Tottenham boosted their bid for Champions League football next season with a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday as rivals Blackburn saw their push for fourth place stalled by Portsmouth’s battle for Premiership survival.
Goals from Canadian defender Paul Stalteri and England midfielder Michael Carrick either side of half-time allowed fourth-placed Spurs to pull four points clear of Blackburn, who were held to a 2-2 draw at Portsmouth.
Arsenal, a point further back, have two games in hand but face a daunting trip to Manchester United on Sunday.
Greek striker Georgios Samaras gave Manchester City hope of a point at White Hart Lane with a close-range volley three minutes after Carrick’s strike.
But the visitors were unable to claim an equaliser and needed a string of top-quality saves from David James to prevent Spurs from adding to their score.
It was a fifth consecutive defeat for City, who now look destined to end the season in the bottom half of the table. ”It was a great result,” said Spurs boss Martin Jol. ”We made it difficult for ourselves but if it was not for James we would have
scored three, four or five goals.”
Craig Bellamy twice put Blackburn ahead at Fratton Park. But Portsmouth, who had won their three previous matches, extended their unbeaten run thanks to equalisers from Lomana LuaLua and Svetoslav Todorov.
The point was not quite enough to lift Pompey out of the drop zone but they are now level on points with Birmingham, who occupy the last survival spot and were due to play Wigan later on Saturday.
If Spurs can go on to clinch fourth place in the Premiership they will go into the final qualifying round for next season’s Champions League, unless Arsenal go on to win the Champions League. In that case, Arsenal would go directly into the group stages of Europe’s elite competition, along with the two top sides in the Premiership and only the third-placed side would go into the final qualifier.
”Everyone below us would like to swap places with us,” Jol added. ”All the games are finals for us now but if we have the same effort as today then we are in with a big chance.”
Robbie Keane, who created Stalteri’s opener with a shot that James could only palm into the path of the defender, admitted that the Spurs squad would become Manchester United fans for a day on Sunday.
”We will all be watching tomorrow’s match with great interest and hopefully United can do us a favour, although Arsenal are on a great run at the moment,” said the Ireland striker.
Bottom side Sunderland’s match with Fulham was abandoned after 21 minutes because of a blizzard.
The visitors, who have not won away all season, were leading 1-0 through Brian McBride’s ninth-minute strike when referee Mike Riley judged the conditions too dangerous to carry on.
A defeat for Sunderland would have confirmed their relegation from the top flight. That would happen anyway if Birmingham beat Wigan on Saturday evening or West Brom beat Aston Villa on Sunday.
Charlton and Everton fought out a dour goalless draw at The Valley in which the home side appeared most concerned with conserving energy for Wednesday’s FA Cup quarter-final replay at Middlesbrough. – Sapa-AFP