CHELSEA climbed off the floor and delivered a last-minute knockout blow like the champions they are, and will soon be again.

Lower than a snake’s belly, as John Terry put it, after their elimination from the Champions League in midweek, they were within a minute of dropping points at home for only the second time this season when, in added time, William Gallas drove home a winner of which the lamented Peter Osgood would have been proud.

Tottenham have an unfortunate habit of conceding goals beyond the 90-minute mark, having done it against Sunderland, Fulham and Leicester, and they felt they were unlucky here. They were wrong. For all their possession, and neat work in midfield, they managed just two goal attempts to Chelsea’s 11, and Didier Drogba was unluckier than them when he rattled a post late on.

Spurs started well and had the edge, territorially, in the second half, but they were the architects of their own misfortune with their tendency to give the ball away cheaply, which they did for both Chelsea goals.

The Premiership leaders admitted afterwards that it had been one of their tougher games in another season of runaway dominance, and remarkable celebrations at the final whistle reflected their relief at the end of a week that terminated the European odyssey that had been their priority. Jose Mourinho ran on to the pitch (shades of David Pleat at Maine Road all those years ago) and could not have embraced his players more enthusiastically if the result had been more favourable against Barcelona last Tuesday.

For the second weekend in succession, “The Special One” was The Silent One, choosing not to attend the customary post-match press conference. He sent Gallas to do the talking, and it was the Frenchman who spoke of his team’s need to atone after going out of the Champions League “too early”.

It was “very unusual”, he said, for the manager to be first on the pitch to congratulate him on scoring a goal. Mind you, he added, it was the best he had ever scored.

Mourinho had promised beforehand that there would be “no hangover” from the disappointment in the Nou Camp but, not for the first time of late, he was mistaken. Chelsea were slow out of the traps, and it was Spurs who seized the initiative at the start. Michael Essien should have put a stop to that after 10 minutes but shot wastefully wide from 12 yards, and Tottenham continued to play the better football until the 14th minute, when their confidence was punctured by a self- inflicted wound. Michael Carrick passed across the face of his own area and hung his head in shame when Shaun Wright-Phillips intercepted the ball and quickly transferred it to Essien, who swept home his first goal for Chelsea.

Nonplussed, Spurs were suddenly very much second best, with Wright-Phillips’s speed and Hernan Crespo’s cleverness constantly threatening further damage. Midway through the first half a penetrative pass of the highest quality from Frank Lampard let these two combine and it took a goalline clearance from Michael Dawson to stop the Argentinian doubling the margin.

Crespo then set up Joe Cole, who dragged a left-foot shot wide from a promising position, and the match was taking on a one-sided aspect when, with their first goal attempt, Tottenham equalised just before half-time. Reacting to Carrick’s free kick from the left touchline, Dawson achieved the considerable feat of outjumping the man-mountain that is Robert Huth, his knockdown enabling Jermaine Jenas to step inside Gallas and score close in.

In the second half Chelsea huffed and puffed, but made hard work of blowing down Tottenham’s defences. Cole and Terry kept Paul Robinson alert, but it wasn’t going according to Mourinho’s master plan and Cole, Essien and Wright- Phillips were all withdrawn — the latter, surprisingly for the blunt instrument called Drogba.

Talking of substitutions, for the second week running Spurs kept Jermain Defoe on the bench for 83 minutes. No wonder the England striker is frustrated. Ten-minute cameos are not going to get him to the World Cup. Jenas should have put Spurs ahead after 78 minutes, but wasted a glorious pass from Ledley King by shooting tamely at Petr Cech. Drogba’s first contribution was a ghastly example of the cheating euphemistically known as “simulation”, conning a free kick out of Graham Poll. The Ivorian’s second was a drive that rapped Robinson’s left-hand upright.

By that stage, Chelsea appeared to have run out of ideas, but cometh the hour, cometh the man from Marseille. With the stopwatch showing 92 minutes, Paul Stalteri lost possession to Damien Duff, who found Gallas just outside the penalty area on the left. The reluctant full-back cut inside before letting fly from 20 yards and holding his breath as his shot curved past Robinson’s left hand. Cue pandemonium.

Chelsea now need 16 points from their last nine games to be sure of retaining their title. The likelihood is that they could do it on Easter Monday, when they play Everton at home.

STAR MAN: William Gallas (Chelsea)

Scorers: Chelsea: Essien 14, Gallas 90

Tottenham: Jenas 45:

Referee: G Poll

Attendance: 42,243

Player ratings. Chelsea: Cech 6, Ferreira 6, Huth 5, Terry 7, Gallas 8, Essien 6 (Maniche 76min, 5), Makelele 6, Lampard 6, Wright-Phillips 7 (Drogba 68min, 5) Crespo 6, J Cole 6, (Duff 68min, 5)

Tottenham Hotspur: Robinson 6, Stalteri 5, Dawson 7, King 7, Lee 6, Jenas 5, Davids 6, Carrick 6, Tainio 5, Mido 5, Keane 6 (Defoe 83min, 5)

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