Blues cruise past Spurs as Mourinho's men go seven points clear

Chelsea have moved seven points clear at
the top of the Premier League after
second-half goals from Samuel Eto'o ,
Eden Hazard and Demba Ba sealed a 4-0
victory over Tottenham.

After a goalless first half, the Cameroon
striker capitalised on a mistake from Jan
Vertonghen to put Jose Mourinho's men
in front in the 56th minute before Younes
Kaboul brought down the forward inside
Spurs' box to concede a penalty.
The French defender was given a straight
red card for his challenge, while Hazard
converted the spot kick to register his
13th Premier League goal of the season
before two late goals from Ba sealed the
win in some style.
Eto'o was immediately at the heart of the
action following his late call-up after
Fernando Torres was injured in the warm-
up.
Hazard released the striker inside the first
30 seconds and Tottenham goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris tore out of his area to bring
Eto'o down. An offside flag, which
appeared to be incorrectly raised, possibly
saved the France international from an
incredibly early red card.
Lloris' haphazard start continued in the
fifth minute when Eto'o returned the
favour to Hazard and the playmaker
negotiated a rash lunge from the visiting
keeper but shot wide when off balance.
Tottenham could have moved ahead in
the 14th minute as Nabil Bentaleb
collected Emmanuel Adebayor's flick on,
only to drag past the post with frustrated
team-mates queuing up in the box.
Petr Cech got down superbly to beat away
a rasping volley from Sandro, while Eto'o
drilled beyond the near post after being
forced wide by Kaboul - one of four
players recalled by Tottenham boss Tim
Sherwood.
Mourinho sent on Oscar for the yellow-
carded Frank Lampard at the break and
there were soon chances at both ends -
Kaboul rising highest to head a corner into
Cech's arms before Andre Schurrle missed
his kick having linked nicely with Eto'o.
Vertonghen also tried his luck with an
audacious 30-yard chip but a dreadful
error from Tottenham's left-back allowed
Chelsea to open the scoring.
The Belgium international lost his footing
and saw his subsequent pass intercepted
by Eto'o , who bore down on goal and
finished incisively.
Kaboul then bundled Eto'o over as the
latter looked to meet Hazard's low cross.
Referee Michael Oliver, adjudging the
defender to have prevented a clear
goalscoring opportunity, produced a red
card and Hazard nonchalantly stroked
home the spot kick, sending Lloris the
wrong way.
Sherwood finished the game without both
starting centre-backs after Michael
Dawson departed with a hamstring injury,
and his team ended the contest in
disarray.
Sandro fell when trying to retrieve Oscar's
right-wing cross, allowing Ba to finish in
the 88th minute and the same player
capitalised once more when an
inexplicable back header from Kyle Walker
sold Lloris short.