Source: Telegraph
Chelsea 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0: match report
Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League today by beating Tottenham Hotspur and, in so doing, claimed a club record 11th straight victory, at Stamford Bridge. [LNB]Earlier in the day Manchester United had moved into first spot with a dramatic 4-3 win over rivals Manchester City. But after Ashley Cole had given Chelsea an early advantage, second half goals from Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba confirmed the victory. [LNB]Hull City v Tottenham Hotspur: match previewSpurs were left to rue wasted first half opportunities, with Petr Cech saving from Jermain Defoe and Tom Huddlestone while the recalled Jermaine Jenas also went close. [LNB]Chelsea's Jose Bosingwa struck the angle of right post and cross bar, from 20 yards, Frank Lampard headed wide and Nicolas Anelka found the side netting. And the home side were unfortunate not to win a penalty when Spurs defender Vedran Corluka shoved Ballack. [LNB]But, seconds later, Drogba crossed from the right and Cole, slipping inside Corluka, stooped to head the 32nd minute opener. [LNB]Before the interval Lampard struck a low free kick narrowly wide and, soon after the restart the England midfielder was allowed to offer another chance when Ledley King pulled up unchallenged. [LNB]The Spurs defender appeared to feel his knee and, with only three minutes of the half played, was replaced by Alan Hutton. [LNB]In the 55th minute, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp was furious when referee Howard Webb refused to award a penalty when Robbie Keane fell under the weight of a challenge from Ricardo Carvalho. [LNB]And Spurs' woe increased three minutes later when sloppy defending handed Chelsea a second goal. Nicolas Anelka crossed from the right, Drogba's volley was only parried by former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, and Lampard was allowed to pull the ball back from the byline, allowing Ballack to bundle it over the line under pressure from Sébastien Bassong. [LNB]Corluka was at fault for the third goal, in the 63rd minute. Cole's long ball sent Drogba chasing and the striker robbed the Croat before stepping around Cudicini to finish in style for his 99th goal for Chelsea. [LNB]And then Benoît Assou-Ekotto was lucky not to concede a penalty when he clearly handled Lampard's latest free kick. [LNB]Before the end, Spurs lost another central defender when Bassong fell heavily on his shoulder in a challenge with Anelka and, during lengthy treatment, required oxygen to ease the pain and a neck-brace to support the injury before he was stretchered off. [LNB]And then Drogba damaged his right calf with an attempted shot and he, too, had to be carried off, meaning that an extra eight minutes had to be played before Spurs were put out of their misery. [LNB]Peter Crouch thought he had scored for Spurs, in the sixth minute of added time but it was ruled out for offside. [LNB]
