This really should be a dry run for the FA Cup final, shouldn't it. Oh Tottenham!

Anyway, Paul Scholes really put the cat among the pigeons earlier, didn't he. Chelsea were very strong favourites for the title at 2.32pm today, but at 2.32pm and 43 seconds, Scholes planted a header into the bottom-right corner of Manchester City's net. The race was back on.

Chelsea are still leading the way, of course, a point ahead, with a game in hand. But this is that game. And if Spurs stand up to be counted this evening like they did against Arsenal in midweek, as opposed to their metaphorical and literal failure to keep upright against Portsmouth at Wembley last weekend, they could pose a real problem for Carlo Ancelotti's side. Because Chelsea haven't been particularly impressive, have they. Almost as unimpressive as Manchester United, in fact. God this is a dismal division this season.

Kick off: 5.30pm.

Tottenham Hotspur: Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley, Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe.
Subs: Alnwick, Crouch, Gudjohnsen, Rose, Kyle Walker, Livermore, Townsend.

Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov, Deco, Mikel, Lampard, Joe Cole, Drogba, Malouda.
Subs: Hilario, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Ballack, Kalou, Sturridge, Anelka.

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).

As the teams wait in the tunnel to take the pitch, here's a hell of a stat to be getting on with: Since the turn of the millennium, in their 62 league games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, Tottenham have only won four times. Four times.

The teams are out, lining up for the ridiculous Premier League handshakes and whatnot. Give it two minutes, and we'll be away.

Spurs set the ball rolling, kicking towards the Park Lane end. Chelsea soon take it off them, but Malouda loses it, allowing Bale to romp into the opposition half and feed Defoe down the right. The striker keeps on to the box, firing a low, hard cross-cum-shot into the arms of Cech. A positive start by the home side.

3 min: A lot of space for Spurs to play with here. Bale, once again with the ball at his feet in the middle of Chelsea's half, spreads the ball out wide left to Assou-Ekotto. The full back's in acres, but his low cross into the centre is behind Defoe and Pavylchenko, and cleared easily.

4 min: Lampard slides a pass straight forward down the inside-left channel for Malouda, who can't quite reach it before Gomes, the keeper sliding out to claim. Kaboul was loafing around there, Spurs so nearly unlocked early on.

6 min: Pavlychenko wallops a hard shot high and wide. It just about stays in the stadium. Without the stand behind, the ball would already be somewhere near Pimlico.

7 min: Malouda cuts inside from the left and unleashes a swerving shot towards the top-left corner. Gomes gets his hands on it to palm over. That's another great save from the keeper of the moment. The resulting corner... well, we need not talk of corners.

11 min: Not a great deal going on at the moment, though Spurs are hogging most of the possession. So here's Eric Calhoun with an email headed Joe Cole's Mojo and His Shorts: "It was always slightly uncomfortable to watch, but maybe Cole should switch back to the super short shorts he used run around in. His career has gone down rather in proportion with the hem line." The pitch of his voice has stayed at the same level, interestingly. You'd have thought it'd have plummeted an octave or two now things aren't quite so hectically arranged.

13 min: Chelsea are suddenly all over the shop. First Pavlychenko twists and turns in the box, but can't get the ball out from under his feet to get a powerful shot away. It's hacked clear. Then Terry tussles with Defoe on the edge of the area, plenty of the striker's shirt in his hand. No free kick. A terrible decision. And then Bale dives over a tackling Chelsea leg in the area as he enteres the box from the left, but is only rewarded with a corner. A fair decision.

15 min: PENALTY TO SPURS!!! AND A GOAL!!! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Chelsea. This has been coming. From the corner, the ball's swung into the area a couple of times from the left. The second time, the ball bounces up onto Terry's arm - and a spot kick is awarded. Fairly, too, because the defender used his upper arm to guide the ball back to his keeper. Defoe pokes the penalty into the bottom-left corner with ease, a confident conversion. This title race really is in the balance now!

17 min: Alex was booked for arguing the toss over the penalty. Terry, needless to say, had a good chat with the ref himself too.

19 min: Drogba has a swipe from 20 yards or so, but it's weak. Chelsea, as an outfit, appear thoroughly deflated. And were so even before the goal. What has that Paul Scholes goal done to them?

22 min: Chelsea try to string a few passes together - and fail dismally. They're all over the place at the back, which doesn't exactly help their confidence. The new two-man defence they're showcasing today is quite something. It's star man Terry shanks a clearance into the crowd. The crowd cheer. This isn't a title-winning display from the away side, not by a long shot.

25 min: Pavlychenko wallops a rising shot goalwards from the edge of the area, just to the left of goal. Cech is forced to tip the ball over the bar. We need not talk of corners.

