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Portsmouth's terrible season went from bad to worse at White Hart Lane as they lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur and had two players stretchered off, finishing the match with 10 men on the field.

Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar both struck against their former club to strengthen Tottenham's hold on fourth place after a spirited early showing from the visitors.

Of more pressing concern to Pompey manager Avram Grant will be injuries to Hermann Hreidarsson and Danny Webber - who were both stretchered off - and goalkeeper David James - who limped off the field as he was substituted late on.

With Liverpool and Manchester City not playing on Saturday, the win moves Spurs five points clear of their top four rivals, while Portsmouth remain 11 points adrift at the bottom.

There was a warm embrace between Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth counterpart Grant, once Redknapp's director of football at Fratton Park, but the Spurs manager's team were not so welcoming on the field.

Gareth Bale exchanged passes with Luka Modric on the left and galloped forward down the flank. The in-form Welshman had three blue shirts around him, but that did not stop him from chipping a cross in for Crouch to stoop and head past James on 27 minutes to give Spurs the lead.

Kranjcar doubled Tottenham's lead five minutes before half-time. Right-back Kyle Walker, making his Premier League debut for Spurs, surged to the byline and pulled a ball back to Modric on the edge of the box. The playmaker's strike rebounded off Hayden Mullins in the area and landed kindly for Kranjcar to prod home from close range.

Spurs could have been two ahead before Kranjcar struck his ninth of the season. Tom Huddlestone sent a thundering strike from distance crashing off the bar, and as the second ball came in Crouch hit the far post with a looping volley. Then, barely a minute later, the England striker executed an impressive overhead kick inside the area, but it was struck right at James.

Portsmouth had started quite brightly in what was a dress rehearsal for next month's FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and Anthony Vanden Borre deserved a goal for his marauding run that culminated in a neat one-two with Frederique Piquionne on the edge of the Spurs box, only for him to be denied by the onrushing Heurelho Gomes.

Injuries had decimated the Portsmouth squad to such an extent that they could only name six substitutes on the bench before kick-off, and things got worse soon after the restart when veteran defender Hreidarsson collapsed to the ground with no one near him inside the Portsmouth box. The Icelandic stopper went down clutching his ankle, and was eventually stretchered off and replaced by Webber.

After taking a few minutes to get over seeing their team-mate and PFA representative hurt, Portsmouth rallied, in particular former Spurs midfielder Michael Brown, whose surging runs led to one shot flashing wide and an excellent last-ditch tackle from Younes Kaboul, who came off the bench to face his former club after Michael Dawson limped off.

Spurs, however, remained in control, and Sebastien Bassong should have beaten James with a free header from a corner, only to see his effort saved.

Things took yet another serious downward turn for Portsmouth when, with just a few minutes of the match remaining, Webber jarred his ankle after slight contact from Benoit Assou-Ekotto, and he too left the field on a stretcher.

As Webber was being treated on the pitch, James was also nursing an ankle injury, which he seemed to pick up as he landed after a routine catch. As Grant had just brought Quincy Owusu-Abeyie on to the field in a tactical switch, Jamie Ashdown took the place of James in the Portsmouth goal and the visitors ended a torrid afternoon with 10 men on the field.

Spurs were unrelenting in their quest for a third goal against a broken Portsmouth side during the ensuing nine minutes of stoppage time, but efforts from Crouch and Bale were blocked before the whistle finally and mercifully blew.

Braces from Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda helped Chelsea thrash Portsmouth 5-0 at Fratton Park as the Blues move to within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Torrential rain on the South Coast provided conditions not conducive to good football: Pompey goalkeeper David James was the first victim as he swished his foot wildly at a ball outside his box, only to see it bounce beyond his air-shot and leave Drogba with a simple tap-in after 32 minutes.

That calamitous mistake from the England hopeful was followed by a more conventional goal in the 50th minute as Malouda lashed home an emphatic finish from a tight angle, and a third swiftly followed as the Frenchman followed up Frank Lampard's rasping strike on the hour mark.

Drogba drilled the fourth past James with a clinical finish in the 77th minute, and the instrumental Lampard deservedly capped off the emphatic victory with a close-range header in stoppage time.

