Unbelievable - a 4-4 thriller as Spurs stop Chelsea and Cole makes horror tackle

Cole escaped with a booking after a horror tackle on Tottenham defender Alan Hutton during an incredible 4-4 draw.

Spurs players surrounded referee Mike Riley following the challenge in the first half and furious assistant manager Gus Poyet told fourth official Steve Bennett: 'That is a f****** red card and you know it.'

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos said: 'The referee decided it was a yellow card, but we've seen tackles which were much less serious and they have earned red cards.

'Robbie Keane was sent off for a tackle less serious than that against Birmingham. But we have to respect the officials' decisions.

'It's best not to dwell on that kind of action. We're just very fortunate there weren't any injuries to players.'

This incredible match boiled over when Frank Lampard took out Jermaine Jenas, who had to be substituted at half-time, but there was more to come.

The major flashpoint occurred when Cole clashed with Hutton and Tottenham demanded the left back's dismissal. Players clashed as they walked down the tunnel and Poyet could be seen remonstrating with Cole.

Poyet said: 'It would be unfair on Ashley to talk about only his challenge after the game we had. I prefer not to go into it, but it looked strange.'

Incredibly, Chelsea manager Avram Grant claimed he did not see the incident — even though it happened in front of the Chelsea bench.

Grant said: 'The assistant referee was in my way. I saw the Tottenham bench jump up, but the referee was two metres away. We must respect his decision.'

Chelsea were awesome in the first half and they appeared intent on heading into Sunday's showdown with Arsenal level on points in the Barclays Premier League.

Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead after two minutes and, although Jonathan Woodgate equalised for Tottenham, Michael Essien put them back in front with a delicious lob.

Man of the match Joe Cole scored after the break, but Spurs fought back with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.

Joe Cole appeared to have won it for Chelsea with a brilliant turn and shot, but Robbie Keane's curled effort in the 88th minute secured a point for Spurs.

Grant added: 'It's very disappointing to lead 1-0 and 3-1, then to concede goals from two corners and a free-kick.

'I don't know whether to laugh. One of our strengths is that we defend well against corners and free-kicks, yet Tottenham have scored five from set-pieces against us in two games.

I don't know how to explain that. It's very unusual for us. There was a big mistake from us and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. But we showed a great spirit in the team.

'We're closer to Arsenal than we were before. We'll be at home on Sunday and we'll come to fight to win the game. We're five points off the top, still in the race and we'll continue fighting.'

Chelsea's game plan was undone by a series of bizarre tactical substitutions that invited Spurs to attack.

Their confusion was illustrated in the closing moments when Drogba approached assistant manager Steve Clarke and asked: 'What are we supposed to be doing?'

Spurs were rewarded when Keane scored one of the best goals of his career.

Ramos added: 'At 3-1 and in the second half against a team like Chelsea, it's going to be very difficult, but the game was very open.

'The team believed in themselves and scoring the goal to make it 3-2 quite soon afterwards made things a bit more open and possible.

'It reminds me of the 6-4 against Reading, and against Aston Villa we had a 4-4 result at White Hart Lane. They were spectacular games, too.'