ETO’O BREAKS SPURS
Chelsea hit their stride to open up title gap as visitors pay for errors
SAMUEL ETO’O answered an SOS from manager Jose Mourinho as Chelsea strengthened their grip on the Premier League title race.
Eto’o was drafted into the Chelsea team just minutes before kick-off after Fernando Torres pulled up with a groin strain in the warm-up.
The enforced switch certainly paid off, though, when the Cameroon striker capitalised on a horrendous mistake by Jan Vertonghen to end dogged Tottenham’s resistance at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian provided the assist for Eto’o when he slipped under pressure from Andre Schurrle and then gave the ball away trying to rectify the danger.
Soon after that opener, Eden Hazard as good as wrapped up the points with a penalty after Younes Kaboul’s foul on Eto’o earned him a red card.
With title rivals Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City inactive in the Premier League this weekend, Chelsea now lead the field by seven points — with five of their next six opponents in the bottom half of the table.
There was even time for Demba Ba to add two more goals in the final three minutes, both in comedy circumstances. First, Ba scored from close range when emergency centre-half Sandro fell over, then he beat Hugo Lloris to a crazy 40-yard headed back-pass.
Tottenham’s coach had arrived at Stamford Bridge 40 minutes late and their manager Tim Sherwood sprung a selection surprise, making five changes from last weekend’s narrow win against Cardiff.
There were rare opportunities for Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kaboul and an unfamiliar outing on the right wing for England right-back Kyle Walker. Significantly, none of the summer signings made by Andre Villas-Boas were named in the starting line-up.
But it takes a lot to flummox the Special One, who has never lost a home game in the Premier League with Chelsea.
He received a scare when Eto’o was caught by Lloris after 40 seconds and only got to his feet again after lengthy treatment. But Chelsea quickly sliced through the visi- tors again, with Eden Hazard rounding Lloris before hitting the side-netting.
Mourinho histrionically expressed his disappointment at not taking an early lead by crouching down, raising his hands and bellowing his frustration to the crowd.
But Spurs, who had not won at Stamford Bridge since Gary Lineker scored their decisive goal in 1990, are in Champions League contention themselves and unlikely to roll over.
Emmanuel Adebayor, nominally selected as a lone striker, seemed to be granted for a free role at times. Nabil Bentaleb outstripped the Chelsea defence to meet Adebayor’s flick-on, but his shot crept past the far post.
It gave the visitors confidence and next Sandro returned Gary Cahill’s clearance with interest, his block- buster drive brilliantly saved by Petr Cech.
Chelsea had to up their game. Eto’o seized upon a loose ball by Bentaleb but the Frenchman recovered to force the Chelsea striker wide so his final shot was off-target.
Overall, though, Sherwood’s plan of having two natural defenders in Kyle Naughton and Walker on the right-hand side worked, with Hazard having one of his less-productive games.
The last time Chelsea failed to score at home in January, Mourinho accused Sam Allardyce’s West Ham of playing ‘19th century football’. The groans of the home fans suggested they feared another 0-0 repeat, but they counted without the horrendous mistake by Vertonghen which changed the game after 56 minutes.
The Belgian can resemble Franz Beckenbauer on a good day but that was not the case when Schurrle started to close him down and he slipped. Sensing the Chelsea man was near enough to steal the ball off him, Vertonghen then compounded his first error by sticking out a long leg while still spread-eagled on the turf and succeeded only in diverting the ball across the penalty area into the path of Eto’o. The Cameroon striker needed no second invitation.
Three minutes later, Tottenham’s fate was sealed. Eto’o got goalside of Kaboul and though the Frenchman’s attempts to regain position were clumsy more than anything, he took enough of the forward’s leg and shirt for Oliver to point to the spot and send off the Tottenham man.
Spurs were never going to get back in the game but Chelsea fans must be starting to believe they have half-a-hand on the Premier League trophy already.