THE BURGHERS OF BARCELONA WILL no doubt feel that the biters have been bitten. After threatening to overpower Tottenham Hotspur in the opening stages, Chelsea ended up toppling themselves, losing the plot and their captain, John Terry, en route to their first defeat in this fixture for 16 years.

After all the tributes and dinners, Sir Alex Ferguson’s favourite 20th anniversary present came courtesy of Aaron Lennon, whose 52nd-minute shot settled an absorbing London derby, but the Manchester United manager should also send a thank-you card to Graham Poll. The referee’s contentious decision to dismiss Terry — for holding on to Ledley King in the home side’s area after a deserved booking for a late tackle on Dimitar Berbatov — thwarted Chelsea’s hopes of a comeback, while he had earlier disallowed a header by Didier Drogba that would have put the visiting team 2-0 up.

Terry took the first sending-off of his Chelsea career on the chin, removing his armband before he was formally dismissed, but José Mourinho was less impressed, launching a forthright attack on Poll. “Two matches with him and we’ve lost five points,” he said, referring to Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in September. “One was disallowed and only Mr Poll can say why. I’ve seen it on TV with ten different angles and I don’t know why.

“Mr Poll goes home and we cannot ask him the reason for these decisions. I didn’t ask because they always have some excuse. He will say something like ‘Didier was free to head the goal but I saw a foul 30 yards away.’ He has very good eyesight. I don’t understand why John Terry was sent off. I’ve seen it also on TV and cannot find a reason. He sent Terry off while he was holding King and kept (Hossam) Ghaly on after he elbowed Michael Essien. Referees should come to the press conference and explain decisions, but it would be a fake conference.”

For all his own excuses, Mourinho was uncharacteristically gracious in defeat, leaving Martin Jol to bask in the glory of victory. In addition to Tottenham’s first league win over Chelsea in 33 attempts, this was Jol’s first victory over one of the big four in two years at the club. While Lennon will steal the headlines, this was a team performance, with the spine of the side outstanding, from Paul Robinson and King to Berbatov, all the more impressive given they had only three days to recover from a Uefa Cup victory over FC Bruges.

“It’s a great week for the club, first Europe and then beating the champions,” Jol said. “It’s evidence of our spirit and character. Everyone was saying we never beat a top side and it’s been a long time since we beat Chelsea. I was still playing in those days. It was a great performance, but I had a heart-rate of 189 at the end, which is close to a heart attack.”

With only two defenders on the pitch, Chelsea pummelled their opponents in the final minutes, reprising the opening to the match that they utterly dominated. Arjen Robben was denied by a despairing tackle from King in the fourteenth minute before Claude Makelele gave them the lead a minute later, scoring his second goal for the club and surely the best of his career with a wonderful volley. Tottenham were clinging on as Drogba had his effort disallowed, but struck back ten minutes later. Jermaine Jenas’s free kick from the left was headed home by Michael Dawson, who outjumped the more muscular Drogba.

With Berbatov increasingly impressive, Tottenham were the better side from that moment and were rewarded at the start of the second half. Robbie Keane sped away from Khalid Boulahrouz, a half-time replacement for Paulo Ferreira, before crossing for Lennon, who cut inside Ashley Cole and then placed a beautifully-struck left-foot shot past Hilário.

Boulahrouz suffered the indignity of being withdrawn only 24 minutes after coming on as Chelsea went for broke, but for once in his life, Mourinho had no answer.

TIME TRAVEL

Tottenham Hotspur’s run of 32 league games without beating Chelsea in the league featured 21 defeats and 11 draws. Their previous league win, 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on February 10, 1990, was achieved through goals by David Howells and Gary Lineker, with this team:

E Thorstvedt — C Hughton, J Polston, G Mabbutt, P van den Hauwe — Nayim, D Howells, P Gascoigne, S Sedgley — G Lineker, P Walsh.

BILL EDGAR