Chelsea 1
Tottenham 1

Luiz Felipe Scolari was quick to highlight the positives today but when they come to do the maths at the end of the season the new Chelsea manager may have to acknowledge the true cost of two points dropped in the first London derby of his long and distinguished career.

The tensions generated by local rivalries in the capital often undermine the best laid plans and there's little doubt that Tottenham's Juande Ramos stole the London gloating rights in yesterday's 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

On a warm, sultry afternoon in an atmosphere heavy with expectation - was Robinho arriving, was Dimitar Berbatov going? - Scolari tasted disappointment while Ramos was able to unveil a tactical game plan good enough to chip the gloss off Chelsea's polished strategy.

Nicolas Anelka struggled as a lone Chelsea striker so perhaps the signing of Real Madrid's Robinho would significantly improve Scolari's chances of winning the Premier League title.

But Scolari insisted that Robinho would not make or break the season and, despite the loss of Andriy Shevchenko, seemed happy enough with the strikers in his squad. Didier Drogba could be back from injury, of course, for the visit to Manchester City on 13 September, and Salomon Kalou remains a striking option who was summoned from the substitutes' bench yesterday.

The fact Kalou has caught the eye of Arsenal impressed Scolari. "Arsene Wenger is an intelligent man and he wanted Kalou as a centre forward," said the former Brazil coach. "I said 'no'."

Scolari felt the need to address the goalscoring question yesterday after Chelsea had clearly failed to turn possession into goals against a Tottenham team that had lost their opening two games. A brilliant Frank Lampard chip produced a wonderful save from Heurelho Gomes, Anelka lifted a gold-plated opportunity over, Michael Essien hit the woodwork and then, in the second half, another Lampard chip beat Gomes but not the bar.

"We respect Tottenham and the quality they have but I thought we played well," said Scolari. "Sometimes it's just not possible to win.

"We had more chances but made the mistakes that gave them the draw. They had eight or nine players behind the ball and that made it very difficult."

The Ramos strategy was clearly designed to deny Chelsea time and space and ensure Spurs avoided yet another defeat. "It was a great performance and result for us so let's hope it's a positive step in the right direction," he said.

"We needed something to kickstart our season so perhaps this is it. A performance like this lifts spirits and gives players confidence and belief."

Ramos confirmed that Berbatov, a target for Manchester United, had been left out again because he was not in the right frame of mind for the match.

"We didn't blame Berbatov for the last two results," he said. "He wasn't on the pitch. Those on the pitch were to blame for those results just as the same players are responsible today for a fantastic performance against Chelsea. It has nothing to do with Berbatov."

In the Bulgarian's absence, Darren Bent was left to shoulder the major part of the responsibility for Tottenham's goalscoring threat. Watched by England coach Fabio Capello, Bent worked tirelessly but there is no doubt that the signing of Roman Pavlyuchenko will significantly reinforce Totteham's goal threat.

"I think the arrival of Pavlyuchenko, and anyone else who joins at the last minute will give us far more options," said Ramos. "Darren Bent has been working really hard on his own but we haven't had many options."

Tottenham offered little in attack yesterday and were content instead to plug the holes exposed by the passing of Deco, the jinking runs of Joe Cole, the pace of Ashley Cole and the unobtrusive authority of Lampard in midfield.

Even the best players, though, sometimes lose concentration and when Bent failed to clear Deco's corner in the 27th minute, Juliano Belletti was free to steer the ball into the Spurs net.

Chelsea's domination was total and at this point the smart money was on a third consecutive Tottenham defeat. Their attacking threat was so sparse that on one occasion Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech had time to run from his penalty area, catch a high ball destined for Bent on his chest, and then play an easy pass to Ricardo Carvalho.

But, just before the interval, Chelsea paid the price for wasted opportunities. A Lampard challenge on Luka Modric sent the ball spinning into the Chelsea penalty area where Bent fired a low shot under Cech.

For all their second-half possession Chelsea couldn't break down a Tottenham side strengthened by the introduction from the substitutes' bench of Aaron Lennon and Tom Huddlestone.

This for Scolari was all part of a steep learning curve that could become significantly steeper later this month when Chelsea begin their Champions League adventure against Bordeaux and, five days later, face United at Stamford Bridge.