Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Final score 2-2, Spurs still alive

Chelsea were the better side on Wednesday night, while Tottenham Hotspur were sloppy in all areas of the pitch. Gareth Bale was largely ineffective, the midfield was incredibly sloppy and the defense didn't communicate well. However, Chelsea failed to take their chances while Spurs produced two moments of absolute quality, and a 2-2 draw has kept both teams in the race for top four.

With Moussa Dembele unavailable, Tottenham Hotspur started in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Gareth Bale wide left, Lewis Holtby in the hole and a double pivot of Scott Parker and Tom Huddlestone. Chelsea looked the livelier side from the get-go, and turned their play into an advantage in the 11th minute.

On a corner, Gary Cahill managed to lose Michael Dawson on a curling run around the box and won a header that he directed to the back post. Parker was caught ball-watching and allowed Oscar to slip free and touch the ball into the back of the net from a yard.

From absolutely nothing, Tottenham Hotspur found an equalizer in the 26th minute. Spurs cleared a Chelsea corner away, and a scramble resulted in Adebayor finding the ball in space 60 yards from goal. He went alone forward with the ball as the Chelsea defense kept backing off, giving him space to shoot. He took his chance, curling an unbelievable strike from 25 yards around Petr Cech, who had stepped off his line.

The Blues were back in front before the break, though, thanks to a giveaway in midfield and some poor defending. Fernando Torres provided the assist to an on-rushing Ramires, who blew by both Dawson and Parker before toe-poking a back post finish first time. Dawson was slow to react and Jan Vertonghen stepped up too aggressively, opening up a massive gap for Ramires to run into on the goal.

Spurs started the second half poorly and almost gave away what would have been a clinching goal in the 61st minute. A brilliant flick by Eden Hazard on a corner played Juan Mata in on goal, and he was able to draw the defense towards him. He slotted across for Ramires, who should have had a tap-in, but the turf monster caught him by surprise and he tripped over his own feet.

Shortly after that, Gylfi Sigurdsson entered for Aaron Lennon, and that substitution proved to be a decisive one. Spurs looked much better after his introduction and eventually created the equalizer in the 80th minute. Again, Adebayor was a key in the goal, assisting Sigurdsson with an impressive backheel flick. Sigurdsson pounced and placed a composed low finish past Cech from 12 yards to steal a point for Spurs.