Chelsea kept their faint title hopes alive yesterday with a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, in a match that was laced with controversy.
The match was an important one for both teams, as Spurs are battling to secure a Champions League place for next season, whereas the Blues will hope they can catch up with league toppers Manchester United to win the Premier League title for two years running.
Spurs took the lead early on when midfielder Sandro scored a sensational curveball from 30 yards out. The Brazilian was set up by Rafael Van Der Vaart and surprised the Chelsea defence with his right footed shot.
The Spurs team looked confident after this, with their defence comfortably cutting out the attacks of new signing Fernando Torres, and holding stalwart Didier Drogba at bay. However, the Blues scored the first of two controversial goals just before half time, when Frank Lampard’s shot wriggled through the legs of accident-prone keeper Heurelho Gomes to trickle over the line. The shot was given as a goal, despite the whole of the ball not crossing the line, enraging the Tottenham team and supporters.
A stalemate was produced in the second half, with both teams looking for a win that looked certain not to come, until Kalou slotted one home in the 89th minute from an offside position. The goal was given however, and the Blues went two goals up from a second controversial shot.
However, Chelsea fans also had reason to complain earlier on in the game, when Spurs player Kaboul chopped down Florent Malouda in the penalty box and the referee ignored the shouts for a penalty kick.
The match will be another case in point for goal line technology. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp lamented the loss after the game, and called for goal line technology to be implemented to avoid further mistakes by officials like this, complaining that “we can put a man on the moon” but can’t implement simple technology such as this.
