On the day that Stamford Bridge remembered and celebrated the life of Peter Osgood, a goal that the late maestro would have been immensely proud to have scored himself dramatically won the game for Chelsea. The strike, in injury time, came not from a modern day Chelsea centre-forward however. Instead it was fired in by the right boot of William Gallas. Chelsea, who had conceded an equaliser on the stroke of half-time having taken the lead through Michael Essien looked set to drop home points for just the second time this season. Although they did strike woodwork late on, the Blues had lost the way somewhat in the second-half. But in games between these two London rivals, never back against Chelsea finding some way to come out on top! There were four changes to the starting line-up as Mourinho attempted to freshen up the team after the Barcelona disappointment. Shaun Wright-Phillips came in for the suspended Arjen Robben while Essien returned after his European ban. Hernán Crespo led the attack while Robert Huth started his third consecutive Premiership game. Within 90 seconds of kick-off, Crespo had flashed a cross over, a few yards in front of Joe Cole. Mido turned onto Keane’s ball and cracked a shot across goal as Spurs responded on seven minutes. That began a spell of Tottenham pressure, Chelsea forced to defend two corners. Then the Blues broke through Cech’s long punt. Wright-Phillips, onto the kick-out escaped Tainio and shot, Robinson saving but when the ball broke to Essien with the Spurs rearguard in chaos, the Ghanaian sliced wide. It was a glorious chance wasted. He would make amends before 14 minutes were on the clock, sidefooting in his first Chelsea goal from 15 yard out. Carrick, under pressure from Lampard, had misplaced a pass allowing Wright-Phillips to nip in. Crespo over-stepped the centre and this time there was no mistake by our record signing. Buoyed by his maiden Chelsea goal, Essien would be a strong presence for the rest of the half. On 24 minutes, Robert Huth collected the ball in his own half, advanced 20 yards and with the encouragement of Stamford Bridge ringing in his ears, attempted an outrageous shot from at least 40 yards. It didn’t deviate greatly but still deceived Robinson. The England keeper blocked unconvincingly with his shoulder and Dawson hacked clear. The same Spurs centre-back was on-hand just a moment later as Wright-Phillips sought out Crespo. Chelsea were looking good as the half-hour approached. Five minutes before the break, Crespo’s diagonal ball played Cole in down the inside left channel. He took the shot early, it went wide of the far post. Clearly feeling comfortable on the freshly-laid playing surface, Chelsea were looking comfortable on the ball and were passing crisply. The one concern was a lack of clear cut chances. That looked an even more serious problem when in the 44th minute the visitors sprung an equaliser out of nothing. A free-kick was awarded on the touchline midway into the Chelsea half. Huth, caught between Mido and Dawson, failed to match his Tottenham counter-part’s leap and when Dawson headed down, Jenas turned the ball in. Cole struck a dipping shot straight at Robinson to begin the second-half action. On 55 minutes it was Gallas with an unlikely left-foot effort from the edge of the area that next worked the Tottenham keeper. Then King turned the ball onto the roof of his own net as Crespo tried to find Wright-Phillips in a spot of role reversal. Robinson had to tip Terry’s header over from the corner that followed. A double substitution was put in place on 68 minutes, Duff for Joe Cole, Drogba for Wright-Phillips. Crespo went to the right as the 4-3-3 shape was maintained. Spurs, with two-men forward were too much of an attacking threat to allow the favoured switch to a three-man Chelsea defence when chasing a second-half lead. If anything Spurs came into the game more after that reconfiguration. They looked the compact side their 4th place in the table suggests. On 75 minutes Maniche was a straight swap for Essien who had faded after his impressive first-half. Three minutes later there were hearts in mouths all around the stadium as Jenas beat Gallas to a long pass from King but with a clear sight of the target, the first-half scorer fired straight at Cech. There was hope when Duff skinned Stalteri but no-one could apply the right touch in the centre and when Lampard hit a high swirling cross to Crespo with five minutes to go, the Argentine striker misconnected with his volley and tumbled to the turf. It completed an ineffective afternoon for him. For Drogba there would be one more chance. Makelele played an excellent long ball that evaded Dawson. The Chelsea forward brought it down and volleyed venomously, only for Robinson to somehow finger-tip it onto the post with the faintest of touches. That was with 88 minutes gone. If some people inside the Bridge gave up on the win at that precise moment, William Gallas was not among them. Injury time was being played when he collected Duff’s short ball with no immediate threat apparent. Cutting inside Stalteri and digging deep into his energy reserves, he let fly from 20 yards out. It was unstoppable! It was brilliant!! He was joined on pitch in celebration by all the players and all the coaching staff. What price Willie Gallas Chelsea Player of the Year now? It was without doubt a crucial moment in the story of this season. It was without doubt another golden moment in the long and highly enjoyable 32 game league unbeaten run over Tottenham.

Chelsea Goalscorers: Gallas 92: Essien 14
Squad: Cech, Ferreira, Huth, Terry, Gallas, Makelele, Wright-Phillips (Drogba 68), Lampard, Essien (Maniche 77), Cole (Duff 68), Crespo
Unused Substitutes: Cudicini, Del Horno
Booked: Duff (90) , Drogba (93)

Tottenham Hotspur Goalscorers: Jenas 45
Squad: Robinson, Stalteri, King, Dawson, Lee, Jenas, Carrick, Davids, Tainio, Mido, Keane (Defoe 83)
Unused Substitutes: Cerny, Gardner, Murphy, Lennon

Referee: Graham Poll

Attendance: 42,243

It was indeed a proud moment for Rearcross FC when our Club's name appeared on the big screens at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea FC welcomed Rearcross FC to Stamford Bridge.