- Modric (50)
- Date:2009-03-21
- Kick-off:15:30
- Venue:White Hart Lane
- Attendance:36034
- Referee:Dean, M
Live Commentary
94mins
It's full time. Luka Modric's strike gives Spurs all three points in a great London derby.
93mins
Didier Zokora comes on for Aaron Lennon.
92mins
Benoit Assou-Ekotto clears the ball for Spurs.
90mins
The fourth official has indicated four minutes of added time.
89mins
Didier Drogba heads over from Ashley Cole's flat cross.
88mins
Jermaine Jenas makes a great sliding tackle to disposses Rodrigo da Costa Alex.
86mins
Goalscorer Luka Modric is replaced by Jamie O'Hara.
84mins
Ricardo Quaresma is eased off the ball by Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
82mins
The Spurs fans are in great voice as they get behind their team.
80mins
Michael Ballack hits his free kick over the crossbar.
78mins
Heurelho Gomes makes a great one-handed save from John Terry's bullet header.
77mins
Wilson Palacios is shown yellow.
76mins
Florent Malouda replaces Michael Essien for Chelsea.
75mins
Didier Drogba slides the ball wide from John Terry's angled pass.
73mins
Frank Lampard's free kick is straight into the wall.
71mins
Robbie Keane's curling shot is wide of the target.
69mins
Frank Lampard's free kick drifts harmlessly over the crossbar.
67mins
Didier Drogba's shot at the near post is pushed away by Heurelho Gomes.
65mins
Petr Cech gathers the ball from Benoit Assou-Ekotto's cross.
63mins
Frank Lampard's header is put behind by Vedran Corluka.
61mins
Wilson Palacios looks to chest the ball to Luka Modric but Jose da Silva Bosingwa intercepts.
59mins
Ricardo Quaresma comes on for Juliano Belletti.
57mins
Luka Modric is unable to repeat his heroics of moments ago as Aaron Lennon puts in another great cross.
56mins
Ledley King's header from Luka Modric's free kick is over the bar.
55mins
Spurs are awarded a free kick for a Didier Drogba challenge on Vedran Corluka.
53mins
Robbie Keane gets through some good defensive work, jabbing the ball away with Nicolas Anelka threatening.
51mins
Jermaine Jenas's left-foot drive from the edge of the area drifts out of play.
50mins
Luca Modric gets onto the end of Aaron Lennon's cross to side-foot the ball home.
47mins
Luka Modric looks to chip the ball over the top for Darren Bent but the pass is too flat.
45mins
Mike Dean gets the second half underway.
45mins
Spurs enjoyed the better first-half chances in a great London derby at White Hart Lane.
45mins
Juliano Belletti goes into the referee's notebook.
43mins
Luka Modric's corner is well taken by Petr Cech.
41mins
Frank Lampard's shot from a Chelsea free kick is blocked by Robbie Keane.
40mins
Ledley King's looping header from distance is saved by Petr Cech.
38mins
Robbie Keane's side-foot effort is comfortably saved by Petr Cech.
37mins
Luka Modric takes a corner for Spurs but scuffs the ball and Chelsea clear.
35mins
Benoit Assou-Ekotto scoops the ball away from Nicolas Anelka.
33mins
Nicolas Anelka's strike from Juliano Belletti's cut-back is punched away by Heurelho Gomes.
31mins
Wilson Palacios drives the ball forward but it goes straight to Petr Cech.
29mins
Benoit Assou-Ekotto's cross is cleared away by Alex with Luka Modric lurking.
27mins
Chelsea are looking to control the tempo after a number of Spurs chances.
25mins
Robbie Keane looks to place the ball following Vedran Corluka's great run but his shot is disappointing.
24mins
Spurs are awarded a free kick for a foul by Juliano Belletti on Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
22mins
Chelsea look to break forward but Ledley King intercepts to take the ball off Didier Drogba.
20mins
Didier Drogba mishits his shot to the joy of the Spurs fans.
18mins
Robbie Keane's powerful left-foot volley parried away to safety by Petr Cech.
16mins
Darren Bent looks to bring the ball under control but Alex does enough to win the ball.
14mins
Aaron Lennon hooks in a cross but it is straight down the throat of Petr Cech.
12mins
Luka Modric bursts into the penaly area but loses control of the ball.
10mins
Jermaine Jenas's drilled effort on the angle from 20 yards is inches over the cross-bar.
10mins
Heurelho Gomes makes a great save from Michael Essien's left-foot half volley.
8mins
Darren Bent is caught offside. Spurs have started very brightly.
6mins
John Terry manages to ease Darren Bent off the ball and clear the danger from the striker.
4mins
Ledley King's header from Luka Modric's corner is cleared away by
2mins
Spurs are passing the ball around nicely in the early stages.
