London: Tottenham maintained the edge over Chelsea in the Premier League's top four, drawing 1-1 with their London rivals at White Hart Lane on Thursday to retain a two-point cushion in third.
Emmanuel Adebayor fired the hosts ahead after eight minutes but the sting was taken out of Tottenham's fast start when Daniel Sturridge leveled 15 minutes later. Despite a double injury blow for Chelsea in the first half - losing both Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel - Tottenham lacked the fluency to produce a winner against the makeshift visitors.
"I am very proud of the players under a lot of adversity — there was a good spirit of resistance," Villas-Boas said. "It is a moral win."
But Chelsea's second successive draw left them just a point above fifth-placed Arsenal and 11 points behind leaders Manchester City.
But the point was only protected thanks to a stoppage-time deflection by Chelsea captain John Terry after Adebayor's shot had beaten goalkeeper Petr Cech.
"He anticipated the situation at the end — it was a big opportunity for Tottenham," Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said. "It shows his character and strength and personality."
Terry's decisive intervention came on a night of intense scrutiny, a day after he become the first footballer in England to face a criminal charge for racially abusing an opponent. He will appear in court in February after he was alleged to have used racist language toward Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in an October Premier League match.
"His performances have increased since the incident happened," Villas-Boas said. "His commitment, quality and talent are never in doubt. He's completely focused to the cause of this football club."
With Terry's name jeered constantly by Tottenham fans, even Chelsea's official Twitter feed described him as their "under-fire skipper."
But he kept his cool throughout as the Blues recovered from initially being completely overwhelmed at White Hart Lane, where they have not won since 2005.
There was an early reward for Tottenham's dominance. Back after missing Sunday's win over Sunderland through injury, Gareth Bale easily went past Jose Bosingwa on the left flank and sent a loss cross into the penalty area. Cech, who was at fault for the equalizer Chelsea conceded at Wigan at the weekend, failed to grasp the cross, allowing Adebayor to beat him to the ball and score his sixth goal in as many games.
There was an immediate chance to level, but Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel repelled Juan Mata's long-range strike and Daniel Sturridge missed the target from the follow-up.
After allowing Chelsea to regain a foothold in the game, the equalizer came after 23 minutes. Rafael van der Vaart's attempted sliding tackle diverted the ball onto Ashley Cole's arm and it fell kindly for the Chelsea fullback, who crossed for Sturridge.
The England striker easily evaded his marker, Ledley King, to rush forward unchallenged and score his 10th goal of the season. Tottenham's appeals for handball against Cole were waved away by referee Howard Webb.
"It certainly bounced up on to his hand," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't."
The momentum was now very much with Chelsea, and the west Londoners came within inches of taking the lead with their next meaningful attack. Jose Bosingwa's high looping cross found Didier Drogba at the far post, and the Ivorian's venomous left-footed strike crashed off the post, with Friedel well beaten.
Ivanovic was soon forced off with an apparent thigh injury. With Alex out of favor and not even on the bench, Paolo Ferreira had to come on at rightback, with Bosingwa shifting to central defence alongside Terry.
While Ferreira was now tasked with thwarting Bale, the winger's influence was on the wane in the latter stages of the half as Tottenham were missing the injured Aaron Lennon's pace on the right wing.
"We lost Rafa at half-time and we really lost the balance of our team," Redknapp said. "Without Aaron around it's difficult to find a balance to your team."
Chelsea were forced to make a second change just before half-time, with Mikel limping off with a groin problem. But rather than bringing on Frank Lampard, Oriol Romeu was deployed in midfield.
"It doesn't look serious — muscle injuries — and we'll see the amount of damage they have," Villas-Boas said. "Hopefully they can recover quickly."
Chelsea, though, remained assertive after the break, with Drogba heading over and Terry's header blocked early on.
"Our passing game exploded today to wonderful levels," Villas-Boas said.
Adebayor did find the net again in the 58th with the top of his shoulder, but the goal was disallowed for offside, and minutes later the Togo striker headed a dangerous Kyle Walker cross wide.
Uncertain Tottenham defending gave Sturridge an opening and, despite Friedel failing to hold onto the shot, no Chelsea players were lurking to seize the loose ball.
Chasing a win, Fernando Torres was brought on in place of Drogba to make his first appearance in two weeks but couldn't produce his first league goal since September.
Chelsea, however, had their chances. Ramires headed wide when found unmarked by Mata's pinpoint free-kick delivery, before substitute Oriol Romeu had Friedel scrambling with a low drive.
Adebayor was then denied brilliantly by Terry at the death, but both sides will be disappointed by a result which sees them lose further ground on Manchester City.
"We came to Tottenham who are title challengers," Villas-Boas said. "It's always a good point to get. We have been in a worse situation before."
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