23/01/2002  Tottenham 5 Chelsea 1 (agg: 6-3)
 
It was February 1990 that Spurs last beat Chelsea, when 
Terry Venables and Bobby Campbell were in charge of the two 
sides, Nelson Mandela was still in prison and Manchester 
United had not won the title for 23 years.

It was a hoodoo that had held sway for 26 games, but it was 
exorcised in stunning style as Spurs thrashed their lacklustre 
West London rivals in a 5-1 second leg triumph.

Indeed, in overturning a 2-1 first leg deficit in such 
fashion, Hoddle proved that Tottenham's supposed managerial 
Messiah can perform miracles, after all.

Chelsea had appealed to their fans not to taint the club's 
image after missiles were thrown at players in the first leg. 
But it was their players who shockingly let them down at White 
Hart Lane.

Not only was it the fairweather Chelsea side that turned 
up, the one that ensures they will forever be plagued by the 
tag that is politely known as inconsistency.

But Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was also sent off, albeit in a 
case of mistaken identity as it was Mario Melchiot who 
actually deserved to be punished for slapping Teddy Sheringham 
around the face.

Sheringham had just put Spurs 3-0 up after strikes by 
Steffen Iversen, after just one minute, and Tim Sherwood, who 
had looked to be on his way out of the club recently until 
Steffen Freund's injury, had seized the initiative.

And there was no way back as Simon Davies and even 
substitute Sergei Rebrov rounded off the scoring to ensure 
Spurs booked a final spot against Blackburn in the competition 
which they last won in 1999

All this after the home side had supposedly been weakened 
by the loss of Les Ferdinand only for his replacement, 
Iversen, to take just 105 seconds to make his mark in his 
first start since August due to an ankle injury.

Sheringham's sublime dummy left Mauricio Taricco in the 
clear but when his shot was parried by Carlo Cudicini, 
defender John Terry was like a rabbit caught in headlights as 
he delayed a straightforward clearance.

That enabled Iversen to bundle the ball home from close 
range and there were soon further problems for Chelsea as 
Boudewijn Zenden went off injured yet again.

Claudio Ranieri's solution was to bring on Sam dalla Bona 
in an attempt to stem Tottenham's continuing flood of 
pressure, but still his side missed in-form Gianfranco Zola's 
creative edge.

In a raw, full-blooded cup tie, they were also being 
out-run in midfield, where Emmanuel Petit was a peripheral 
figure and Sherwood, along with Poyet and Darren Anderton, 
forcefully held sway.

Indeed, when Poyet's instinctive half-volley was tipped 
over, it was Sherwood who struck again from the ensuing corner 
on 32 minutes.

Anderton's delivery initially looked to have been mishit 
but the ball flew straight along the ground to his midfield 
colleague, who had escaped the attentions of his marker, dalla 
Bona.

Sherwood spun onto the ball and crashed an unstoppable 
drive into the top corner. Even Neil Sullivan raced out of his 
goal to join the celebrations.

In contrast, Chelsea were being submerged in a sea of 
mediocrity, with a foul throw by Mario Stanic, a tame 
free-kick by Hasselbaink and a slip by Marcel Desailly in a 
three-minute spell summing up their woes.

The interval came and went and nothing had changed. The 
rain intensified and so Chelsea's hopes were washed away.

Within four minutes of the restart, Anderton delivered a 
telling cross from the left and Poyet chested the ball into 
the path of Sheringham.

The England international, who missed the first leg tie 
through suspension, struck a first-time volley unerringly into 
the far corner and stood as motionless in celebration as the 
Chelsea defence had been in their marking.

Chelsea's growing frustration now boiled over, although it 
was Hasselbaink, not compatriot Melchiot, who was sent off 
with 35 minutes left as referee Mark Halsey had been partially 
unsighted by Sheringham.

The loss of their leading scorer was still a far more 
telling blow to the visitors but even though Zola and Mikael 
Forssell both came on, Spurs simply toyed with their wounded 
visitors before striking again.

Davies beat keeper Cudicini at the near post and then, with 
four minutes left, even unsettled striker Rebrov joined in the 
rout to convert a chance from close range to complete 
Chelsea's misery.

Forssell's late strike was no consolation at all as Poyet, 
his former Chelsea team-mate, led the wild White Hart Lane 
celebrations. But then this was a party that had been 12 years 
in the planning stages.