Sigurdsson strike enough to keep Spurs in touch

After the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger was given another reason to smile yesterday. With his greatest adversary finally departing, Arsenal were the main beneficiaries as Chelsea and Tottenham punched each other into submission last night at the end of a thrilling derby.

It was a high-quality match played at a breathless pace but a 2-2 draw did not really suit either club. Chelsea still need another win to be sure of finishing in the top four and so cannot completely switch their focus to next Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica while the Champions League fate of Tottenham, who twice fought back from losing positions last night, is now out of their hands. Should Arsenal win against Wigan and Newcastle, they will again finish above their north London rivals and would even have Chelsea in sight.

Rafael Benitez has admitted to concern that his players look at his team selections and draw their own conclusions about their place within his rotation system. If so, there was little encouragement last night for both John Terry and Frank Lampard ahead of next week's Europa League final.

Having been named among the substitutes, logic dictates that they will play against Aston Villa on Sunday and may well miss out next week.

That old guard, and particularly Lampard, have been perceived as the main instigators of the dressing-room resistance that undermined Andre Villas-Boas during his eight months at Stamford Bridge. Although he received what was little more than pantomime booing on being publicly welcomed back to Chelsea, he made a point of shaking hands with as many people as possible before the match, including Lampard and Terry.

Villas-Boas had caused a surprise of his own with his team selection, starting Emmanuel Adebayor and relegating Jermain Defoe to the bench. Scott Parker returned and Lewis Holtby rather than Gareth Bale started behind Adebayor. It meant pushing Bale out to the left and it was Chelsea who established control of the midfield.

Juan Mata, inevitably, was the catalyst behind most of their best play and went close with a volley after being released by Fernando Torres. Chelsea then forced a corner after Eden Hazard had been cynically tripped by Tom Huddlestone. Mata's cross was headed towards the goal by Gary Cahill, with Oscar evading Parker and timing his run perfectly to put Chelsea into the lead. Remarkably, this was Oscar's 77th game since the end of last season.

Chelsea's advantage might have been doubled moments later, when Mata found space but shot wastefully over from Cesar Azpilicueta's cross.

With David Luiz again sweeping up to great effect in his new holding midfield position, Chelsea's fans became sufficiently confident to start taunting Tottenham that 'you've only got one player'. They spoke too soon. Holtby dispossessed Hazard and Ramires before feeding the ball to Adebayor just inside Chelsea's half. Inexplicably, Azpilicueta and Cahill back-pedalled, inviting Adebayor into a shooting position. Petr Cech had also wandered off his line and, sensing his opportunity, Adebayor brilliantly lifted the ball over the Chelsea goalkeeper and into the top corner.

Tottenham might have been level but the momentum still remained with Chelsea. Torres, who was without his mask for the first time in several months, responded with a moment of individual skill and passed for Ramires to finish clinically past Lloris. With Adebayor producing a rare performance of real influence, Tottenham pushed hard for another equaliser but were almost punished on the stroke of half-time after another slick sequence that ended with Oscar shooting into the arms of Lloris.

Chelsea continued to dominate after the interval, with Mata giving a further demonstration of his vision to create a chance for Torres that was bundled wide by Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

A great chance went begging after Mata galloped clear following a wonderful touch from Hazard only for Ramires to lose his footing. There was then another moment of comedy when Luiz crept to the touchline and listened in to Villas-Boas's instructions to Holtby while nodding in mock agreement. The scoreline, however, was still not nearly as comfortable as it should have been for Chelsea, and Bale had a penalty appeal turned down after a tangle with Ashley Cole.

Luiz and Villas-Boas then found themselves embroiled in a heated exchange as the manager complained about the Brazilian's use of an elbow on Gylfi Sigurdsson. Clint Dempsey and Tom Carroll were also introduced as Villas-Boas sought to get something out of the game, although it was puzzling he should not opt for Defoe. Villas-Boas, though, was vindicated on 80 minutes when Luiz failed to track Sigurdsson's run and he ghosted into the penalty area unmarked to finish Adebayor's clever pass.

Chelsea fans were unimpressed when Benitez replaced Oscar with Yossi Benayoun, accusing their interim manager of not knowing what he is doing as a vital win went begging.