Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham

Chelsea Tottenham
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Ricardo Carvalho decided Chelsea's controversial home fixture against Tottenham with a superb second-half goal.

The Portuguese defender unleashed the match-winning shot that produced the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute to put pressure on leaders Manchester United before their late kick-off at Portsmouth.

Tottenham, forced to play the game just 39 hours after losing the first leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final in Seville, displayed admirable determination but never looked like beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 17 years.

Chelsea had rejected Tottenham's request to move the game until Sunday because of their own travel plans ahead of their Champions League return leg against Valencia on Tuesday night.

Chelsea were quickly into their stride against a Tottenham side that had to make five changes from the line-up that lost to Sevilla.

Blues winger Shaun Wright-Phillips served notice on Pascal Chimbonda that he was in for a torrid afternoon by waltzing past him before delivering a dangerous cross that just eluded the leaping Didier Drogba.

Chelsea should have gone in front in the ninth minute when Frank Lampard set up Wright-Phillips on the wing with a lovely reverse pass.

Wright-Phillips, so often criticised for his failure to deliver a telling final ball, crossed superbly but when John Terry headed the ball back to Salomon Kalou, the Ivory Coast international blazed his effort over the bar.

In the 16th minute Hossam Ghaly was booked for a foul on the marauding Wayne Bridge as the Chelsea left-back looked to deliver a cross into the penalty area.

A corner from Lampard in the 22nd minute enabled Carvalho to climb higher than the Spurs defence and send a header towards the top corner. However, Tottenham's England goalkeeper Paul Robinson dealt with his effort by the right-hand upright.

Chelsea, knowing they had to win the game to briefly narrow the gap behind United to three points, were far more adventurous but lacked their normal cutting edge.

Lampard was guilty of wasting another good opportunity to test the Spurs defence on the half-hour, but he smashed his cross straight at Paul Stalteri.

Wright-Phillips then tried his luck from 30 yards, but his right-foot drive flashed harmlessly beyond Robinson's left-hand upright.

In the 38th minute referee Rob Styles gave Mido a stern lecture after the Spurs striker had jumped into Terry.

Moments later Drogba's knock down to Lampard almost brought them an opening goal, but the England midfielder's shot was blocked by the retreating Michael Dawson.

Then it was Carvalho's turn to try to unlock the Spurs defence and, after rounding Stalteri, he smashed his shot straight at a grateful Robinson.

Drogba, who has never scored against Tottenham, won a free-kick midway in the Spurs half in the 47th minute when he was upended by Ricardo Rocha.

Lampard chipped the ball into the penalty area and Terry claimed he should have had a penalty when he went down under a challenge from Chimbonda.

Seconds later there was drama at the opposite end when Spurs tested Cech for the first time in the game.

A long cross from Steed Malbranque was headed into the path of the onrushing Mido, but Cech reacted swiftly to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Spurs paid for the miss in the 52nd minute when Chelsea took the lead through Carvalho. The Portuguese defender collected the ball 35 yards out and sent a low shot beyond Robinson.

Three minutes later Chelsea should have doubled their lead. Wright-Phillips and Drogba combined to set up Kalou, but his effort was superbly kept out by the feet of Robinson.

On the hour Robinson denied Drogba with a fine stop after the Ivorian striker had side-stepped two challenges and unleashed a left-foot drive from just inside the penalty area.

But Tottenham were still a threat on the counter-attack and Cech required two attempts to deal with a 20-yard shot by Defoe in the 62nd minute.

Adel Taarabt replaced Teemu Tainio in the 64th minute and his first contribution was to bring a diving save out of Cech with a 25-yard drive.


Mourinho delighted to extend unbeaten run


Mourinho said: 'I am happy because for a long time we have not lost a single match.

'We have seven or eight consecutive victories in the Premiership.

'We played well but Tottenham gave us a hard game.

'It is difficult to play in every competition at the same time. It is the same for Tottenham - they made changes and we made changes also.

'My players who were brought into the team, they did the job.'

United should have been due to play at Stamford Bridge next weekend but that fixture has now been rearranged due to both clubs' involvement in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Mourinho added: 'They are lucky with the fixtures. They are also lucky they don't play here next week.

'The game they can slip up is Stamford Bridge - that is the only thing we can control.'