Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 1 Chelsea: London rivals lose ground in stalemate

CHELSEA captain John Terry endured a barracking from the Tottenham supporters as the battle for supremacy in London ended in stalemate.

Terry, playing his first game since learning that he would be charged for his alleged racist comments towards Anton Ferdinand, was hounded by the home crowd, but performed solidly and Chelsea were unlucky not to take three points.

Spurs started at break-neck speed, taking the lead through Emmanuel Adebayor’s tap-in, but they faded and the Blues equalised with Daniel Sturridge’s tenth goal of the campaign.

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Ramires wasted two gilt-edged chances to give the Blues what would have been a morale-boosting victory and Didier Drogba rattled the woodwork as Spurs were made to hang on for a point.

The result means Spurs remain two points ahead of Chelsea having played one match more, but home manager Harry Redknapp will be disappointed not to have inflicted a telling blow on their neighbours in a game they went into as favourites.

Spurs maintained a relentless tempo in the opening stages and took the lead after seven minutes. Sandro put in a crunching tackle to dispossess Sturridge on the halfway line and the Brazilian released Gareth Bale down the left. The winger flew past Jose Bosingwa before crossing to Adebayor, who had peeled off Terry to nip in between the defender and Petr Cech to tap home unmarked.

Chelsea found their rhythm and equalised in the 23rd minute. Rafael van der Vaart’s slide caused the ball to ricochet off Ashley Cole’s hand down the Chelsea left. The ball fell back in to the path of the full-back and he crossed for Sturridge, who stabbed home.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas praised Terry for his performance, including being in position to clear the ball away from the line in injury-time when Adebayor looked to have won it for Spurs.

“Since the situation he has improved,” said Villas-Boas. “He has grown in terms of performance. He’s a reference point for this team. It shows his character and strength and personality.”

Redknapp was content with a point, but felt his side were hamstrung by the absence of Aaron Lennon on the right and the half-time exit of Van der Vaart due to injury.

“In the end there were chances, some great chances at the end but certainly a point is a fair result,” he said.

“We lost Rafa at half-time and we really lost the balance of our team. Without Aaron around it’s difficult to find a balance.”