London: Jose Mourinho failed to get the better of his former pupil on Saturday as Chelsea was held to a 1-1 draw at Tottenham, with the visiting manager angry to see Fernando Torres sent off as they pushed for a winner.
Chelsea had fought back from a goal down, with John Terry's header during a revitalized second-half display canceling out Gylfi Sigurdsson's opener as the Blues seized the initiative against Andre Villas-Boas' team.
With around 10 minutes to go, Torres, who had been at the heart of Chelsea's second-half attacking threat, was shown a second yellow card for an aerial collision with Jan Vertonghen.
“I'm sad because the game was good,” Mourinho said. “In the first half it was not such a good Chelsea, in the second half Chelsea was not good—Chelsea was very, very good.”
Torres looked incredulous after being shown red, remaining on the pitch in disbelief before eventually heading down the tunnel.
Mourinho was critical of referee Mike Dean, saying: “It's a show for millions of people, and you killed the show because you want to be clever.”
Further incensing Mourinho was his belief that Vertonghen should have been suspended for Saturday's encounter.
The midfielder escaped a red card after pulling down the shorts of Nicklas Helenius as the striker went through on goal during Tottenham's win at Aston Villa in the League Cup on Tuesday.
“You go to You Tube—it's top of the ridiculous situations in football—it's ridiculous, the boy was naked,” Mourinho said. “And today (Vertonghen) changed the game, so I'm not happy.”
Chelsea still remains two points behind Tottenham, which headed the standings ahead of Arsenal's match at Swansea later Saturday.
The London derby was as fiery as the build-up when the tensions between the rival managers spilled out in public.
Villas-Boas, once a junior member of Mourinho's coaching staff at Chelsea and Inter Milan, was facing his former mentor for the first time from an opposing dugout.
Their pre-match greeting at White Hart Lane was more cordial than their verbal exchanges through the media around this match.
“I'm not interested in what he said,” Mourinho said after Saturday's game when asked to respond to one of Villas-Boas' comments.
“I'm 50 years old I'm not a child,” Mourinho added in a broadcast interview. “If you have a problem with someone you don't go to your mum, your dad or to the press to complain about it ... to resolve the situation.”
So for now the reasons for the spat are no clearer. Neither is the status of the title race after this match that Tottenham initially controlled.
Christian Eriksen was the orchestrator for Sigurdsson's opener, two week after setting up the Iceland midfielder's double at Norwich.
Eriksen brought the ball down the left flank and crossed to Roberto Soldado, who teed up Sigurdsson to find the net in the 19th minute.
A second Tottenham goal looked likely, with Paulinho coming closest just before the break when he hit the sidenetting.
But Chelsea was transformed after the break, giving just the response Mourinho demanded.
Out-of-favor Mata entered at halftime and his display convinced Mourinho to start him against Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday when Chelsea looks for its first points in the Champions League group stage.
“This is the way players have to say ‘I want to play,”' Mourinho said. “He changed the team in the second half.”
The Blues were awarded a free kick when Vertonghen tripped Ramires as he ran through on goal, and then Terry became the first opponent to score at White Hart Lane all season in the 65th minute.
Tottenham struggled to get out of its own half as Chelsea pushed for the winner, with Torres the creator as Andre Schurrle was denied by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Tottenham changed the focal point of the attack, with Jermain Defoe, who scored in the League Cup in midweek, replacing Soldado.
Mourinho had been planning to put two up front, but Samuel Eto'o remained on the bench after Torres was sent off. He had received his first booking, for scratching Vertonghen's face.
“I don't think Fernando went in nasty to deserve a sending off,” Villas-Boas said. “The referee decided both players went in in an aggressive way, but it was probably an unfair sending off.”
For Tottenham, even with a man advantage, the winner proved elusive as Defoe struck at Petr Cech with no power and Sigurdsson volleyed over.
