Bottom club Sunderland earned a stunning win at Chelsea that severely dented the Blues’ title hopes and gave leaders Liverpool a major boost.
Connor Wickham followed up Marcos Alonso’s shot to equalise after Samuel Eto’o had given Chelsea the lead.
After several Chelsea chances, Sunderland were given a penalty when Cesar Azpilicueta fouled Jozy Altidore.
And Fabio Borini scored to inflict Jose Mourinho’s first home Premier League defeat in 78 games as Chelsea manager.
The award of a marginal penalty so late in the game sparked anger on the Chelsea bench and Mourinho had to restrain assistant coach Rui Faria, who was seeking to confront referee Mike Dean.
Faria was sent to the stands to watch the final stages as the match – and quite possibly Chelsea’s chances of winning the league – fizzled out.
The shock result leaves the second-placed Blues two points behind Liverpool, who will play their game in hand against Norwich on Sunday before hosting Chelsea a week later.
Meanwhile, Sunderland, who had secured a point at title-chasing Manchester City in midweek, closed to within three points of Norwich, who are occupying the final spot above the relegation zone.
While the result was a huge coup for the Black Cats, it represents a devastating blow for Mourinho, who must rouse his men for their trip to Atletico Madrid for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
Once again, the Portuguese was left lamenting the inadequacies of his strikers as the Blues only converted one of their 31 chances in the absence through injury of their top scorer Eden Hazard.
The Blues had begun the match confidently, as Eto’o capitalised on some slack Sunderland marking from a corner to open the scoring.
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