0mins
Referee Mike Dean gets what will be a cracking London derby underway.
0mins
Kick-off at White Hart Lane has been delayed by 30 minutes.
0mins
Vedran Corluka replaces Didier Zokora for the home side.
0mins
Alex starts for Chelsea, replacing Ricardo Carvalho who's not in the squad.
0mins
Deco misses the game with a hamstring injury, Juliano Belletti comes in for him.
0mins
Ledley King has recovered from a knee injury to start for Spurs.
Match Preview
Chelsea face a test of their title credentials when they travel to Tottenham on Saturday - playing where no away team has won since November.
Spurs have endured mixed fortunes this season, but their home form has remained remarkably consistent, although too many draws have no doubt frustrated the White Hart Lane crowd.
Yet Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink insists that the club are in the mood to take no prisoners, especially when the Premier League and Champions League are still on the cards.
"I can promise that Chelsea will fight to the bitter end," said the interim Dutch coach. "You know my way - work, work and more work. That has been the principle since my first day in London. So far, so good.
"We are in the best eight clubs in Europe and each of them harbours ambitious plans. Chelsea are no exception."
It will be the first time that Hiddink, who still manages the Russian national team, will be up against one of his star pupils - Russia international Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Yet the striker is likely to start on the bench at best, despite the opinion of Hiddink to the contrary.
"I know that he didn't play against Aston Villa but I hope that he will play in the next game," Hiddink said.
The absence of Pavlyuchenko was all but confirmed by the excellent team performance last weekend when, with the Russian on the bench, goals from Jermaine Jenas and Darren Bent sealed a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
"To go to Villa, one of the best sides around at the moment and take three points, is superb for us," said Spurs boss Harry Redknapp after the match.
"The players have been terrific and we're on a good run. We're working hard and getting the rewards."
Redknapp has been able to field almost full-strength sides of late, with only Jermain Defoe injured, meaning the same eleven that beat Villa could face the Blues.
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Match Report
Luka Modric put a huge nail in Chelsea's title hopes as his crucial strike inflicted the first defeat on Guus Hiddink and eased Tottenham's relegation fears.
Chelsea blew a golden chance to close the gap on Manchester United who crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Fulham and Hiddink's side remain four points behind the leaders.
Hiddink had enjoyed a dream start to his career as Chelsea coach winning his opening four league games, but the Dutch coach could only watch in horror as Tottenham secured the three points at White Hart Lane.
Chelsea have amazingly yet to win a London derby this season, but Tottenham supporters will not care less as they saw their team all but secure their top-flight status and could even yet push for a European spot.
It could have been a different story if Chelsea had opened the scoring after just seven minutes when Michael Essien fired a blistering shot from the edge of the box which produced a fine save from Heurelho Gomes diving low to his right.
Tottenham slowly forced their way into the game and came close on 17 minutes following a long goal-kick from Gomes.
Chelsea defender Alex completely misjudged the ball and Robbie Keane fired a half-volley which was superbly saved by Petr Cech.
The home side threatened the Chelsea goal once again on 24 minutes. Vedran Corluka broke free into the Chelsea half before laying the ball across to Keane who struck his shot straight at Cech.
Gomes produced one of his best performances for Tottenham in their victory over Aston Villa last week and continued his impressive form when he made a fine save to deny Nicolas Anelka on 32 minutes.
Didier Drogba was forced to leave the field for Chelsea on the stroke of half-time following a challenge with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate, but was able to re-appear for the start of the second half.
Modric has been one of the star performers for Tottenham this season and he stole the headlines once again when he netted the all-important match-winner on 50 minutes.
Aaron Lennon weaved his way down the right-hand side and crossed in for the Croatian midfielder who showed all his class to fire a low shot past Cech into the corner of the net.
The home side should have doubled their lead on 57 minutes. Modric's corner fell to King who was completely unmarked inside the box but he flashed his header wide of the post.
Lennon turned provider once again just 60 seconds later picking out Modric but the Croatian midfielder directed his shot straight at Cech.
Chelsea threatened to snatch an equaliser, but Drogba smashed a low shot which was well-saved by Gomes on 67 minutes.
Frank Lampard's free-kick then picked out John Terry on 78 minutes but his close-range header produced a stunning one-handed save from Gomes diving low to his right.
Hiddink knew it was not going to Chelsea's day when Lampard's corner fell to Alex in stoppage time but he saw his header cannon back off the bar.
Tottenham Hotspur Team
Chelsea Team
Tottenham Hotspur | Chelsea |
Corners
| 8 | 7 |
Fouls
| 14 | 8 |
Goal attempts
| 8 | 16 |
Shots off target
| 4 | 5 |
Offsides
| 1 | 2 |
92mins
Rodrigo da Costa Alex's downward header comes off the crossbar.