Published: April 15, 2012
FA Cup Semi-final
Spurs 1, Chelsea 5
by DAN CARRIER at Wembley

SPURS' FA Cup run ended tonight in rather tame fashion against Robert Di Matteo's resurgent Chelsea.

It seemed to be oh-so typical of the morose football they've been playing after promising such a bright season early on. The frightening loss of form that has made February, March and April a nightmare for Tottenham fans continued here. 

As with so many crucial games this term, Spurs didn't get the breaks when they were needed them. They actually had the better of the first half, and suffered a game-changing slice of misfortune early in the second. 

The opening salvoes saw Bale and Lennon try their luck from distance, but it wasn't until mid-way through the first half that the Cup nerves thawed and we saw the wingers willing to bomb on past their markers.

Dutchman Rafa van der Vaart, playing in a drifiting role that was nominally up front, had a shot cleared off the line, and then another effort of his, a pass from deep to Adebayor, smacked against a post.

But the breakthrough they deserved did not come and Chelsea, so far tepid, got the opener just before half-time.

A hopeful punt fell to Didier Drogba. Gallas had up to this point marshalled him well, but this time, Gallas was a yard too far away from him and allowed the Ivorian striker to nudge it into space before he hammered a powerful shot home.

Their second, just after the break, was a terrible mistake from the referee: a goalmouth scramble led to a pile of bodies in the six-yard box. Somehow referee Martin Atkinson gave it, despite the ball being a good two feet the wrong side of the goal line.

Spurs can feel rightfully upset about it – and the reaction of Bale and Carlo Cudicini showed what the players thought. There was no doubt in their minds that the ball was nowhere near the goal, and heads dropped.

Bale made it a game with 55 on the clock when a well-placed ball from Parker fell into Adebayor's path. He was knocked off his feet by the onrushing Cech, and Bale neatly followed up and finished.

It spurred the team on again, but they lacked the quality to really test their oppoents. A succession of corners in the 70th minute spelt hope, with King heading one narrowly wide, but it was to be the last meaningful chance. There was not to be a comeback to remember.

After Chelsea had been teasing Spurs with a long session of keep-ball, Ramires was allowed to sneak forward and kill the game. The fourth, on 83, was a Frank Lampard rocket and the fifth, in injury time, a simple tap-in from Malouda. 

If you are going to lose, and see your season fall to pieces, then this was a way of doing it real style. It was a sad sight, after this team have put in such a grand effort over the first few months of this term, just to see it all go so pear-shaped when it mattered.

So 2012 will not be remembered for an FA Cup Final day jaunt, or, perhaps now, a top-four finish. Whatever the breaks Spurs have not had, and the slices of misfortune on and off the pitch, the point is they didn't do the business when push came to shove.