Premier League Half Time Report – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea (Part 1)
Chelsea travelled to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham in a match that was a must win for both the sides. The pressure was however on the shoulders of Carlo Ancelotti as his team had been struggling so far this month and were currently going through their
worst run in form, under the Roman Abramovich era.
Chelsea had managed to win only one of their last six games and were looking to end that run by claiming all three points on the night.
Over the course of the last four home games against Chelsea, Tottenham have managed to win three and lose none against the mighty Blues and were hoping to make if four without a loss at home to Chelsea on the night.
The line ups for both the teams were as follows:
TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Hutton, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe.
CHELSEA: Cech, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Essien, Kalou, Anelka, Malouda
There was however two shocking sights seen prior to kick off. Didier Drogba was on the bench for the match and joining him was none other than Chelsea's local super hero, Frank Lampard. The player had been out for almost forever for the team, but the sight
of him being on the bench seemed to spur the Chelsea fans on.
However, Ancelotti went ahead and stated just minutes before kickoff that the reason for Drogba being on the bench was due to a tactical decision and not due to any injuries that the player picked up.
However there was some bad news for Tottenham as William Gallas was missing for the team, due to an injury, but at the same time Michael Dawson made his return to the side and even got hold of the captains arm band for the game.
With both the team's looking to go at it, the referee allowed for them to take to the pitch and they were welcomed on, by a massive uproar, from both sets of supporters. Both the teams were in their respective home kits, with Tottenham playing in their white
and Chelsea playing in their traditional blue strip.
After the referee's whistle Chelsea got things under way as they looked to try and go at it from the very first minute. They even got off to a lively start as in the second minute, Modric gave the ball away to Malouda, who then played on Anelka who turned
around and hit a long range shot that managed to sway of target.
Continued in Part 2
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