Carlo Ancelotti inevitably welcomed back goalkeeper Petr Cech, while Daniel Sturridge was handed a starting berth alongside Drogba as the impotent of late Nicolas Anelka was confined to the bench.

Chelsea dictated the play in the early stages, Drogba muscling his way through on goal in belligerent fashion only to drag his shot wide of James's far post in the sixth minute.

Yuri Zhirkov was an enterprising presence down the left, and the full-back burst into the Portsmouth penalty area at pace five minutes later, but could not steady himself to pick out a clinical finish.

It looked like Chelsea were bracing themselves for a frustrating evening before James hurtled off his line and took a wild swipe at Deco's through ball - then had to look back in horror as Drogba jogged in to tap the ball into an empty net just after the half-hour mark.

The beleaguered Pompey keeper made a stunning reflex save to deny Lampard in the 36th minute and make partial atonement for his aberration after the Chelsea midfielder drove a low shot towards the near post, only to see it tipped wide at the last second.

The Portsmouth supporters were irate in the 40th minute as Malouda was only shown a booking for unceremoniously flooring Ricardo Rocha with a high elbow. The defender was stretchered off, and Avram Grant made an enforced reshuffle.

The second half continued where the first left off with Portsmouth forced to chase shadows for long periods, and both sides made early changes with Joe Cole replacing Sturridge for the visitors.

Within five minutes of the restart Malouda latched on to a pinpoint pass from Lampard down the left, and the Frenchman proceeded to unleash a fierce shot which comprehensively beat James at his near post.

Lampard slipped in Cole who was unable to make an impact as James made a smart stop down low to his left, but a rasping shot from the midfielder provided an inadvertent assist for Malouda's second as the winger slammed the follow-up into the top corner.

Another fizzing shot from Lampard was somehow tipped over for a corner before Drogba netted his second with a crisp finish from substitute Patrick van Aanholt's raking diagonal pass.

Richard Hughes and Drogba both contrived to trade off inexplicable misses from close range at either end of the field, but the second half had already begun to peter out slowly with the hosts in damage-limitation mode.

Five goals proved to be the extent of the damage inflicted by Ancelotti's side, as Lampard stole in to round off a slick move in stoppage time to move the Blues to within one point of leaders United, with an identical goal difference.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is fit to return for Wednesday's Premier League game at bottom club Portsmouth but defender Branislav Ivanovic will be sidelined for a month.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti also said Ashley Cole was back in light training after breaking his left ankle at Everton at the start of February and he expected the England defender to return to the first team before the end of the season.

Czech Republic keeper Cech has been out since he was carried off on a stretcher with a calf injury in the Champions League last-16 first leg match at Internazionale on February 24.

Third-choice keeper Ross Turnbull, who has played the last three games, will drop to the bench against Portsmouth. Ancelotti also said he expected second-choice Henrique Hilario to be fit again for Saturday's home game against Aston Villa.

Serbia defender Ivanovic, who has played at full-back for most of the season, limped off with knee ligament damage midway through Sunday's 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers.

"Ivanovic is an important player for us," Ancelotti said.

"He is out for one month but we hope to recover him before this period.

"Fortunately we have Yuri Zhirkov recovered so we can put Paulo Ferreira at right-back and Zhirkov at left-back."

Chelsea, who have 65 points from 30 matches, have a game in hand on Manchester United and can move within one point of the Premier League leaders by winning on Wednesday.

"The mood was not good after the Blackburn game because when we don't win we are disappointed," said Ancelotti, who believes a points tally of 86 will win the title.

"But we have a possibility to come back (strong) tomorrow."

Portsmouth have been fined by the Premier League after breaching a series of rules and regulations this season.

The League had no option but to hand the south-coast club a number of financial penalties for the rule breaches.

A spokesman for the League confirmed: "Portsmouth have been fined for a series of breaches of our rules and regulations during the course of this season."

The fine has been reported as being in the region of £1 million and is understood to relate to the club's late payment of wages to playing staff and late payment of outstanding transfer cash.

Earlier this season, the Premier League used £7 million of TV money due to be given to Pompey to pay off outstanding transfer fees to other clubs.

Portsmouth entered administration in February and a nine-point deduction was confirmed last week, leaving the club facing almost certain relegation. The fine will be paid to the League out of the club's share of television money.