TOTTENHAM 1 CHELSEA 0: AN UNFAMILIAR sense of deflation pursued Guus Hiddink from Heathrow to Schiphol airport on Saturday night, disappointment still nagging at him as he flew on to Moscow to resume duties with the Russian national side.
Hiddink always knew he was operating to outrageously fine margins in pursuit of Manchester United, but the opportunity his team wasted here inflicted as much psychological as mathematical damage to their prospects. The inability to capitalise on United’s latest implosion provided a horribly low key note on which to depart on the two-week international break.
“We may not get more chances,” admitted Hiddink. “United can lose one game and they are still in the driver’s seat, but Liverpool and Chelsea are chasing and cannot afford to drop a single point.
“United are under pressure, of course, but they lost – and those are the moments when players know they must strike. If you are chasing, you cannot afford to do what we did. It’s not as if we were outplayed. We were just sloppy in the first 10 minutes after the break.”
Jose Bosingwa and, to a certain extent, Michael Ballack were most culpable in the concession of the goal, an unmarked Luka Modric capping his own wonderful display with a glorious finish from Aaron Lennon’s right-wing centre five minutes after the interval.
Yet Chelsea laboured virtually throughout. Wilson Palacios and Jermaine Jenas hassled and harried their midfield, Robbie Keane tracking back to stifle the deep-lying Ballack whenever the visitors gained possession. Tottenham’s work ethic bordered on the feverish. Chelsea were off-colour and becalmed.
It was only in the frantic final minutes, when Harry Redknapp described them as “desperate” and Heurelho Gomes blunted their best efforts, that they offered any drive or purpose.
This team has not won a London derby all season and have now failed to defeat Spurs in their last four meetings. “I thought they’d be more of a threat than they were,” said the Tottenham manager. “We came in at half-time feeling quite comfortable, really. They hadn’t really caused us too many problems.”
Virtually Hiddink’s entire playing squad dispersed around the globe last night on international duty. Redknapp will face similar problems at Chigwell, though his side take momentum with them into the break. Unbeaten in six league games, four of which have been won, they are a side eyeing qualification for the Europa League.
They were outstanding here, with Ledley King magnificent in front of the watching England manager Fabio Capello, though it was their goalkeeper, Gomes, who preserved the victory.
“I’d be a liar if I told you, ‘Yeah, I always knew he’d do that’,” admitted Redknapp. “I was getting worried when he had that horrible spell a few months back, but every time we went to Europe people would tell us how good he was.
“The goalkeeping coach at PSV Eindhoven, the Dutch guy who works for Shakhtar Donetsk and finds all their South American players – all said he was world-class. Tony Adams, who’d done some coaching in the Netherlands, told me in the summer Spurs had signed one of the best goalies in the world. He’s showing that now.”
Chelsea left still four points adrift of United but demoralised that an opportunity had been passed up. Their game of catch-up appears hopeless.
* Guardian Service
