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12 March 2007, by Sean Gillen

Rocha shines as Chelsea hit Spurs with thrilling comeback

Chelsea 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea’s FA Cup hopes are still alive after the Blues came from behind to snatch a late equaliser in a thrilling quarter-final encounter with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

A poor first half display had seen Jose Mourinho’s men go into the break 3-1 down, but Frank Lampard’s second and substitute Salomon Kalou’s late equaliser earned Chelsea a second chance against their London rivals at White Hart Lane.

Fresh from their midweek win over Braga, Spurs started brightly and took the lead after just five minutes when Aaron Lennon played the ball through to Dimitar Berbatov and the Bulgarian kept his composure to slot past Petr Cech.

Berbatov almost created a goal for Jermain Defoe shortly afterwards, but Chelsea drew level on 22 minutes when Michael Ballack’s miss-hit shot fell to Lampard, who adjusted himself well to score from ten metres.

Chelsea failed to build on the equaliser, and Spurs re-took the lead with Chelsea’s defence again showing signs of being vulnerable. Lennon’s cross from the right had little power on it, but Michael Essien, under no pressure, turned the ball into hit own net.

Rocha impresses

Tottenham defended well following the goal, and Portuguese Ricardo Rocha was particularly effective in making several interceptions, including a superb block when compatriot Ricardo Carvalho shot from the edge of the area.

While Rocha was impressing, Chelsea right-back Paulo Ferreira was having another difficult afternoon, and the former Porto man was ruthlessly replaced by Mourinho after just 34 minutes as Shaun Wright-Phillips was introduced.

However, Spurs scored again almost immediately following the change when Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly controlled a loose ball and burst through the open Blues’ backline before sliding the ball under Cech to give his side a two-goal cushion.

Shevchenko and Essien missed good chances to pull a goal back before the break, but like against Porto in midweek, Mourinho was left to rally his troops at half time. It appeared to work, with Ballack threatening twice in the air inside the opening ninety seconds.

A crucial moment in the game arrived not long into the second period when Cech made an important double save, first foiling Lennon when the young winger was put through on goal, then getting back onto his line to deny Defoe.

Mourinho manoeuvres

Mourinho was constantly changing the shape of his side, switching to three at the back and rearranging the positioning of several of his players in order to bring on Ivorian forward Kalou for defender Ashley Cole.

The deficit was halved with just under twenty minutes left when Ballack headed a corner into the danger area and the ball broke for Lampard, who fired into the bottom corner for his second of the day.

Zokora forced a decent save out of Cech and Essien’s effort flew past the post as both sides looked for the all-important sixth goal. It arrived with four minutes left as Carvalho chipped a ball into the penalty area for Drogba to cushion to Kalou, and the youngster lashed into the top corner.

Spurs may still have snatched it in injury time when Defoe drifted past a couple of defenders and thundered a shot against the crossbar, while Shevchenko curled a shot narrowly wide of the top corner for Chelsea.

Chelsea:
Cech, Ferreira (Wright-Phillips 34), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole (Kalou 64), Diarra (Boulahrouz 57), Lampard, Robben, Ballack, Drogba, Shevchenko
Yellow Cards: Diarra (54), Carvalho (56), Ashley Cole (59)

Tottenham:
Cerny, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Young-Pyo Lee, Ghaly (Gardner 81), Tainio, Zokora, Lennon (Malbranque 76), Berbatov (Mido 66), Defoe
Yellow Cards: Ghaly (41), Zokora (44), Young-Pyo Lee (46), Stalteri (51), Cerny (83)

Goals:
[0-1] Berbatov, 5
[1-1] Lampard, 22
[1-2] Essien, 28 (o.g.)
[1-3] Ghaly, 36
[2-3] Lampard, 71
[3-3] Kalou, 86