28 min: "Didn't Roman orators retain their urine before speaking so that the desperate need for relief would give extra urgency and emotion to their performance?" asks Robin Hazlehurst. I'll take your word for that, and where we're going with thte rest of this email. "Maybe that's how Joe Cole's tight shorts worked, they constrained certain parts and that gave a lot more focus and urgency to his game." Well if that's the case they need to force about 16 pints of water down his neck at half time. He's just run around in a large circle three times, like a cat with some wool, before running the ball straight out of play down the right. Chelsea have been terrible up front so far.

30 min: Modric turns Ferreira inside and out down the left, sending the full back spinning like a drunkard, before fizzing a low ball into the six-yard box. Bentley arrives to meet it, but can only guide it wide left. He's convinced his effort came off Terry. I didn't see it, but if the sheepish look on the Chelsea captain's face is anything to go by, it should have been a corner.

33 min: To a man, Chelsea have been useless, some of them maybe even a little bit worse. Mikel limps off with a tweaked ego. Ballack replaces him.

36 min: From a corner on the right, Kaboul, ten yards out, heads straight at Cech. That was a big chance for Spurs to make it two.

38 min: And they were so nearly made to pay down the other end, Zhirkov dinking a delicate pass into the area from the left for Malouda, who beats Gomes with little bother, stroking the ball into the net. A wonderful finish, but one that won't be bothering the scoreboard, as he was half a yard offside. There wasn't much in it, but a totally correct decision.

41 min: Chelsea are finally beginning to put a few moves together. First a fancy flick on the edge of the area by Malouda nearly springs Lampard clear down the inside-right channel, then Lampard is close to finding Cole with a through ball down the opposite inside channel. All of a sudden, after bossing most of the game, Spurs are beginning to think about the half-time whistle.

44 min: GARETH BALE REALLY IS AN OUTSTANDING PLAYER. Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Chelsea. They won't be wishing for the half-time whistle now! Pavlychenko pings a ball down the left wing for Bale, who cuts inside. He's faced with Ferreira, but the full back is a hapless waste of space today, and is embarrassingly turned inside and out before Bale, dropping a shoulder, hammers an effort into the bottom-left corner. What a finish.

45 min: Lampard wallops a volley goalwards, from the right of the D. It's a magnificent effort, but one matched by Gomes, who parries clear. All eleven Chelsea players are taking Black Dog for a walk at the moment.

HALF TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Chelsea. And that's it for the half. Whether Chelsea deserve to be two goals down is a moot point - they're an inch or two in an offside decision and a spectacular Gomes save away from having scored twice themselves - but Spurs certainly deserve some sort of lead at the very least. And by God they've got it. This title race has really exploded into life today, and not in a way Chelsea will appreciate. Can they turn this round in the second half? With a tricky visit to Liverpool still to be made, they may well need something here.

So here we go again, a crucial 45 minutes coming up. Let's not underplay the importance of this game to Spurs; a win puts them fourth (a draw's not quite enough) in that crucial battle with Manchester City for Champions League football. But the title race is the title race, and with a slightly tougher run-in than Manchester United, Chelsea are desperate to turn this around. With this in mind, the flailing pair of Cole and Ferrera are replaced by Ivanovic and Anelka.

This is farcical! The half hasn't started yet, but just as Drogba goes to kick off, he pulls a muscle in his groin! Thing is, Chelsea have just thrown on Ivanovic and Anelka, and can't replace him! After a quick debate involving Carlo Ancelotti and the fourth official, presumably an attempt to scrub out one of those changes, Drogba's told to get on with it. Oh dear.

And we're off again! Finally! Drogba immediately hares after a long ball from Anelka, but can't quite get on the end of it. He's clearly not totally crocked, but doesn't look 100 percent mobile either, and does a lot of ostentatious grimacing after the run to prove the point.

49 min: Drogba might be OK. He chases after a long Ballack pass, after which he forgets to fold up his face and rub the front of his trousers, choosing instead to complain about the close attention given to him by Dawson. He's moaning at the referee, he's got to be operating properly.

50 min: What a chance to put this game to bed! Defoe is sent clear on goal, down the inside-right channel. He welts a shot goalwards, towards the bottom-left corner, but Cech parries brilliantly to save the day. For now; Chelsea are really throwing caution to the wind here.

52 min: Anelka takes a wild shot from distance. It's blocked. Chelsea don't even get the corner. They're not looking pleased. Paulo Padilha isn't happy either: "First Barney Ronay writes an article about Terry's balls (in what is the longest set-up to a punchline I've seen since The Sixth Sense), and now Eric Calhoun brings up Joe Cole's junk. Do you people even pay attention to the game?" I think you know the answer to that.

54 min: WAHEY! IT ALL KICKS OFF! Lampard slides in showing studs on Huddlestone, a challenge that instigates a 20-man handbag party. It's something and nothing, truth be told, and the referee calms things down quickly. Eventually Deco and Huddlestone are both booked for some afters in the melee, Lampard walking away from the scene whistling innocently.

57 min: Zhirkov swings a delicious cross into the Spurs area from the left wing, towards Drogba on the far post. The striker Bergkamps it out of the air brilliantly with his first touch, but then miscontrols horribly, the chance quickly evaporating.

