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7 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

Carvalho hits winner as Chelsea pile pressure on United

Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Ricardo Carvalho kept Chelsea in the race for the Premiership title as the Portuguese defender scored the only goal of the game against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

The former Porto man’s long-range strike early in the second half was enough to seal the points for the Blues and keep up the pressure on league leaders Manchester United.

Following Wednesday’s Champions League match against Valencia and ahead of the second leg in Spain on Tuesday, Jose Mourinho made several adjustments to his side, bringing Paulo Ferreira, Wayne Bridge, Claude Makelele and Shaun Wright-Phillips into the starting line-up.

Rocha recalled

Meanwhile Spurs, who played away at Sevilla in the Uefa Cup less than 48 hours earlier, drafted Portuguese Ricardo Rocha into their backline, while Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon were rested from the squad and Dimitar Berbatov was left on the bench.

Chelsea had a clear intent to score as soon as possible, and the hosts started with a quick tempo to their passing. Didier Drogba almost got on the end of a Wright-Phillips cross inside the opening minute and Kalou blazed over after being found by John Terry.

While Chelsea enjoyed good possession, Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson rarely called into action in the first half. The England ‘keeper saved from Frank Lampard after the midfielder fired his shot into the ground, and Robinson also denied Carvalho when the defender found himself in on goal after a run into the box, but Spurs held out until the break.

The second period saw a stronger goal threat from Spurs, with Mido guilty of missing their best chance of the match, forcing Cech to palm his header over the bar after Ghaly had nodded a Chimbonda cross down to the Egyptian from eight metres.

Carvalho class

Chelsea took the lead almost immediately, and it was one of Mourinho’s most dependable players with the strike. Carvalho picked up possession over thirty metres from goal and with little in the way of a Spurs challenge, the Portuguese dribbled upfield and unleashed a right-footed shot past Robinson into the bottom corner.

Salomon Kalou missed an excellent chance to double the advantage when Drogba found his fellow Ivorian inside the box, but Kalou’s weak finish allowed Robinson to make the save.

Spurs did register a couple of efforts on Cech’s goal in the closing stages, with substitute Adel Taarabt’s low drive pushed past the post by the big Czech goalkeeper, while the Chelsea number one was also equal to Berbatov’s header from Didier Zokora’s free-kick.

The win was Chelsea’s eighth in a row in the Premiership, as the champions look to cut United’s six-point advantage before the two teams meet in London next month in the penultimate game of the Premiership season.

Chelsea:
Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Makelele, Lampard, Mikel (Joe Cole 83), Drogba, Wright-Phillips (Ballack 71), Kalou (Shevchenko 74)
Yellow Cards: Drogba (95), Cole (95)

Tottenham:
Robinson, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Chimbonda, Jenas (Zokora 81), Tainio (Taarabt 64), Ghaly, Malbranque, Mido (Berbatov 69), Defoe
Yellow Cards: Ghaly (17)

Goal:
[1-0] Ricardo Carvalho, 52