Luke Young replaced the injured Ben Thatcher. Freund came back from flu for Leonhardsen and with Rebrov injured also there was a rare appearance up front by Korsten. Apparently Willem had scored four goals for the reserves in their six nil midweek win. It must have been very poor opposition.

It was a miserable afternoon weather wise with steady rain increasing as the afternoon wore on. The East Stand at Chelsea provides no real protection against the weather so most Spurs fans got a soaking to add to their disappointment and frustration. Rather than build more on the West Stand, Mr. Bates would do well to invest some funds in the fast dilapidating East Stand.

Spurs started well. An early through ball by Anderton found Korsten beating the Chelsea offside trap. He cut across his marker and hit what looked a spectacular dipping shot which De Goey palmed away. It was only when you saw the replay you realised it was hit straight at the keeper. Shortly afterwards Korsten linked up well with Ferdinand and Les held off Desailly to hit a shot along the ground which De Goey again did well to palm away. It was now time for Ramon Vega (Coco) to make his key mistake of the day. He seems to make one in every game: Charlton, Coventry etc. As he went to head clear a high cross he came under challenge from Poyet. For some inexplicable reason his arm went up and palmed the ball away. The referee awarded a penalty. Realistically he was not going to give a foul against Poyet, so Hasselbaink struck home from the spot and the Spurs heads went down.  Tottenham were starting to look beaten. They had a good effort created by Ferdinand who chased down De Goey.  Korsten was not able to finish and scuffed his effort.

Then six minutes before half time came the second Chelsea goal. The horrible Dennis Wise outwitted two Spurs players wide on the right. He found time to whip in a cross. Hasselbaink stole in front of his marker Perry and flicked the ball on with his head. Zola got in front of his marker Young and headed home. Bit of a common theme there; getting in front of Spurs defenders.

10 years and 22 games since we have beaten Chelsea and now two nil down at half time. Only an eternal optimist or a fool could see Spurs fighting back. There were not many of either amongst the travelling fans who began to vent their frustration and anger on George Graham. The second half was more of the same. Chelsea hit a post through a Melchiot header from a corner. Hasselbaink hit wide after Sullivan had cocked up a clearance. With three minutes left Hasselbaink was given the freedom he needed to shape up and he hit a curling shot past Sullivan for the third. Spurs never looked like scoring and trooped off at the end well beaten to howls of derision from both sets of fans. It's hard to see when we will next win an away game at the moment, let alone beat Chelsea.

It was then suggested over the PA system that Spurs fans remain in their seats for fifteen minutes. Not entirely sensitive to the fact that we were all soaked and had just seen our team humbled. For some strange reason some of the exits were blocked, but others were open and Spurs fans left in droves. Outside the policing became farcical. As Spurs fans left they mingled with Chelsea fans leaving the East Stand. Both sets of supporters were then confronted with a Police cordon of vehicles and Police in riot gear. I and a Chelsea fan next to me asked why the police were doing this and the reply from an officer carrying a riot shield was that they wanted to filter the fans out whatever that may mean. A recipe to incite even the most mild mannered and I am sure there were many incidents as a result. Overall a bloody awful day and the ticket only cost £32!!
 

Eric the Viking