Top five most memorable Spurs-Chelsea encounters of recent times

Tottenham and Chelsea have been involved in some fantastic encounters in the past few years. While it is usually very hard to predict which way this derby is going to swing, one thing is for sure – When Spurs meet Chelsea, entertainment and goals are never in short supply.

Here are the five most memorable ties Spurs have played out against the Blues in recent times.

5) Tottenham 2 – Chelsea 1 (November 6, 2006)

Every Tottenham fan will remember this game as this win by Tottenham signaled a change in the era. Before this game, Tottenham hadn’t beaten Chelsea since 1990 and the Blues won so regularly at White Hart Lane that they dubbed it “three-point lane”. When Chelsea took the lead through a Claude Makelele piledriver, most Spurs fans would have been forgiven for thinking that it was going to be the same story all over again.

However, Martin Jol’s Tottenham showed great character to equalise through a Dawson header, before Aaron Lennon scored the winner with a neat finish. Apart from the Lennon’s iconic goal, Spurs fans will also remember this fixture for Ledley King’s amazing tackle on Arjen Robben, who was bearing down on goal before the Tottenham captain nipped in at the last moment.

4) Tottenham 3 – Chelsea 1 (November 24, 2018)

This game from earlier in the season makes this list for the exact opposite reason of the previous one. Tottenham went into the game with a belief that they were better than Chelsea, even though Maurizio Sarri’s men were unbeaten in the league till that point. Spurs outclassed Chelsea from start to finish in the game, so much so that the 3-1 scoreline flattered Chelsea in the end.

This result has proven instrumental in both the teams’ season so far, as Tottenham have gone from strength to strength after this result while the men from Stamford Bridge seem to have lost their early-season mojo

3) Tottenham 2 – Chelsea 0 (January 4, 2017)

Chelsea and Tottenham were placed in first and second place in the table respectively going into this game. Chelsea were on a 13 game winning streak coming into the game and were already tipped to have run away with the title. However, Tottenham outfought and outplayed Antoni Conte’s men and eventually won the game 2-0 with two identical headers from Dele Alli.

This win set up a title race between the two sides but Tottenham fell just short in the end.

2) Tottenham 2 – Chelsea 1 (February 4, 2008)

This game is edged in the memory of most Spurs fans since it is the last time the club won a major trophy. Chelsea were heavy favorites going into the final and took the lead through a Didier Drogba freekick before Tottenham equalised in the second half courtesy of a Berbatov penalty. Woodgate then bundled the ball into the back of the net in extra time from a Jermain Jenas freekick to edge his name into Tottenham’s history books.

Who could forget the Zokora closing his eyes not being able to watch Berbatov take the penalty?

1) Chelsea 1 Tottenham 3 (April 2, 2018)

Even though there have been some great encounters between the sides, this undoubtedly deserves to be top of the list, as it had been 18 years since Tottenham had last won a game at Stamford Bridge before this one. In fact, Stamford Bridge was the last of the major away grounds where Pochettino’s men still hadn’t gotten a win to their names in recent times. To make things worse, Spurs went into the game without their star striker Harry Kane.

However, despite going a goal down, Pochettino’s men put in a classy performance to put three past Chelsea and break the Stamford Bridge hoodoo.

Honorable Mentions

There have been so many classics between the two sides in recent times, that a couple of good games had to miss out on the top 5. This includes Tottenham’s 5-3 win over Chelsea (January 1, 2015), which was the game where Harry Kane really announced himself to the world by giving Gary Cahill and John Terry an absolutely torrid time.

And of course, who could forget the infamous battle of the bridge (May 2, 2016). Although the result ended Spurs’ title chances, the game will be remembered for Spurs losing the tag of having a ‘soft underbelly’. The Spurs players were clearly out to make a statement particularly after comments from a few Chelsea players ahead of the game that were perceived as being disrespectful to Tottenham. The Lillywhites certainly left their mark that night, both figuratively and literally.

Let’s hope tonight’s semifinal is another classic encounter between the two rivals.

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