The London derby had a boring first half before Eto’o took full advantage of a mistake by Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen to open the scoring.
The Cameroonian striker then caused another midfielder of the away team, Younes Kaboul, to foul and receive a direct red card, giving Chelsea a numerical advantage and a penalty.
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Eto’o made an outstanding contribution in Chelsea’s victory, with the opening goal and the penalty-winning situation giving Tottenham a numerical advantage at the beginning of the second half.
Thanks to the three points earned from this match, Chelsea rose with a gap of seven points more than the next two teams, Liverpool and Arsenal, who did not play round 29 because of the FA Cup.
For Tottenham, this defeat will almost put an end to their hopes of competing for the top 4. They are still six points behind their two most realistic competitors, Arsenal and Liverpool, while having played more than these two pairs.
Tottenham, under new coach Tim Sherwood, won two other big away matches when defeating Man Utd 2-1 and then Newcastle 4-0.
Instead of playing an attacking double, Tottenham yesterday chose to enter the game with a tight defensive style.
But the great pressure that Chelsea created also brought results when Tottenham’s defense made mistakes and collapsed in a chain effect.
Three minutes later, it was Eto’o again, moving into the penalty area to catch a pass from the left from Hazard and falling beautifully when Kaboul just touched him.
The red card for Kaboul (second from right) extinguished all hopes of Tottenham.
In a 10 vs 11 position, Tottenham no longer had the ability to defend against the home side’s attacks.
In the 88th minute, Sandro fumbled to block a cross from Oscar’s right and gave Demba Ba a chance to easily beat goalkeeper Lloris to increase the score to 3-0.
Squad:
Chelsea: Cech – Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta – Lampard (Oscar 46), Matic, Ramires – Schurrle (Willian 66), Eto’o (Three 76), Hazard.
Subs not used: Mikel, Salah, Schwarzer, Kalas.
Yellow card: Lampard, Azpilicueta
Goals: Eto’o 56, Hazard pen 60, Ba 88 and 89
Tottenham: Lloris – Naughton, Dawson (Fryers 72), Kaboul, Vertonghen – Sandro, Bentaleb – Walker, Sigurdsson (Paulinho 61), Lennon – Adebayor.
Subs not used: Soldado, Townsend, Chadli, Friedel, Kane.
Yellow cards: Bentaleb, Naughton, Sandro
Red card: Kaboul
Referee: Michael Oliver
