After Emmanuel Adebayor's shot had beaten Chelsea goalkeeper
Petr Cech in stoppage time, Terry diverted the ball away from goal — a decisive
deflection that earned his side a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
"He anticipated the situation at the end — it was a big
opportunity for Tottenham," Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said.
"It shows his character and strength and personality." A day earlier,
Terry became the first footballer in England to receive a criminal charge for
racially abusing an opponent. He will appear in court in February after he was
alleged to have used racist language toward Queens Park Rangers defender Anton
Ferdinand in an October Premier League match.
"His performances have increased since the incident
happened," Villas-Boas said. "His commitment, quality and talent are
never in doubt. He's completely focused to the cause of this football
club." With chants raining down from the White Hart Lane stands, even
Chelsea's official Twitter feed described Terry as its "under-fire
skipper." So denying Tottenham a victory was all the sweeter, after
Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge canceled out Adebayor's eighth-minute opener.
"I am very proud of the players under a lot of
adversity — there was a good spirit of resistance," Villas-Boas said.
"It is a moral win." But Chelsea remains fourth in the standings, two
points behind Tottenham and just a point above Arsenal. Leader Manchester City
is 11 points ahead of Chelsea.
In north London, the Blues, though, had to recover from
initially being completely overwhelmed at a ground where they have not won
since 2005.
Back after missing Sunday's win over Sunderland through
injury, Gareth Bale easily went past Jose Bosingwa on the left flank and sent a
loss cross into the penalty area.
Cech, who was at fault for the equalizer Chelsea conceded at
Wigan at the weekend, failed to grasp the cross, allowing Adebayor to beat him
to the ball and score his sixth goal in as many games.
After allowing Chelsea to regain a foothold in the game and
taking the sting out of Tottenham's attack, the equalizer came after 23 minutes.
Rafael van der Vaart's attempted sliding tackle diverted the
ball onto Ashley Cole's arm and it fell kindly for the Chelsea full back, who
crossed for Sturridge.
The England striker easily evaded his marker, Ledley King,
to rush forward unchallenged and score his 10th goal of the season. Tottenham's
appeals for handball against Cole were waved away by referee Howard Webb.
"It certainly bounced up on to his hand,"
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "Sometimes you get them, sometimes
you don't." Branislav Ivanovic was soon forced off with an apparent thigh
injury. With Alex out of favor and not even on the bench, Paolo Ferreira had to
come on at right back with Bosingwa shifting to central defense alongside Terry.
Chelsea was forced to make a second change just before half
time, with John Obi Mikel limping off with a groin problem and replaced by
Oriol Romeu.
"It doesn't look serious — muscle injuries — and we'll
see the amount of damage they have," Villas-Boas said. "Hopefully
they can recover quickly." Chelsea, though, remained assertive after the
break, with Drogba heading over and Terry's header blocked early on.
"Our passing game exploded today to wonderful
levels," Villas-Boas said.
Tottenham, though, were sorely missing right winger Aaron
Lennon and striker Jermain Defoe, who are sidelined, while Van der Vaart came
off with a hamstring problem.
"We lost Rafa at half time and we really lost the
balance of our team," Redknapp said. "Without Aaron around it's
difficult to find a balance to your team." Adebayor did find the net again
in the 58th with the top of his shoulder, but the goal was disallowed for
offside, and minutes later the Togo striker headed wide.
Chasing a win, Fernando Torres was brought on in place of
Drogba to make his first appearance in two weeks but couldn't produce his first
league goal since September.
And Tottenham maintains the edge over Chelsea in third place.
"We came to Tottenham who are title challengers,"
Villas-Boas said. "It's always a good point to get. We have been in a worse
situation before."
