Premier League: All square between Tottenham and Chelsea

Today's London derby was to finish all square, while Bolton and Wolves recored valuable victories.

Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea

The points were shared after a fantastic London derby at White Hart Lane. Tottenham took the lead in the 15th minute, slightly against the run of play, when a marginally offside Jermain Defoe played in Roman Pavlyuchenko. After a fantastic first touch, the Russian coolly placed the ball past Peter Cech.

Five minutes later, Chelsea were lucky not to be down to ten men when Michael Essien stamped on Gareth Bale. Somehow the Ghanaian escaped any card, which would prove significant as he was booked in the second half. Both teams attacked at pace for the rest of the half, though neither of them managed to find the net. Chelsea had most of the ball in the early stages of the second half, but were ineffectual.

Tottenham, meanwhile, broke at pace and looked very dangerous, especially from wide areas. The next goal of the match came with 20 minutes to go, when substitute Didier Drogba got past Michael Dawson with the aid of his arm. The Ivorian blasted the ball straight at Gomes, who couldn’t cope with the shot’s power and fumbled before watching agonisingly as the ball crossed the line.

After being at fault for Chelsea’s equaliser, Gomes almost cost Tottenham the match when he rugby-tackled Ramires in the final minute. Drogba stood up to take the penalty and went to Gomes’ left. It wasn’t a great strike and the Brazilian goalkeeper comfortably saved it.

Elsewhere

Ten-man Bolton overcame the odds to defeat Blackburn Rovers 2-1. Mark Davies was the Trotters player to be given his marching orders, when he received a second yellow for leading with his arm. Manager Owen Coyle responded to this setback by replacing winger Chung-Yong Lee with defensive midfielder Fabrice Muamba.

This tactical decision was rewarded when Muamba got on the end of a long free-kick and thumped the ball into the net. Blackburn equalised with only three minutes to go, when Jason Roberts flicked the ball to Mame Biram Diouf, who preceded to chip the ball over Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The goal sent Rovers boss Sam Allardyce into ecstatic, only for his joy to be short lived. Only ten seconds of playing time after the Blackburn’s goal, Kevin Davies got his head onto a long ball. It went to Stuart Holden who chested the ball down and volleyed it past Paul Robinson.

A Stephen Hunt goal just before halftime, meanwhile, was enough to earn all there points for Wolves against Birmingham. Mick McCarthy’s team remain in 19th place, though they are now only a point behind Fulham and Wigan immediately ahead of them.