Darren Bent secured Tottenham’s first point of the season in a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday, while Liverpool’s perfect start to the season was ended by a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa.
Juliano Belletti capped Chelsea’s early domination with a 28th-minute goal at Stamford Bridge. But Bent scored his first goal of the season in first-half injury time.
Chelsea and Liverpool had won their first two Premier League matches. But Tottenham manager Juande Ramos was under pressure after two losses and the uncertainty surrounding Dimitar Berbatov.
”We needed something to kick-start the season, to lift the season and give the players some confidence,” Ramos said through a translator.
Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said his team’s offence struggled to break through when Spurs packed the midfield.
”We need to respect Tottenham, they are a very good team and play very well and sometimes makes it impossible to win,” Scolari said. ”We had more chances but we made mistakes with the final shots. They put five, six, seven, eight, nine players in the back and it’s difficult to create.”
Bent operated as the lone striker — supported by Giovani dos Santos and Luka Modric — while Berbatov looks likely to wrap up his bitter move to Manchester United before the transfer window closes on Monday.
”I don’t know where he was, he wasn’t here,” Ramos said. ”He wasn’t in the right state to play.”
Spurs completed the signing of Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko as Berbatov’s replacement over the weekend.
While Tottenham’s creative midfielders inspired deep surges in an energetic London derby, it couldn’t mask the absence of a target man, with Bent still unable to rediscover his prolific off-season form.
Scolari was also short on fire power, with Nicolas Anelka spearheading the attack as he waits for Robinho to possibly join from Real Madrid and Didier Drogba to recover from injury.
Frank Lampard had a trio of chances in the first 12 minutes, with an attempted chip over the Tottenham goalkeeper the most elaborate.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was taunted at Villa Park for his part in the failed pursuit of Villa captain Gareth Barry.
Neat interplay by Barry and Ashley Young created the opening for the first half’s best goal-scoring opportunity, but John Carew’s low, sidefooted effort from 10m lacked power and Pepe Reina was able to save.
After the break, Villa left back Nicky Shorey deflected a shot from Xabi Alonso, who Benitez had wanted to replace with Barry, and goalkeeper Brad Friedel was at full stretch to tip over Andrea Dossena’s cross.
”It is not that we should have finished quicker,” Benitez said. ”I think you have to give credit to the defenders.”
Three days after leaving Chelsea, winger Shaun Wright-Phillips reignited his career by scoring two goals on his return to Manchester City in a 3-0 victory at Sunderland.
Stephen Ireland put the visitors ahead in first-half injury time after Sunderland defender Danny Collins sent Michael Johnson’s cross into his path.
Wright-Phillips scored in the 50th minute, latching on to Brazil striker Jo’s pass across goal and sidefooting into an empty net.
It took Wright-Phillips, who left City in 2005, just eight minutes to add another, connecting with Michael Ball’s lofted pass and flicking past Craig Gordon. — Sapa-AP