Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0
Chelsea thrashed 10-man Tottenham to move seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Samuel Eto’o pounced on a mistake by defender Jan Vertonghen to fire in their first on 56 minutes before he won a penalty that was converted by Eden Hazard four minutes later.
Eto’o was deemed to have been fouled by Younes Kaboul, who was subsequently sent off, and it swung an even game quickly in the Blues’ favour.
The decision was a contentious one, but Spurs made further mistakes to allow substitute Demba Ba to complete the rout with a late brace.
It could have been a different outcome had Tottenham capitalised on another flat first-half display from Jose Mourinho’s side.
They were not helped by an injury to Fernando Torres, who missed out with a groin problem he sustained during the warm-up, and Mourinho was aghast when Hazard rounded Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris and fired wide of an open goal just five minutes in.
Tottenham youngster Nabil Bentaleb had an excellent chance to put Tim Sherwood’s side ahead when he latched on to Emmanuel Adebayor’s header and dragged a shot the wrong side of the post.
Spurs grew stronger as the half wore on, with Sandro’s vicious low effort forcing Petr Cech into a diving save, and Chelsea needed Vertonghen’s mistake to spark them into life just after break.
The Belgian slipped under pressure from Andre Schurrle and then miscued a pass straight into Eto’o’s path, and the striker coolly fired underneath Lloris.
There appeared to be minimal contact when Eto’o went to ground under pressure from Kaboul in the box, but the French defender was dismissed by referee Michael Oliver and Tottenham imploded soon after.
Ba beat Lloris inside his near post from close range before the keeper’s sloppy kick was headed back into the Senegal striker’s path by Kyle Walker, and he netted his second goal in as many minutes.
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic, Lampard (Oscar 46); Schurrle (Willian 66), Eto’o (Ba 76), Hazard.
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This post was last modified on 10/03/2014