LONDON, Dec 12, (Agencies): Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was left to rue a late penalty miss from Didier Drogba as Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes went from villain to hero in a dramatic 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Ancelotti’s spluttering side were heading for a fifth defeat in nine games after Roman Pavlyuchenko’s first-half strike put Spurs in front. But Gomes gifted Chelsea an equaliser with 20 minutes left when he allowed Drogba’s shot to escape his grasp and loop into the net. Drogba had a golden opportunity to steal the points for Chelsea when Gomes conceded a stoppage time penalty, but the Ivory Coast striker saw his spot-kick brilliantly saved by the Brazilian. Chelsea were well below their best once again and Ancelotti, under increasing pressure in recent weeks, will be cursing Drogba’s miss, which leaves the Blues one point behind Arsenal ahead of the leaders’ trip to Manchester United on Monday.

Ancelotti said: “Drogba was unlucky. He had a good performance and scored a goal. The performance of the team was good. “We tried to do everything to win, we didn’t do it, but I think we are on the right way. We were very close to winning.” Spurs boss Harry Redknapp added: “It was exciting, which is what people pay to watch. It was end to end stuff and wide open, both teams did a lot of attacking but the end product wasn’t there.” Several previous Chelsea managers were sacked for less than the team’s miserable run of just two wins in their last eight games, so it was a brave move by Ancelotti to leave Drogba on the bench. Although Drogba has struggled to recapture the form that made him the Premier League’s top scorer last season, he remains Chelsea’s most potent attacking option and his side were toothless without him in the first half.

If Drogba’s absence played a part in Chelsea’s slow start, they were hindered even more by a continued lack of security at the back. Once the cornerstone of Chelsea’s success, Ancelotti’s defence now gifts chances with alarming regularity and Pavlyuchenko took full advantage to open the scoring in the 15th minute. When Jermain Defoe cut infield and found Pavlyuchenko in the penalty area, John Terry should have closed down the Russian striker. Instead he and John Obi Mikel sat back and allowed Pavlyuchenko to drill a low shot past Peter Cech at his near-post. Over 25 minutes passed before Gomes was seriously tested when Salomon Kalou’s header from Nicolas Anelka’s cross forced the Brazilian into action.

Bolton 2, Blackburn 1
In London, ten-man Bolton moved into fifth place in the Premier League on Sunday as Stuart Holden snatched a dramatic late winner in a 2-1 win over Blackburn. American import Holden struck in the 88th minute just seconds after Mame Biram Diouf seemed to have earned Blackburn a point. Diouf cancelled out a 63rd-minute opener from Fabrice Muamba for Bolton who had Mark Davies sent off after 54 minutes for a second bookable offence. “We went down to 10 men and obviously Blackburn came forward a bit more,” said Bolton boss Owen Coyle. “That actually helped us because it allowed us space, with the way Blackburn set up - and I totally understand why - to stop us playing and paying us a big compliment.

“I know I’ve got spirit in that dressing room and it was so evident again there, to take the blow of the equaliser and then come back and score such a wonderful goal. “It’s a valuable three points.” Disappointed Rovers manager Sam Allardyce said his side had defended “like a bunch of old women and added: “We have thrown away the chance of more points.” But Allardyce claimed Bolton’s Zat Knight was guilty of handball in the box moments before Wanderers went down the other end and opened the scoring.

Wolves 1, Birmingham 0
In Volverhampton, Stephen Hunt scored a late first-half goal to give Wolverhampton Wanderers a 1-0 win over fellow Premier League struggler Birmingham. Hunt scored his second goal of the season with a close-range shot in the 45th minute after a pass from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. Substitute Kevin Phillips wasted a chance to grab an 89th-minute equalizer for Birmingham but headed wide. Wolves stopped the opposition from scoring for the first time this season to go to 15 points, three clear of last-place West Ham and just one point away from climbing out of the three-team relegation zone. Birmingham’s Ben Foster denied Wolves a more comfortable victory with a string of impressive saves, starting in the 10th when he dived to his right to stop Dave Edwards’ goalbound header. The former Manchester United goalkeeper was at it again less than 60 seconds later, denying Hunt with a great point-blank block after the ball broke six yards out. Ward lobbed a speculative effort over the crossbar before Ebanks-Blake’s effort was parried by Foster at the near post.

Ward did find the net just before the interval but was flagged offside. Yet there was nothing wrong with Hunt’s 45th-minute breakthrough as he got in between Roger Johnson and Stephen Carr to connect with Ebanks-Blake’s low cross, leaving Foster with no chance.
Meanwhile, Manchester City have been left with an unsettled captain after turning down Carlos Tevez’s transfer request on Sunday and a player whose track record suggests the issue will not go away quietly.
The Argentine is only 18 months into a five-year deal and for now he will stay at City, who are riding high in the top slots of the Premier League thanks in no small part to Tevez’s excellent form this season.
But for all the talent and hard work that the striker displays on the pitch, there has been a large amount of controversy that he also seems to bring with him.
After City added to it with a ‘Welcome to Manchester’ billboard following his defection from the red side of the city to the blue when he moved from United in 2009, it was only to be expected that more might follow.

The debate over what Tevez’s motives are for wanting to leave will rage on and if he fails to put it behind him, the club may have no choice but to sell if his heart is not in it. Tevez, 26, has spoken of his homesickness for his family who are living in South America, while newspaper reports of a rift with manager Roberto Mancini have been rife. Fans have also wondered whether the move could be a ploy to get a better deal. City’s statement on the matter said they had continued to show sensitivity to Tevez’s personal circumstances and rather than criticise the player, pointed the finger at his advisor.
“The club remains disappointed by this situation and particularly with the actions of Carlos’ representative,” the statement said. Tevez is represented by Kia Joorabchian, a familiar name in the previous sagas that have followed the player around three English clubs over the last four years. West Ham United were fined for breaking rules on third-party agreements regarding player transfers when signing him from Brazilian club Corinthians in 2006 when he was part-owned by Joorabchian’s MSI company.

There followed a protracted legal battle with Sheffield United who sued West Ham for the cost of their relegation saying the Londoners should have faced the drop instead because they should have been given a points deduction as well as the fine. After two years, the clubs settled out of court. In the meantime, Tevez had joined Manchester United in another controversial deal involving more player ownership issues. He then upset United fans by moving down the road to City. That move provided Tevez with a platform he never had at United to be the team’s main goalscorer and it looked like the flow of controversy around him might have been stemmed. His 33 goals in 50 league appearances since joining from United in 2009 have made him a firm favourite with the Eastlands crowd but Internet fan forums were awash with reminders on Sunday that no player was bigger than the club.

Only last week Tevez had spoken of his desire to help City win their first English league title since 1968.
“I know it is hard for people to go to matches week in, week out. It can be expensive and it is not the main priority in life, but they make it their main priority,” he said. “That motivates me and we all want to do the same thing — to make history and win trophies at City.”
Some fans have questioned whether Tevez is attempting to get himself a better pay package — like United striker Wayne Rooney did with a similar statement of desire to leave the club two months ago which ended with him signing a new five-year deal.
That seems unlikely though since the club pointed out that Tevez was already their highest paid player, which came as something of a surprise since midfielder Yaya Toure had widely been reported to hold that honour on 200,000 pounds ($316,000) a week.
Both Tevez and Mancini have denied falling out but the tension between them was visible last week when Tevez reacted angrily to being substituted against Bolton Wanderers.
Mancini also said this week that City could win matches without Tevez.
But whether they could win the title without him is something fans may not want to test out.