Chelsea failed to take advantage of Manchester United's slip up as they succumbed to their first defeat under Guus Hiddink with a 1-0 loss away to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

The Blues went into the match confident of extending their perfect league record under Hiddink but struggled to break past the defensive duo of Jonathan Woodgate and Leadley King. The first real chance fell to Michael Essien whose low shot was saved in style by Heurelho Gomes.

Minutes later Robbie Keane almost put his side in front but his stinging volley was saved brilliantly by Petr Cech. Chelsea struggled to create any real chances in the first half with Nicolas Anelka going the closest midway through the half.

The hosts stepped up the tempo in the second half and were rewarded five minutes after restart when Aaron Lennon raced past Ashley Cole before crossing the ball for Luka Modric who made no mistake in smashing the ball past Cech to put his side in the lead.

Modric had a great chance to double the lead but failed to beat the Chelsea keeper while King headed wide of the target from a corner. Chelsea's best chance of saving the game fell to Frank Lampard who headed Ricardo Quaresma's cross towards the target but the attempt was cleared off the line by Vedran Corluka.

Chelsea should have had snatched a point late in the game when John Terry found himself unmarked just 8 yards out but Gomes pulled off a brilliant save to keep the England captain's header out to give his side all three points from the game.