Chelsea frustrated

Chelsea - 0 Tottenham - 0: While Chelsea try to take pains in their work, the supporters have to accept aches of their own. That will not in itself worry a crowd that would consider any measure short of human sacrifice that brought the club its first championship since 1955 sufficient but, just at the moment, the side's sober methods are not particularly efficient in the Premiership.

Jose Mourinho's diatribe about Spurs' negativity will roll off his tongue on many more occasions if other clubs reckon that they can extract a point merely by being stolid. His post-match comments had far more vim than Chelsea's display, even if the summary bore no relation to reliable testimony.

"People are not paying money," he said, "to see one team play and another defend, kick the ball away, fall down, demand the medical department come on and take five minutes over every change. That's usual in my country because of the difference in power between teams.

"When you coach a big team there you have to understand that a small team is coming to your stadium just for that. It's a surprise in the Premiership."

There was nothing exceptional, however, about Spurs' conduct, for whom Thimothee Atouba was genuinely injured when treatment was required, and any slight gamesmanship was of a commonplace nature.

Mourinho must have wanted to distract attention from his side's humdrum performance.

The assembly-line football is not producing goals and this game bore an uncomfortable resemblance to the 0-0 draw at Villa Park the week before.

Chelsea might have won on each occasion and yesterday, with five minutes left, Eidur Gudjohnsen hit a post from the edge of the area.

The referee then gave offside against Didier Drogba, but presumably blew the whistle only because the Ivory Coast forward might have capitalised as play continued.

Apart from that moment the siege of the Spurs penalty area was characterless, with Chelsea knocking diffidently on the door rather than blowing it off its hinges.

Spurs, continuing their unbeaten record under Jacques Santini, actually had the best chance of all.

Simon Davies, making his first appearance since May following shin surgery, crossed deep in the 55th minute and Robbie Keane's header was only kept out by an excellent, clawing response from Petr Cech.

Mourinho's accolade for that had dual use, serving as well as a smack at Spurs. "When the goalkeeper has been sitting in a chair," he said, "it is even more difficult for him to do that."

Anyone whose short-term memory is intact, though, will remember how recently his Porto team acted with fanatical caution against seemingly stronger sides.

Santini was temperate when Mourinho's invective was relayed to him. "When you miss a chance to get back on level terms with Arsenal, it's normal," the Frenchman said of his opposite number's splenetic comments.