Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1: Alex Ferguson will have even more reason to smile on his 20th anniversary in charge of Manchester United tomorrow after Tottenham stunned 10-man Chelsea with their first home league victory over the champions since 1987.
In a pulsating clash at White Hart Lane, which saw Chelsea's England captain John Terry sent off in the second half, Spurs produced a fine comeback to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games.
The victory left Chelsea three points adrift of United at the top of the Premiership and facing the prospect of more disciplinary action after collecting six bookings for the second successive game.
France midfielder Claude Makelele had put the Blues ahead in the 14th minute but Tottenham centre-half Michael Dawson levelled 10 minutes later with a deft header.
Teenage England winger Aaron Lennon earned Spurs a deserved victory when he controlled a cross from man-of-the-match Robbie Keane and calmly slotted the ball beyond Hilario for the winner in the 51st minute.
Tottenham's hopes of such an outcome had looked distinctly unlikely in the opening 20 minutes as Jose Mourinho's side took full control.
They should have been in front in the 13th minute but Spurs captain Ledley King made a last-ditch tackle to thwart Arjen Robben.
However, it was only a temporary reprieve for Spurs as they failed to clear the resulting corner and Makelele beat Paul Robinson with a 25-yard volley.
Three minutes later Robinson made two superb saves in as many minutes. First he kept out Michael Ballack's free-kick and then tipped Frank Lampard's drive over the bar as the champions threatened to over-run their hosts.
But Spurs were level in the 24th minute when Dawson glanced Jermaine Jenas' free-kick into the net after Paulo Ferreira had been booked for bringing down Dimitar Berbatov.
Dawson's strike put an extra zip into an already pulsating encounter between two attack-minded sides and five minutes later Berbatov forced Hilario to turn his right-footed drive for a corner as the ball threatened to creep in at the near post.
But Chelsea were still dangerous and Didier Drogba, who signed a new four-year contract at Stamford Bridge on Friday, was inches away from restoring Chelsea's lead when he turned spectacularly to unleash an overhead kick which flashed wide of Robinson's left-hand post.
