FA Premiership/Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1: This was a landmark too far for Jose Mourinho. An unbeaten league record for Chelsea against Spurs stretching back to 1990 has ended on his watch. The manager is directly to blame in one respect because of the anarchic behaviour that is tolerated, if not fostered, by him.

There was too much unruliness and the visitors, having seen their 1-0 lead overhauled through Aaron Lennon's bright goal, found John Terry hindering the attempted recovery by collecting a red card.

The second booking looked draconian but may have been regarded as one lapse too many. With a caution to his name already Terry was taking a needless risk when he tugged Ledley King at a free-kick in the 72nd minute.

The referee, Graham Poll, had the look of an official who had resolved not to let his authority be undermined as Stefano Farina's had been when in charge of Chelsea's draw in Barcelona last week. Decisions should not be made with preconceptions in mind and Poll will probably believe that he was imposing himself in a way that eluded the Italian.

Indeed, Terry had been irascible throughout, haranguing the referee for the time he took to let him re-enter the pitch after treatment and later being booked for a bad challenge on Dimitar Berbatov. In fairness to the centre half, Terry had not been dismissed since an outing for the England Under-21 team in 2001.

A good run also came to a halt for his club as Spurs overcame them at last, after 32 unavailing attempts in the league.

Chelsea, whose spirit must always be admired, attacked more than Martin Jol's side and Arjen Robben, with a curling effort, struck the post in the 87th minute. All the same, among neutral observers it would take a curmudgeon to begrudge Spurs success.

Jol himself, who had not overcome Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal until now, can claim to be a major influence on the outcome.

During the first half he rearranged the line-up, switching Lennon to a more natural role on the right and pulling Robbie Keane back to a position on the left. The 4-5-1 system that he had imposed can easily become stagnant, but those two footballers gave it flow and they even combined to settle a gripping game.

Keane baffled the substitute Khalid Boulahrouz on the left after 52 minutes and Claude Makelele could do no more than deflect the cross towards Lennon, who cut inside Ashley Cole and placed the ball beyond Hilario with his left foot. Mourinho denies any intention to bid for the scorer, but after a finish of that nature he could be blamed for dereliction of duty if he did not entertain such thoughts.

The existing squad is formidable nonetheless, even if they now lie three points behind Manchester United and must go to Old Trafford on November 26th.

This appeared to have the makings of a regulation win when, after a quarter of an hour, a Frank Lampard corner broke to Makelele and he swerved a 25-yard shot past Paul Robinson.

Robinson soon needed to tip over an effort by Lampard at the close of a sharp move and Didier Drogba then had a goal from a corner-kick disallowed because Poll had blown questionably for a foul by Terry.

The scene was utterly familiar, with the Premiership champions settling into their pattern, but they then conceded an equaliser with an uncharacteristic sort of weakness.

Paulo Ferreira fouled Berbatov in the 25th minute and Michael Dawson was able to get in front of Drogba to glance a neat header into the net.

Chelsea lacked their usual security and Keane nodded over seven minutes from the interval when a Lennon cross picked him out in even greater space. Nothing could be left undisturbed in the visitors' uneasy ranks and Ferreira gave way to Boulahrouz at the interval.

The substitute himself would be withdrawn when a lagging Chelsea had to go on the offensive and the Dutchman appeared to be cursing the manager as he went down the tunnel.

It will be interesting to see whether Boulahrouz replaces the suspended Terry in the midweek League Cup tie with Aston Villa.

There was much to make everyone in the Chelsea camp swear and Hossam Ghaly might have been ejected, instead of receiving a caution, when he appeared to elbow Michael Essien. Spurs did need a few breaks to prevail, but Mourinho's side, who were also beaten after going in front at Middlesbrough, are experiencing lapses.