Wednesday March 19, 2008; Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4

Tottenham: Robinson, Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent 68), Chimbonda, Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone 46), Zokora, Malbranque, Berbatov, Keane.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Ferreira (Shevchenko 90), Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien, Makelele, Lampard, Joe Cole (Ballack 82), Drogba, Kalou (Alex 71).

While revenge for their Carling Cup final defeat a few weeks earlier might have provided extra motivation for Chelsea on their trip to White Hart Lane the need for three points to close the gap on Manchester United and Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title was surely enough incentive.

Tottenham had done little of note since beating Chelsea at Wembley but would no doubt be hoping to put on a show against their London rivals in front of their own fans.

The game appeared to have the makings of a classic and nobody watching would be left disappointed.

Chelsea started with urgency and real intent and were ahead inside three minutes. Didier Drogba saw his free kick cannon away off the Spurs wall but when it was returned from the angle of the box by John Terry the centre forward was stealing in unmarked to head past Paul Robinson from point blank range.

The blue touch paper had been lit and both sides went in search of further goals. Spurs pressed forward with a series of free kicks in promising positions but it was Chelsea creating the chances.

Salomon Kalou was inches away from touching home Joe Cole's low, driven centre in front of an open goal and then Cole himself was denied by an offside flag as he turned home the rebound when Robinson could only parry Drogba's low drive.

On twelve minutes, however, Spurs made one of their set pieces count as Jonathan Woodgate rose prodigiously above Drogba to power home a header from a Jermaine Jenas free kick.

Chelsea were not long in restoring their lead. The superb Joey Cole darted away from a couple of defenders before slipping a pass through which found Drogba and Michael Essien breaking clear of the Spurs defence. Essien seemed to nutmeg his teammate before scooping a clever finish beyond the advancing Robinson.

There were no further goals before half time but there was one huge talking point as Ashley Cole escaped with only a yellow card after an ugly, studs up lunge which caught Alan Hutton flush on the shin.

Cole violently protested his innocence along with most of his frothing at the mouth teammates (Lampard's mouth was so far open in protest that you could have squeezed six proper sized pork pies in there all at once) and then displayed remarkable contempt for the referee by refusing to face him as the yellow card was being issued.

Mike Riley showed admirable composure and did the game a massive favour by keeping it at eleven a side but he had erred badly in not sending Cole off.

Half Time: Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea looked to be heading for a vital victory when Joe Cole danced away from Pascal Chimbonda, who suffered a harrowing night at left back, to score with a low shot that ballooned into the net off Robinson's leg early in the second half.

The action continued unabated, however, and when Dimitar Berbatov got above Terry too easily to head Spurs back into contention following a left wing corner the scene was set for a breathtaking last half hour.

Both sides began making substitutions. Tottenham sent on an extra attacker in Darren Bent while Chelsea countered by sending on an extra defender in Alex. This was not a game you could shore up, however, and when Berbatov picked out Keane bursting into the box it took a superb save from Carlo Cudicini to keep Chelsea level as the striker took the ball down on his chest and rifled in an instant half volley.

Chelsea almost gave themselves daylight again when Joey Cole danced through to release Essien whose cross shot rebounded to safety from the base of the far post.

The next goal came at the other end and it was yet another set piece giving Spurs joy. Another corner came in from the left which eventually bounced across to Tom Huddlestone, lurking beyond the far post, and he had the home side level with a lazy swing of his left foot that sent the ball arrowing into the far corner.

This website described Berbatov's volley away to PSV recently as sweeter than the witches' house in Hansel and Gretel. This strike was sweeter than that goal and the witches' house in Hansel and Gretel put together into a giant bowl and mixed in with the Tate and Lyle sugar factory.

That's how sweet it was.

The goal must have left a bitter taste in the mouth of all Chelsea sympathisers but Joey Cole was not in the mood to let things lie.

Receiving from Drogba on the edge of the area he once again skinned the hapless Chimbonda before firing into the roof of the net.

There were only ten minutes left for Tottenham to save themselves but this was time enough for anything to happen in this remarkable game.

With eight minutes left Avram Grant decided he could do without this outstanding games' outstanding player and withdrew Joey Cole in favour of Michael Ballack.

Ballack's a great player but this was a pointless and unfathomable change. Whether this move directly affected the outcome will never be known but having trailed for the majority of the game Spurs roared back to equalise and almost ended up snatching an incredible victory.

With two minutes remaining Ricardo Carvalho turned his back on a long through ball to see where Darren Bent was going and when the ball hit him unawares on the corner of the area Robbie Keane reacted sharply to curl an exquisite shot into the far corner beyond the desperate dive of Cudicini.

Then, with the game deep into stoppage time, Spurs came again. With the Chelsea defence in some disarray the ball was played through low to Berbatov. He shaped to shoot and allowed the lunging Alex to fly yards past him, he won't want to watch that again in a hurry, but then saw his rising drive somehow turned aside by Cudicini's flailing right arm.

An appropriately dramatic end to a game that had been dramatic and completely compelling throughout. Undoubtedly a draw was the most suitable outcome to such a magnificent game of football but Chelsea would not have been happy about squandering the lead three times as they looked to claw their way back into title contention.

This point might not win Chelsea any prizes but everyone connected with the club, and the same goes for Tottenham, should be rightly proud to have put on such a thrilling exhibition.

With the possible exception of Ashley Cole of course.

Full Time: Tottenham Hotspur 4 Chelsea 4