59 min: This is really exciting end-to-end stuff now. First Deco nearly dances straight through the middle of the Spurs defence, but eventually loses control. Then Pavlychenko is this close to finding Modric free in the Chelsea area with a sliderule pass from the inside-left channel, but the effort is a tad too strong. Finally Pavlychenko has a rare old trash at goal from a tight angle on the left, Cech parrying clear at his near post.

62 min: Anelka and Zhirkov combine down the left, the latter standing up a strange ball to the far post. Drogba nearly gets a toe on the ball, with Gomes in no-man's land, but doesn't. Chelsea's pain continues. They surely need something soon.

64 min: Chelsea's defence is once again all over the shop. Terry - not booked for his part in the penalty, remember - picks up a caution now as he slide-tackles Pavlychenko to the floor, just outside the Chelsea D. If Alex wasn't nearby, that'd have been a straight red. This free kick is in an extremely dangerous position.

65 min: Bale blasts a terrible effort miles high and wide right. He's earned plenty of slack with his otherwise magnificent performance today.

67 min: RED CARD FOR JOHN TERRY!!! He's sent off for his second yellow in three minutes - and his third bookable offence of the match - after going in very late on Bale as the Spurs man romped down the left. That's a no-brainer of a decision for Phil Dowd. Even the perpetually angry Terry responds with tired resignation, not bothering to question the decision.

69 min: Anelka breaks brilliantly upfield, beating four Spurs challenges before laying the ball out right to Deco, who has Lampard spare with him. Anelka's determined, twistsing run deserves to be part of a picturebook goal, but his team-mates get in each other's way and the chance is gone. This isn't Chelsea's day.

72 min: Defoe diddles across the face of the Chelsea area and is bumped to the ground by Alex. That's going to be another free kick, just outside the D. Bale will probably have to defer to Bentley after his last effort from this position.

74 min: Bentley's free kick is witless, blasted straight into the wall, but his response is magnificent, returning the rebound with a lazy lob that's going in until Cech arches his back and fingertips the ball over the bar at the very last second. The corner, ah the corner.

77 min: Finally a shot in anger from Chelsea, Ivanovic spinning on the spot just to the right of goal, 30 yards out, and unleashing a dipping volley that only just clears the bar. "Did JT want to get sent off?" asks James Longhofer. "That was a blatant foul and he had no complaints about the card. Maybe he saw that there is no way back for Chelsea and thought that an early bath was a better option than playing out the remainder of the game." Chelsea have looked so disconnected from the real world today, you couldn't rule anything out.

78 min: Gudjohnsen comes on against his old club, replacing Defoe. "That was also a bit of a no-brainer by Terry, thinking about the title run-in," opines David Wall. "How will Chelsea cope against cannon-ball Stoke next week with only Alex to pick at centre-half seeing that Carvalho is injured?" Badly, if this footballing nervous breakdown they're suffering doesn't lift quicksmart.

80 min: Zhirkov goes into the book for... er... erm... can we change the subject, please?

81 min: Bale breaks clear down the inside-left channel. Pavlychenko is free in the centre, but Bale chooses to go straight for goal, allowing Cech to parry clear. A terrible decision. That should have been 3-0. Bale's using up that moral credit!

83 min: First Drogba attempts to steer the ball into the bottom-right corner, after cutting in from the left. Gomes is all over it. Then Alex powers a header goalward, but it hits the back of Huddlestone's head. Chelsea have never looked like getting back into this.

87 min: Bale bustles past Alex down the inside-right channel and into the area, flicking a low shot past Cech but just wide of the far post.

88 min: Then Bale bustles down the left, looping a cross into the centre for Pavlychenko, who steers a terrible effort well wide right when it was surely easier to score from six yards out.

90 min: My God Chelsea have been abysmal.

90 min +1: The last thing Chelsea want to hear - because they have absolutely no belief in themselves today - is that there will be five more minutes of this.

90 min +2: GOAL!!! Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea. Well this came out of nothing! Ballack steered a cross into the Spurs box from the right. Sliding in, Lampard met it with his toe and poked home into the bottom-left corner. Everyone in the entire stadium, bar those two Chelsea players, were asleep there.

90 min +4: What a miss by Pavlychenko! Breaking from deep, Spurs find themselves three on one, the ball ending up at the Russian's feet in the centre of the park, on the edge of the area. He flicks the ball towards goal, but sends it just wide right. He's immediately replaced by Crouch.

FULL TIME: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea. And that's that. Spurs thoroughly deserved their victory. They were very impressive, and now move two points clear of Manchester City in fourth place. Can they keep it going at Manchester United? Chelsea will hope so, as they can't afford to drop a point now in the title race. Though they'll drop all nine if they keep acting up in this manner. Here, Arsenal are still in it too, as a result of this. Thank Spurs politely, Arsene. Thank Spurs politely, Sir Alex.