Chelsea 2 vs 2 Tottenham Match Report
Scorers: Kane 35,Son 44,Cahill 58.E.Hazard 83
A late Eden Hazard strike ended any Spurs chances of winning the Premier league this season as Chelsea came from 0:2 down to draw 2:2.The result also sees the blues maintain their 26 year unbeaten run against their London rivals.
Tottenham came into the match eight points adrift of Leicester needing all three points to keep up their title pursuit. Mauricio Pochettino named a strong XI with Son replacing the suspended Dele Ali.Guus Hiddink welcomed back Cahill and terry into the squad with Eden Hazard settling for a place on the bench in the title-decider. A blue fan was caught on camera holding a banner written 'Lets Do It For Ranieri'(former Chelsea manager)
However the blues were dominant in possession at the opening stages of the encounter with Fabregas goal bound effort thwarted by the outstretched leg of Kyle walker who had earlier been shown a yellow card for a foul on Pedro as Chelsea were on a counter. However the blues failed to make their dominance count as Spurs took the lead through Harry Kane in the 35th minute who rounded Begovic following a nice through pass from Lamela.Vertonghen was the next to be shown a yellow card in an intense first half which also saw Rose and Willian clash in the latter stages after Heung -Min Son had doubled Spurs lead by finishing coolly after being played through by Eriksen.
Eden Hazard who scored two last time out was brought in as a replacement for Pedro to Inject more pace in the blues attack. Gary Cahill however gave the blues a lifeline after smashing in a corner kick from Willian. Christian Eriksen was shown a yellow card for a foul on the lively Hazard while Ivanovic was subsequently booked for clipping the Dane. Eden Hazard narrowly missed a chance to equalise for Chelsea when he shot wide of the far post. Oscar was brought on for Matic as the blues sought the goal that would mathematically secure the title for Leicester. Rose was replaced by Davies as he picked up an injury. Hazard however had the final say with his third goal in two matches as he played a beautiful one-two pass with Diego Costa before curling a beautiful shot that flew past the outstretched arm of Hugo Lloris.Game over for spurs!. Eric dier was shown a yellow card for a foul on Hazard while Mikel was also shown a yellow card late on as Chelsea kept possession to deny Spurs any chance of winning the title this season. The descending champions decided the Championship.
Line-ups:Begovic,Cahill 58,Ivanovic,Terry,Mikel,Matic(78),Pedro 45,Fabregas,Willian,Costa.
Subst:Amelia,Baba,Oscar(78),Kenedy,Traore,Loftus Cheek, Hazard(46)83.
Spurs:Lloris,Alderweireld(90),Walker,Dier,Vertonghen,Rose(82),Dembele,Lamela,Eriksen,Son(65),Kane.
Subs:Vorm,Wimmer,Davies(82),Chadli(90),Mason(65),N'jie,T Carroll.
Referee :Clattenburg.
Bookings; Yellow Cards Ivanovic, Willian, Mikel
Spurs;Walker,Dier,Vertonghen,Rose,Dembele,Lamela,Eriksen,Kane