Chelsea's title push is over

Chelsea's Danish substitute Bjarne Goldbaek produced a ferocious finish to maintain his team's 12-year unbeaten run at Tottenham and match the quality of another strike from footballer of the year David Ginola.

But the point which Goldbaek's 25-yard blast earned - just six minutes after he had replaced Dan Petrescu in the 66th minute - was not sufficient to take Chelsea's championship challenge to the final weekend of the season.

Catching leaders Manchester United and Arsenal is now beyond them even though they have, like the top two, lost just three league matches all season.

But this was Tottenham's night as they responded pluckily to manager George Graham's pessimism that they are maybe four or five years away from really challenging the leading powers in the Premiership.

Indeed, after falling shambolically behind to an early strike by ubiquitous Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet - his 14th goal of an injury-ravaged season - they went on to look the more likely winners after Steffen Iversen's 38th-minute equaliser.

When Ginola swept on to a moment of ill-advised arrogance by Frank Leboeuf to fire a glorious effort for his seventh goal of the campaign - and his third in the last five games - it looked as though Tottenham would score their first home win over their London neighbours for 12 years.

Earlier, South American ace Poyet had headed Chelsea in front in only the fourth minute, and Tottenham's anxiety was evident as memories of their embarrassing 6-1 beating by the Blues last season came flooding back.

Poyet, whose goal tally is amazing considering he missed three months of the season with knee trouble, had found space and time to rise in front of Iversen and nod home Gianfranco Zola's free-kick.

Ginola also allied work-ethic to his nimble footwork and gradually Spurs built up a solid territorial advantage, and their reward came seven minutes before the break when a simple short-corner ploy between Mauricio Taricco and Ginola ended with the Frenchman lifting the ball into the near-post area where Iversen sidefooted a volley past Hitchcock.

Zola's substitution by young Finn Mikael Forssell early in the second half robbed Chelsea of the touch of genius the little Italian can sometimes produce, and apart from a first-time shot well over by Poyet when Le Saux made a leftwing run to supply the cross they seldom looked like exerting any firm authority.

When Leboeuf foolishly tried to run the ball out of defence in the 65th minute, Darren Anderton's well-judged intervention put Ginola in possession 30 yards out to hold off Ferrer, swerve neatly past the exposed Marcel Desailly and shoot low beyond Hitchcock.

But just when Spurs were beginning to count the points to end a run of three consecutive defeats, Chelsea sub Goldbaek produced his thundering finish.

Tottenham: Walker, Carr, Campbell, Scales, Taricco, Anderton, Freund (Clemence 82), Sherwood, Ginola (Dominguez 87), Iversen, Armstrong. Subs Not Used: Baardsen, Sinton, King. Booked: Dominguez. Goals: Iversen 38, Ginola 64.

Chelsea: Hitchcock, Ferrer, Leboeuf, Desailly, Le Saux, Petrescu (Di Matteo 65), Wise, Morris (Goldbaek 65), Poyet, Flo, Zola (Forssell 54). Subs Not Used: De Goey, Duberry. Booked: Ferrer, Desailly, Poyet, Di Matteo. Goals: Poyet 4, Goldbaek 73.

Referee: D Elleray (Harrow on the Hill).