Chelsea came back from two goals down to earn an FA Cup quarter-final replay.
Dimitar Berbatov smashed the ball past Petr Cech to put Tottenham ahead but Chelsea hit back when Frank Lampard turned in Michael Ballack's shot.
Spurs regained the lead when Michael Essien turned Aaron Lennon's cross into his own net and Hossam Ghaly slotted home a third after a powerful run.
Lampard pulled a goal back with a close-range volley and Salomon Kalou cracked in the equaliser late on.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had said before the game that he did not want a replay and by sending out a team without the defensive screen that is Claude Makelele, it seemed he had allowed Spurs to ensure he got his wish.
Without Makelele and injured skipper John Terry, Chelsea looked in the first half as though they would not have coped had they been facing the Dog and Duck's attack rather than the in-form Berbatov and Lennon.
And with Didier Zokora running the midfield, Spurs dictated the tempo and took advantage of Chelsea's disorganisation.
Just five minutes into the game, Jermain Defoe embarked on a mazy run and laid off the ball for Lennon to thread a pass into the patch of Berbatov, who lashed in a first-time effort.
The warning signs were there for Chelsea but Lampard briefly papered over the cracks when he redirected Ballack's cross-shot to level the score.
But although Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba then began to show signs of life, Chelsea looked anything other than alive elsewhere in the park.
Certainly Essien was not tuned in when he nipped in front of Cech to cut out a cross his keeper would have comfortably gathered, only to put the ball into his own goal.
Spurs almost squandered their advantage when Paul Stalteri made a last-ditch clearance to prevent Michael Dawson scoring an own goal.
But seven minutes later, Tottenham extended their lead when Ghaly picked up the ball deep in his own half and then out-muscled the Chelsea midfield to burst through on goal and place a precise low shot out of Cech's reach.
606: DEBATE
As the first half drew to a close, Essien came close to pulling a goal back but headed wide at the far post.
After the break Chelsea, perhaps sensibly, opted to pile everyone forward - they did not seem to have anyone at the back anyway.
A trio of chances came in quick succession but Ballack spurned two with his head and Lampard shot weakly.
And Spurs should have made them pay when Lennon burst through on goal but Cech produced a superb save to deny him and then Defoe made a mess of a free header from three yards out.
Instead, it was the visitors who were punished when a goalmouth scramble ensued after a corner and the ball broke to Lampard, who clipped the ball low into the corner.
Suddenly, a rejigged Chelsea were in the ascendancy and for the first time in the game Spurs were on the back foot.
The hosts, who had made a host of substitutions, appeared to be playing with only two defenders.
Yet the changes paid off when substitute Kalou connected sweetly after Drogba headed the ball across goal and Chelsea were level.
But then, in injury time, Defoe had a chance to give Tottenham their first win at Stamford Bridge for 17 years but his fizzing drive cannoned back off the bar.
Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira (Wright-Phillips 34), Essien, Carvalho, Ashley Cole (Kalou 64), Diarra (Boulahrouz 57), Lampard, Robben, Ballack, Drogba, Shevchenko.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bridge.
Booked: Diarra, Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Kalou.
Goals: Lampard 22, 71, Kalou 86.
Tottenham: Cerny, Stalteri, Dawson, Rocha, Young-Pyo Lee, Ghaly (Gardner 81), Tainio, Zokora, Lennon (Malbranque 76), Berbatov (Mido 66), Defoe.
Subs Not Used: Burch, Huddlestone.
Booked: Ghaly, Zokora, Young-Pyo Lee, Stalteri, Cerny.
Goals: Berbatov 5, Essien 28 og, Ghaly 36.
Att: 41,517
Ref: M Riley (W Yorkshire).