Even if Chelsea were the better team from the start and already in the lead, Samuel Eto’o diving, Michael Oliver buying it and Younes Kaboul sent off ruined what could have been a much less one sided derby, with the league leaders beating Tottenham 4-0.
It was a tight, not so attractive and fun affair through the first half, as Chelsea dominated but didn’t create incredible chances. Spurs got a few chances, only one of them really meaningful, all before the 49th minute. But Samuel Eto’o scored the opening goal in the 56th minute after an awful Jan Vertonghen mistake, and that was followed by the dive that changed, won and also runied the match.
Kaboul was close to Eto’o from behind, but he didn’t touch him. The Cameroonian striker simply leapt forward and Oliver, positioned in an angle that couldn’t really tell him what happened, went with the very wrong choice of calling a penalty kick, and sending off Kaboul. No assistant helped him make the right choice, and Tottenham’s match and probably their bid for a Champions League spot was ruined.
So Eden Hazard converted from the spot, and all that was left was seeing how Tottenham would hold on. Chelsea weren’t really piling on the pressure, but the defensive mistakes couldn’t stop happenning for a falling apart Spurs, adding yet another embarassing result against one of the top sides.
First came in the 88th minute, as Sandro slipped, allowing Demba Ba to score a rare goal for him since signing with Chelsea. A minute later, Ba had himself an incredible brace as Spurs fell apart, like most had predicted.
Chelsea get another huge result thanks to being the better team, but also a referee who decided to give them the benefit of the doubt on a very clear dive, equal to the home draw with West Brom after the Ramires incident. It won’t matter when people open the papers and see the Blues still on top of the league, while Spurs drift further away from a Champions League spot.