Salomon Kalou’s goal a minute from time helped Chelsea beat spurs 2-1 and close the gap on leaders Manchester United to three points, with the two sides set to meet at Old Trafford next weekend in a title decider.
Sandro gave Tottenham the lead when he fired an unstoppable half-volley past Petr Cech from 25 yards after 19 minutes. Then came the first of two controversial Chelsea goals.
As half-time neared, and not for the first time this season, an Heurelho Gomes error cost Spurs a goal. Gomes let Frank Lampard’s 25-yard shot to squirt through his legs, but he seemed to have scrambled back and stopped the ball from crossing the line. But the “eagled eye” assistant referee somehow said that he saw the whole of the ball cross line and awarded the goal. TV replays could not back up the assistant referee decision.
Chelsea spurned several good scoring opportunities in the second half and just it looked as though Tottenham were going to hold out for a point, the ball fell to Drogba in the box and although he mis-hit his shot across goal, it found Kalou at the back post and he bundled the ball home.
Replays showed that Kalou was standing in an offside position, but the goal stood and Spurs left Stamford Bridge with nothing, their Champions League dreams over for another year. The way Spurs are going at the moment, they might not even make the Europa League next season.
At the other end of the table, Blackburn Rovers took a huge step towards ensuring their Premier League survival as they beat Bolton 1-0 at home thanks to a Martin Olsson goal. The win was Blackburn’s first in any competition since 23 January.
The win moved Blackburn 3 points of third-bottom Wigan, who drew with Everton at home 1-1. Blackpool moved out of the bottom three on goal difference as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Stoke.
Elsewhere, Fulham got only their second away league win of the campaign, 3-0 at Sunderland, while ten-man West Brom recovered from a goal down to defeat Aston Villa 2-1 in a midlands derby.
photo credit: mark landells
