The London Derby -- Tottenham Hotspurs vs Chelsea -- was the biggest match of the English Premier League on Sunday at the White Hart Lane and the game produced some – not many -- brilliant moments, but neither team opened their goal-scoring account.
With this result, Spurs remain in fifth position (25 points) while Chelsea, who managed a point at the White Hart Lane, have climbed one position higher to 14th position (15 points) in the EPL table.
The match may not have produced any goals, but the derby was quite entertaining with end-to-end stuff, at least in the first half. The second 45 minutes of the game, barring one or two chances, was not what football fans expect from a Spurs-Chelsea clash. It was a tedious second half.
However, Chelsea and Spurs' players brought life into the game with some feisty challenges and Eden Hazard, who was deployed by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as the false number 9, was one of the most fouled players on the pitch at White Hart lane.
Mourinho, who was eager to clinch victory, had started Hazard instead of Diego Costa up front for the crucial match. Spurs dominated the game right from the start, though, Chelsea gradually challenged Spurs and came close to goal a number of times. Willian fizzed in some brilliant goals in the first half, which were not met by the Chelsea players on time to score.
Both sides came realtively close in taking lead in the first 45 minutes, but were not able to convert those half chances.
With both sides looking for that elusive goal in the second half, Chelsea, out of nowhere, came close to scoring as Hazard lashed a powerful left footed volley in the 67th minute, which was wonderfully saved by Hugo Lloris. It was one of the tough saves he had to make during the match. Had Lloris not made that save, Chelsea would have walked away with three points as neither team got much chance in the latter stages of the match.
The match, which had started with so much of promise in the first 20 minutes, rather finished a dreary goalless draw.
