Tottenham end 12-year jinx to reach final

Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Chelsea 5-1 to register their first win over the west London side in almost 12 years and reach the English League Cup final for the fifth time on Wednesday.

Goals from Steffen Iversen, Tim Sherwood, Teddy Sheringham, Simon Davies and substitute Serhiy Rebrov wrapped up a stunning win against a Chelsea side who also had striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sent off in the second half.

Tottenham now face premier league rivals Blackburn Rovers in the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on February 24 after Rovers beat first division Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.

Tottenham's home victory was their first over their west London rivals at the 27th time of asking and gave them a 6-3 aggregate semifinal win after Chelsea had won the first leg 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham's one-touch passing, orchestrated by Sheringham but embroidered by Darren Anderton, Gus Poyet and Sherwood, was superb and left Chelsea's defence in tatters as the shell-shocked visitors were on the back foot from the start.

Spurs scored after just two minutes when a dummy from Sheringham put Mauricio Taricco clear down the left. The wing back's shot was parried by Carlo Cudicini but, as John Terry tried to control the ball, Iversen pounced to fire home.

In the 10th minute Boudewijn Zenden and Sheringham challenged for a 50-50 ball on the left touchline and the unfortunate Dutchman came off worst.

The wing back, who had looked lively in the first few minutes, had to be carried off on a stretcher and was replaced by Sam Dalla Bona.

Tottenham were missing the injured Les Ferdinand, whose 14 goals had done so much to brighten their season, but Sheringham and Iversen were proving more than a handful for the visitors.

Sheringham's neat touches and Iversen's persistence had the Chelsea defence in a state of panic repeatedly during the early exchanges.

Hasselbaink battled to get Chelsea back on level terms but Tottenham's tenacious, tackling, especially from midfielder Sherwood, broke down the Dutchman's lines of communication with strike partner Eidur Gudjohnsen.

In the 33rd minute Anderton's corner was met perfectly by Sherwood, who struck the ball first time into the top left-hand corner of the net to give Spurs a 2-0 halftime lead.

QUICK THIRD

Five minutes into the second half Anderton crossed from the right and Poyet chested the ball into the path of Sheringham who drove the ball into the back of the net from inside the area.

Just five minutes later Chelsea's misery was compounded when a goalmouth fracas ended with Hasselbaink being sent off.

Television replays, however, showed that Mario Melchiot was the culprit as he reached over the Dutchman with a fist to make contact with Sheringham.

Anderton was involved again in Tottenham's fourth goal in the 76th minute as his precise pass found Davies down the right and the Welshman struck a firm shot that beat Cudicini at his near post.

Chelsea brought on Gianfranco Zola and Mikael Forsell to add some spice to their attack.

Tottenham's own substitute Rebrov replaced Iversen on 84 minutes and three minutes later was on the scoresheet when he turned in a cross from Oyvind Leonhardsen.

Forsell grabbed a consolation goal for Chelsea a minute from time.