Gylfi Sigurdsson put the home side in front after 20 minutes before the visitors drew level with their first away goal in the league this season courtesy of a John Terry header.
Tottenham had won just three times in their 42 previous Premier League meetings with Chelsea and Andre Villas-Boas was unable to get one over Jose Mourinho, despite Fernando Torres' late dismissal.
David Luiz partnered John Terry in the heart of defence, with Gary Cahill dropping to the bench, while Frank Lampard took the place of Andre Schurrle and Fernando Torres started ahead of Samuel Eto'o in attack.
Tottenham were unchanged from their Premier League victory over Cardiff City, leaving Jermain Defoe on the bench, despite scoring twice in their midweek League Cup win over Aston Villa.
After a series of half-chances for both sides, Tottenham began to assert their dominance, taking the lead through Sigurdsson after 20 minutes.
The in-form midfielder got his third Premier League goal of the season, latching onto a lay-off from Roberto Soldado before breaking John Terry’s weak tackle and calmly finishing past Petr Cech.
With Chelsea reeling, the hosts continued to enjoy plenty of possession, with Kyle Naughton next to test Cech with a long-range effort.
The visitors eventually found their feet in a 10-minute period before the break, Eden Hazard threatening with a deflected strike before Oscar fired straight at Hugo Lloris.
Tottenham could have gone in at half-time two goals up with Brazilian midfielder Paulinho hitting the outside of the post after being played in by Andros Townsend.
Oscar was unable to get a firm enough touch on a Torres cross two minutes into the second half in what was a frantic period of play after the break.
Hazard was the next to test Lloris a minute short of the hour mark before Terry levelled the scores.
Substitute Juan Mata delivered an expert free-kick with the Chelsea captain, who had evaded the attentions of Michael Dawson, glancing a header past Lloris after 65 minutes.
Torres then played in substitute Andre Schurrle but the German was denied by Lloris, before the Spain international was dismissed nine minutes from time.
After a long-running battle with Jan Vertonghen, Torres was shown a second yellow card following an aerial challenge with the Belgian defender.
However, despite plenty of pressure from the home side, they were unable to take advantage of their extra man.
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