Jose Mourinho’s first trophy in his second stint as Chelsea manager arrived in the form of the Capital One Cup last month and the Portuguese, although admitting that domestically it plays second fiddle to the FA Cup, still holds the competition dear. That is why he was clearly delighted with victory at Wembley, claiming he needs to feed on titles. And given that Chelsea have been knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League at the time of writing this article and the tight nature of the Premiership table, it may very well end up being Jose’s only crown this season and might even save his job, if you go by Roman Abramovich’s willingness in the past to readily fire any manager who doesn’t add significantly to the trophy cabinet at the Bridge.
Mourinho had characteristically been stoking the fire ahead of this latest final outing, claiming that Chelsea would go into this match as underdogs.
As it turned out, the Blues managed a mounting onslaught from their north London counterparts during the majority of the first half before John Terry mopped up from a free- kick to score his first goal for Chelsea in a cup final – and his sixth of the season.
Following the break, Tottenham were arguably as poor as the weather over the Wembley arches, failing to cause Petr Cech any real trouble between the sticks. Meanwhile, Spanish forward Diego Costa stepped up to the plate in his first showpiece outing for Chelsea, rifling in a cross- shot that deflected off the unfortunate Kyle Walker for an own goal and Chelsea’s decisive second.
Check out both goals and extended video highlights (English commentary) from the game, courtesy Vimeo
It wasn’t as heavy scoring as we’ve come to expect from these two London rivals in the past. However it was an intriguing battle, and was very popular with the punters as well. In fact, the game was only behind the Champions League final on Betfair in terms of wagers placed on that site.
Check out these three high scoring Chelsea vs Tottenham games from the past. Were these better than the Cup final?
Tottenham 2 – 4 Chelsea – October 20th 2012
Gary Cahill got the scoring off to a dazzling start with a volleyed goal from the edge of the area following a half-clearance from Blues hero-turned-villain William Gallas. That’s how the score remained at half-time. Gallas made up for his earlier error by mopping up a free-kick that Chelsea failed to clear. The game then burst into life as Jermain Defoe put Tottenham in front with a typical poaching finish from a shot that was dragged wide from Aaron Lennon. Juan Mata continued his fine goalscoring run with a shot that arrowed past Brad Friedel from 20 yards and then notched up another three minutes later, playing a one-two with Oscar before coolly slotting away his finish to turn the match on its head once again. Late on, as Spurs pressed for an equaliser, Chelsea broke from a corner. The imperious Mata found the time and space to pick out Daniel Sturridge, rolling a ball into his path for a simple finish.
Tottenham 4 – 4 Chelsea – March 20th 2008
A late strike from Robbie Keane saved a point for Spurs in this topsy-turvy match in north London. Didier Drogba found the back of the net early on, only to be cancelled out by a Jonathan Woodgate header. Michael Essien then finished tidily to send the visitors in front 2-1 at the break. Joe Cole put a bit of daylight between the sides early in the second half, before Dimitar Berbatov and then Tom Huddlestone pegged Chelsea back. An 80th from Cole looked to have sealed all three points for Avram Grant but Keane bagged another goal eight minutes later to deny the Stamford Bridge side.
Tottenham 5 – 3 Chelsea – January 1st 2015
Things seemed to be going well for Chelsea as Costa hit the target after 18 minutes but the tide began to turn when Kane fired home after 30 minutes. Danny Rose then guided home a close-range effort with the interval looming and Chelsea then inexplicably lost their heads in first-half injury time, with Cahill bringing down Kane inside the box. Andros Townsend slotted home to send the Lane into raptures. Mourinho will have wanted his team to have regrouped during the break but any plans he had put in place unravelled almost immediately, as Kane made himself space with some tidy footwork before smashing in through Terry’s legs.The drama wasn’t over, though. Eden Hazard weaved and wound his way through the home defence – following a poorly executed Federico Fazio challenge – to give Chelsea a glimmer of hope but what was already a hairline chance of reeling Tottenham in was then vanquished by Nacer Chadli. Kane, instrumental once more, fed Chadli, who raced through to send the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois.Terry tried once more to reignite an unlikely fight back, netting from a Hazard cross that was touched on by Branislav Ivanovic but, of course, his efforts were futile.