slow start and are now certainly
in the mix of things at the top. The form Tottenham are in and given Chelsea's recent record at White Hart Lane, compounded with the fact that Chelsea have picked up five points from a possible eighteen, victory was always going to be hard to come by for the
current champions.
Chelsea went into this match boosted by the fact that Frank Lampard had returned, but he was only fit enough to start from the bench. God knows how much the Blues have missed him and to have him back amongst their ranks especially in such a testing period,
where they face Manchester United and Arsenal in quick succession, is a privilege they would have prayed diligently for. Without Lampard, Chelsea have lacked drive and invention in the middle of the park, an area where they have been overrun by teams recently.
His presence to the team is such that could not be satisfied by the likes of Jon Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda, Ramires and even Michael Essien.
Tottenham, on the other hand, saw their latest saviour William Gallas fall victim to a hamstring injury before the match. So, Harry Redknapp had to draft in Michael Dawson, who himself is just returning from a lengthy lay-off, to partner Sebastien Bassong
in defence.
Chelsea though started the match brightly, but the Tottenham defenders were relatively untroubled by a Chelsea attack which formulated of Nicholas Anelka and Saloman Kalou, with Ancelloti opting to leave Didier Drogba on the bench, a player who has failed
to rediscover his form of late. The match though was of superb quality, with play shifting up and down between the two teams in the blink of an eye. It was played at a pace where you just couldn't keep your eyes off it, and each team looking to go on the offensive
as soon as they got the ball.
Anelka dragged a shot wide in the early stages and Essien had two long range drives before Branislav Ivanovic blasted a free kick wide from thirty yards. It looked as if Chelsea would take the game to Spurs. But in the fifteenth minute Tottenham took the
lead, Jermaine Defoe recieved the ball on the left and he turned Ferreira to pass into the box to Pavlyuchenko. Roman Pavlyuchenko eliminated Terry and Ivanovic with his first touch and rammed the ball home with his left peg to Cech's right hand side. It was
a thrilling start to an enthralling prospect.
Both teams huffed and puffed then but nobody could find another goal before half-time. The second half saw Drogba come on in place of Mikel with it. A good move by Chelsea as they looked to pressurize the game-starved Dawson. And it payed off when in the
70th minute Drogba shrugged off Dawson and turned to shoot. The shot, though venomous, should've been a simple save really for Gomes, but somehow he managed to flap horribly at it, a blunder which would see the ball float over Gomes and into the net. So, Gomes
and his horrendous error let Chelsea back into it. And this horrendous error wasn't to be his last.
In the dying embers of the game, Gomes clattered needlessly into Ramires who was running away from goal to gift Chelsea a penalty in the 93rd minute. It was a chance for Chelsea to reinspire themselves and to get themselves back on track in the title race.
Drogba stepped up to take it, which was curious given the fact that Lampard ws on the pitch. But Drogba's effort was saved by Gomes who guessed the right way to go from zero to hero in mere seconds. That would prove to be the last meaningful event of the match.
For Harry Redknapp, this must feel like a win given the fact that his team could've and should've squandered it all in the last minute with that Drogba penalty. For Ancelloti, this must feel like something resembling a punch in the gut. He will certainly
be incencsed that his charges had a golden opportunity to rise above their current predicament and failed to capitalise. In the end of it all, these were two valuable points dropped solely by Didier Drogba.
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