1-2 v Chelsea FC - 11 March 2006 - Away

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 1

Chelsea FC

Chelsea FC

2

Details
Match Number

6557

Opposition
Chelsea

Chelsea FC

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2005/06

Date

11th March 2006

Kick Off

12:45

Venue

Stamford Bridge

Attendance

42,243

Referee

Graham Poll

League Position

4th

Opposition League Position

1st

Opposition Form

WDLWWW

Weather at Kick Off

5.4° - Partly Cloudy

Facts & Milestones
  • 6524th overall match (3082 wins, 1432 draws, 1997 losses)

  • 5016th competitive match (2225 wins, 1177 draws, 1614 losses)

  • team

    172nd match vs Chelsea FC (64 wins, 41 draws, 67 losses)

  • competition

    535th Premier League match (190 wins, 142 draws, 203 losses)

  • 6009th match in England (2791 wins, 1353 draws, 1852 losses)

  • 95th match at Stamford Bridge (33 wins, 23 draws, 39 losses)

  • Ledley King
    Ledley King: 200th appearance
Report

William Gallas broke Tottenham's hearts and resistance with an injury-time winner at Stamford Bridge. Gallas curled a spectacular shot around Paul Robinson to tighten Chelsea's grip at the top of the Premiership.

Chelsea went ahead when Michael Essien tucked away his first goal for Chelsea from Shaun Wright-Phillips' low cross.

Jermaine Jenas scored a deserved equaliser for Spurs when he reacted first to Michael Dawson's knock-down to nick the ball past Petr Cech.

On Chelsea's lush, newly-laid pitch, Wright-Phillips made a good early impression as he sought make the most of a rare Premiership start.

The England man held the ball up well for Crespo to fire a dangerous ball across the Spurs box, before Mido's ferocious shot from a narrow angle sparked a spell of intense Tottenham pressure.

Chelsea rode out that storm and Wright-Phillips soon stormed forward again to draw a great save from Paul Robinson. The ball ran free to Essien who stabbed the ball wide of the open goal from 10 yards.

And inevitably, Wright-Phillips was eventually at the heart of Chelsea's opener.

He latched on to a suicidal square pass by Michael Carrick, and his low cross was dummied by Crespo and found Essien who tucked the ball away from eight yards.

The goal helped Chelsea settle into a better rhythm, with Spurs to some degree architects of their own downfall as they consistently gave the ball away cheaply.

Carrick was the culprit for the goal, but he did make amends with a beautifully delivered free-kick for Spurs' equaliser.

Dawson won the aerial battle with Robert Huth and Jenas reacted first to his nod-down to steal in and prod the ball past Cech.

After half-time, full-back Lee Young-Pyo was patently under instruction to curb his attacking instincts, and that helped Spurs contain Wright-Phillips.

Indeed the visitors - with Dawson especially stoic - were managing to keep the Blues at bay, although when Lampard spread play superbly for Crespo to whip in a cross, Ledley King sliced his attempted clearance on to the roof of his own net.

And from Lampard's resulting corner Terry's towering header was acrobatically palmed over by Robinson.

At the other end, King's raking pass sent Jenas clear but the midfielder's weak finish allowed Cech to save.

But just when it looked like Spurs would become only the second side this season to deny Chelsea Premiership victory at Stamford Bridge, up stepped Gallas.

Cutting in from the left, he curled a super shot round a helpless Robinson to leave Spurs still looking for their first league win over Chelsea in 16 years.

Chelsea defender William Gallas on Jose Mourinho's goalscoring celebrations with his players: "That's Mourinho. Some people like him, some people don't but he's a good manager and we're all behind him.

"We want to win everything for him , we want to win the Premiership and the FA and hopefully next season we'll win everything."

Timeline
KO

Michael Essien

14'
HT
FT
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Chelsea
28 23 3 2 56 17 39 72
2
Manchester united
27 17 6 4 54 28 26 57
3
Liverpool
28 16 7 5 33 17 16 55
4
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
28 13 10 5 40 26 14 49
5
Arsenal
28 13 5 10 43 22 21 44
6
Blackburn rovers
28 13 4 11 36 34 2 43
7
Bolton wanderers
26 11 9 6 33 27 6 42
8
West ham united
27 12 6 9 41 36 5 42
9
Manchester city
28 12 4 12 38 32 6 40
10
Wigan athletic
28 12 4 12 33 36 -3 40
11
Newcastle united
28 11 6 11 29 30 -1 39
12
Everton
28 11 4 13 21 36 -15 37
13
Charlton athletic
28 10 6 12 32 37 -5 36
14
Aston villa
28 8 10 10 33 35 -2 34
15
Middlesbrough
27 9 7 11 36 44 -8 34
16
Fulham
28 9 5 14 37 43 -6 32
17
West bromwich albion
28 7 5 16 25 42 -17 26
18
Birmingham city
27 6 5 16 22 38 -16 23
19
Portsmouth
28 4 6 18 18 48 -30 18
20
Sunderland
28 2 4 22 19 51 -32 10
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Chelsea
29 24 3 2 58 18 40 75
2
Manchester united
28 18 6 4 56 28 28 60
3
Liverpool
29 16 7 6 34 19 15 55
4
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
29 13 10 6 41 28 13 49
5
Arsenal
29 14 5 10 45 23 22 47
6
Blackburn rovers
29 14 4 11 38 34 4 46
7
Bolton wanderers
27 12 9 6 37 28 9 45
8
Wigan athletic
29 13 4 12 34 36 -2 43
9
West ham united
28 12 6 10 42 40 2 42
10
Manchester city
29 12 4 13 39 34 5 40
11
Everton
29 12 4 13 24 37 -13 40
12
Newcastle united
29 11 6 12 29 32 -3 39
13
Charlton athletic
29 11 6 12 34 38 -4 39
14
Aston villa
29 8 10 11 33 37 -4 34
15
Middlesbrough
28 9 7 12 37 46 -9 34
16
Fulham
29 9 5 15 38 46 -8 32
17
West bromwich albion
29 7 6 16 26 43 -17 27
18
Birmingham city
28 6 6 16 23 39 -16 24
19
Portsmouth
29 5 6 18 20 49 -29 21
20
Sunderland
29 2 4 23 19 52 -33 10
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