Tottenham ... 5 Chelsea ... 1(Tottenham win 6-3 on aggregate)Tottenham reached the final at White Hart Lane last night and in doing so disposed of an irksome piece of history, for this was their first victory over Chelsea since February 1990, 28 matches ago.
Chelsea, the form side as well as the 2-1 winners in the first leg of this semi-final at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago, were a well-beaten side. And they finished with 10 men after having the apparently innocent Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sent off after less than 10 minutes of the second half.
By then, though, Chelsea were already 3-0 behind, 4-2 on aggregate, and looking out of it.
Goals by Steffen Iversen, Tim Sherwood, Teddy Sheringham - who was outstanding - Simon Davies and Sergei Rebrov made it a memorable evening for Spurs, who play Blackburn in the final in Cardiff on February 24th.
Spurs were without their scorer from the first leg, Les Ferdinand, who suffered concussion during the weekend draw with Everton.
The centre-forward's absence did not appear to count for much when, after just one minute and 45 seconds, Spurs took the lead through his replacement.
Iversen capitalised on some sloppy defending by Chelsea's John Terry.
Mauricio Taricco's low, angled shot from 12 yards was only parried by Carlo Cudicini but Terry dwelt on the ball and Iversen nipped in to fire home.
Sheringham, back from suspension, clashed with Boudewijn Zenden in the ninth minute and the Chelsea player was carried off with a gashed right leg and replaced by Sam Dalla Bona.
As Chelsea struggled, Darren Anderton fired in a low corner from the right in the 33rd minute to the edge of the area where Sherwood sent a fierce rising drive past Cudicini.
Chelsea fell further behind after just five minutes of the second half. Anderton took the corner on the right and Sheringham lost his marker to shoot past Cudicini after the ball had been only half cleared.
Chelsea's frustration was evident, and in the 54th minute they were reduced to 10 men. Mario Melchiot appeared to cuff Sheringham over the shoulder of Hasselbaink, but it was Hasselbaink who was shown the red card.
After Davies and Rebrov had increased Spurs lead, Mikkael Forssell provided Chelsea with a late consolation.
TOTTENHAM: Sullivan, Perry, King, Gardner, Davies, Poyet (Leonhardsen 83), Sherwood, Anderton, Taricco, Sheringham, Iversen (Rebrov 83). Subs Not Used: Kelly, Etherington, Thelwell. Booked: Poyet, Sheringham. Goals: Iversen 2, Sherwood 33, Sheringham 50, Davies 76, Rebrov 87.
CHELSEA: Cudicini, Desailly, Gallas, Terry, Melchiot (Zola 70), Petit (Forssell 66), Stanic, Zenden (Dalla Bona 11), Lampard, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen. Subs Not Used: de Goey, Ferrer. Sent Off: Hasselbaink (55). Booked: Melchiot. Goal: Forssell 90. Agg (6-3)
Referee: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).
Guardian Service
