And this Season’s First Piece of Silverware Goes to…

Chelsea!! Congrat…hang on wait a sec…they lost? To Spurs?! Jesus, the Stamford Bridge faithful can’t be too happy, now facing as they are the likely prospect of winning exactly no silverware once again this year. Seriously though, big up to Spurs and all their supporters, it’s not been a great season but things are definitely looking brighter now under the watchful eye of Ramos and Poyet.

The game itself was pretty dry to be perfectly honest, with Tottenham dominating much of the possession but just failing to make the right pass or find the target from shooting opportunities. Chelsea were their usual selves; strong and energetic, but with absolutely no flair or hint of excitement despite the vast number of attack-minded players on display. It was The Blues who predictably opened the scoring, with Didier Drogba wrong-footing Paul Robinson with a free-kick 25 yards out ten minutes from the end of the first half. As the clock ticked down it looked like Chelsea were simply going to kill the game off through possession, but with twenty minutes still left on the clock Wayne Bridge strangely used his arm inside the box to keep the ball away from Jermaine Jenas, and Dimitar Berbatov calmly did the rest from the penalty spot.

Extra time then, and as ever, it was a matter of fitness and nerve for both sides. Having been excellent at the back all game, new signing Jonathon Woodgate, in just his fourth game for the club, made himself an instant hero by heading a lifted free-kick past Petr Cech four minutes into extra time. This seemed to finally galvanise Chelsea into action, and inspired by substitutes Ballack and Joe Cole, they pushed forward and actually started to create chances. Unfortunately for the Blues though, their best chance fell to the feet of Salomon Kalou, and predictably Paul Robinson was able to make the vital save to push Tottenham over the finish line and bag himself his first career medal. The Spurs keeper, who’s been under constant scrutiny this season, later enthused about the victory: “It means everything!”

While yesterday wasn’t a great spectacle, STT feels that Spurs deserved the win just for their performance against Arsenal in the semi-final, if for nothing else. That night they were magical, and while they were never likely to recapture that irresistible form again, they at least showed attacking intent at Wembley, and a desire to put on another show for their fans. An ecstatic Juande Ramos had these words after the presentation: “This (cup) maybe has a special flavour to it because it was against a team that is supposedly superior to us.”

Chelsea meanwhile must lick their wounds and try not to go out of the Champions League and the FA Cup as well in the next fortnight, which will now be so crucial to shaping their season with hope of Premier League success all but dead…

The Darts Trophy Semi-Finals

Since Arsene Wenger and Avram Grant don’t give a shit about the Carling Cup, STT was planning to take the same stance throughout the season. However, since we’ve reached the sharp end of the tournament, we thought we’d give this week’s action a quick once-over to prepare you for the most underwhelming of all finals on February 24^th.

I guess silverware’s silverware, and I wouldn’t mind if my particular club was to win it again, but does it really matter to anyone? I’m sure all concerned would be just as happy if Premier League teams didn’t enter altogether, thus giving some lower leagues clubs the chance to play at Wembley and raise a cup…not to mention the thrill of getting to meet some inbred third-cousin of Prince Charles, or whoever the hell presents the thing these days…

Tottenham Hotspur 5 – 1 Arsenal (6 – 1 on aggregate)

Savour the moment Spurs fans because it doesn’t get a lot better than this. Following a tight and competitive 1^st leg a fortnight ago, the white half of North London really turned it on Tuesday night, blowing the Gunners off the field in 90 blistering minutes of attacking football. Their intention was clear from the opening minutes, with the superb Jermaine Jenas firing Spurs ahead just 3 minutes into the tie. From then on, the crowd was electric and you could tell Arsenal didn’t fancy it. The so-called young guns were supplemented with many 1^st team players, but still Spurs were first to every ball and carved out chance after chance, while Nikolas Bendtner’s own goal sent them into half-time 2 – 0 up.

Tottenham kept the pace just as frantic for the whole 90 minutes and never wavered, even when substitute Adebayor bagged a second half glimmer of hope for Arsenal. If anything the score actually flatters the Gunners, who can now concentrate on the league, with Berbatov hitting the post and Defoe wasting a virtually open goal late on. On the night, Keane, Jenas and Lennon were all sublime, but the whole team deserves credit for a monumental victory.

Extra kudos too for Defoe and two others ‘accidently’ spraying champagne all over world’s-most-bitter-Frenchman Arsene Wenger while he was conducting his post-match interview. Sad-face though to Togo striker Adebayor for clashing with Bendtner on the field; to quote Bendtner’s dad Thomas, “It's sad that (Adebayor) doesn't take his head with him onto the field.” Word.

Everton 0 – 1 Chelsea (1 – 3 on aggregate)

With all neutrals praying for another upset after Tuesday’s heroics, last night’s second leg at Goodison Park was a fairly drab affair with Chelsea predictably advancing to the final to defend their crown. Everton were full of bluster, and came close on several occasions, but were ultimately undone by a superb goal by Joe Cole. The returning Florent Malouda picked the ball up on the halfway line then found Cole about 20 yards out with a beautiful raking crossfield pass which Cole controlled on a dime under pressure from Lescott, and hammered past the stranded Howard. See it for yourself here:

See you in a month’s time then for 2008’s first visit to Wembley. My money’s on Chelsea, although a Spurs win could be on the cards if then capture even half the form they showed this week…