Darren Bent hasn't had much to enjoy since his £16.5 million (Dh110m) arrival at Tottenham, but few goals will be as rewarding for him or his team as the one at Stamford Bridge. The continued speculation about which strikers will be arriving at the club, along with Roman Pavlyuchenko, won't have done much for his confidence, fragile after just eight goals last season. With Dimitar Berbatov again left out as Manchester United look to close a deal for the Bulgarian before tonight's transfer window deadline, it was left to Bent to forage alone up front. It looked as if his nightmare would continue when his mis-hit clearance allowed Juliano Belletti to score Chelsea's opener in the 27th minute. But, in front of the watching national coach Fabio Capello, Bent kept battling and scored the leveller which gave Spurs a first point of the season and prevented their worst start to a Premier League campaign. In first-half injury-time, Frank Lampard challenged Luka Modric and the ball dropped kindly to the alert frontman, who swept it through the legs of Petr Cech. It was his first competitive goal in five months and first away from White Hart Lane since last November. Bent didn't get another chance, but his goal was enough to take his side off bottom spot. He said: "It's the most clear chance I have had all season." Chelsea's 100 per cent start was ruined and, privately, Luiz Felipe Scolari will not be happy as his side dominated possession, but lacked the cutting edge which the injured Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack, or indeed Robinho, could provide. He said: "We had more chances, but didn't finish well. In England if you have two or three chances and don't score then you don't win." The Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes made a crucial sixth-minute save to keep out Lampard's instinctive 20-yard chip. Scolari knows all about the ability of the keeper, having handed his fellow Brazilian a chance when they were at Cruzeiro together seven years ago. The save settled a nervy Spurs side, who had not won at Chelsea since 1990. But 20 minutes later, after Michael Essien crashed a venomous 25-yard effort off the bar, Bent failed to clear Deco's low corner and Belletti bundled in. Chelsea, though, surprisingly lacked spark and style and the second half was a frustrating struggle - a far cry from the storming opening day victory over Portsmouth and if he didn't already know it, Scolari will now know that the path to success in England can often be a tough and troubled one. Just ask Bent. Earlier in the day,Real Madrid criticised Chelsea for their pursuit of Robinho and that could damage hopes of a transfer agreement between the clubs today. In a statement, the Spaniards said: "Real Madrid profoundly regret the conduct of the Chelsea directors, who despite knowing perfectly well the decision not to transfer the player, have continued making declarations and have gone as far as to sell shirts of the player through their website." But Chlesea hit back with a statement of their own, saying: "There is nothing wrong with publicly confirming our interest in a player when the club involved is well aware of it. As for the issue regarding the website, it was accident by an external supplier."
akhan@thenational.ae
