Tottenham 2 - 1 Man City
Tottenham tightened their grip on fourth place and condemned Manchester City to a fifth successive Premiership defeat with a tense victory at White Hart Lane.
Canadian right-back Paul Stalteri pounced shortly before the interval for his first league goal of the season and England midfielder Michael Carrick doubled the lead in the 49th minute.
City grew in confidence in the second half and pulled one back through Georgios Samaras before creating further chances to level with Micah Richards squandering the best.
A string of saves from David James kept Stuart Pearce's side in the match, however, with the England keeper in magnificent form apart from one blunder.
Carrick, Robbie Keane and Anthony Gardner were all denied by James, who silenced the home fans' chants of `England's number four` in emphatic style.
Pearce voiced his disgust after last weekend's dismal defeat at Middlesbrough and although City's losing streak continued, he will have been encouraged by today's second-half display.
Spurs, unbeaten at White Hart Lane since August, appeared to be cruising until Samaras capitalised on a lapse in concentration and were unable to relax until the final whistle.
Keane provided their greatest threat - he was kept out by James' reactions on three occasions - while Carrick gave a composed performance in midfield.
Spurs, who have stretched their lead over Arsenal to five points, made the brighter start but City created the first chance with Darius Vassell and Samaras linking to set up the Greek striker who blazed wide.
Mido was hauled down by Richard Dunne 15 yards outside the area but Carrick's powerful deflected free-kick was well saved by David James.
Micah Richards fired inches wide after being played in by Trevor Sinclair with City's movement slicing open Spurs' defence.
Martin Jol's side then squandered two magnificent chances in the space of a minute with Mido failing to capitalise on James rushing out from his line and Keane proving equally wasteful with an attempted chip.
A Paul Stalteri throw-in was gathered by Jenas who fed Keane and the Republic of Ireland skipper dashed across goal and struck a weak shot which James saved.
Kiki Musampa smashed a piledriver over the crossbar but the ease with which City gave the ball away was preventing them from building any momentum.
Jenas curved a well-struck free-kick towards the bottom right corner of City's goal but James was equal to the task.
Superb reactions from James prevented Keane from giving Spurs the lead in the 40th minute with the striker taking Young Pyo-Lee`s pass and pulling the trigger only for City's alert keeper to tip the ball onto the bar.
But his heroics could not stop Spurs taking the lead two minutes before the interval with Mido flicking on to Keane to set up the initial opportunity.
A powerful run from Teemu Tainio put Spurs on the offensive shortly after the restart and the Finland midfielder was involved in Spurs' second in the 49th minute.
His perfectly-weighted lofted pass to Carrick released the England midfielder down the right and his ferociously-struck shot whizzed past James from a tight angle.
Spurs should have been cruising but two minutes later they let City equalise with no-one picking up Sylvain Distin's long throw-in except Samaras who prodded home.
The home side's response was instant but Keane's goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
City's belief had grown after slashing the deficit and they could have equalised but Richards failed to bury a good chance.
Lee supplied the ammunition for Anthony Gardner to shoot in the 70th minute but James collected from close range and then tipped a deflected Stalteri effort onto the post.
Jermain Defoe was brought on with eight minutes to go, replacing Lennon, and Spurs fans were subjected to an uncomfortable finish as City searched in vain for the equaliser.
Tottenham striker Robbie Keane conceded his side made hard work of their 2-1 victory over Manchester City which kept their Champions League qualification challenge on course.
Paul Stalteri put Spurs in front just before half-time and Michael Carrick added a second early in the second half.
City quickly pulled one back when Georgios Samaras volleyed in following Sylvain Distin's long throw into the box, but Martin Jol's side claimed the points, and in truth should have scored more, but for some wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping from David James.
Republic of Ireland skipper Keane told Sky PremPlus: 'We made it hard for ourselves and the last few weeks that's been the story. It was a smashing goal from Michael Carrick and all in all we have to be happy, but we made it hard.
'From now on in we'll only get tough games like this, and it's important we dig in and get more results like this.'
Jol felt his side were worthy winners, and has urged fans to stay calm even though north London rivals Arsenal are close behind in fifth with a game in hand.
'It's a great result and a very exciting game again. They made it difficult or us but if it wasn't for James we'd have scored three, four or five goals.
'The fans shouldn't get nervous because we are still in fourth - in the first half we did well but didn't score more, that was the only problem.
'If Arsenal win all their games then maybe we could have a problem but we don`t focus on other teams, we will see what we do between now and the end of the season.
'Everybody who is below us would like to swap with us. The next game is against Everton and all games are finals for us, but if we put in the same effort again today we are in with a good chance.'
Canadian right-back Paul Stalteri pounced shortly before the interval for his first league goal of the season and England midfielder Michael Carrick doubled the lead in the 49th minute.
City grew in confidence in the second half and pulled one back through Georgios Samaras before creating further chances to level with Micah Richards squandering the best.
A string of saves from David James kept Stuart Pearce's side in the match, however, with the England keeper in magnificent form apart from one blunder.
Carrick, Robbie Keane and Anthony Gardner were all denied by James, who silenced the home fans' chants of `England's number four` in emphatic style.
Pearce voiced his disgust after last weekend's dismal defeat at Middlesbrough and although City's losing streak continued, he will have been encouraged by today's second-half display.
Spurs, unbeaten at White Hart Lane since August, appeared to be cruising until Samaras capitalised on a lapse in concentration and were unable to relax until the final whistle.
Keane provided their greatest threat - he was kept out by James' reactions on three occasions - while Carrick gave a composed performance in midfield.
Spurs, who have stretched their lead over Arsenal to five points, made the brighter start but City created the first chance with Darius Vassell and Samaras linking to set up the Greek striker who blazed wide.
Mido was hauled down by Richard Dunne 15 yards outside the area but Carrick's powerful deflected free-kick was well saved by David James.
Micah Richards fired inches wide after being played in by Trevor Sinclair with City's movement slicing open Spurs' defence.
Martin Jol's side then squandered two magnificent chances in the space of a minute with Mido failing to capitalise on James rushing out from his line and Keane proving equally wasteful with an attempted chip.
A Paul Stalteri throw-in was gathered by Jenas who fed Keane and the Republic of Ireland skipper dashed across goal and struck a weak shot which James saved.
Kiki Musampa smashed a piledriver over the crossbar but the ease with which City gave the ball away was preventing them from building any momentum.
Jenas curved a well-struck free-kick towards the bottom right corner of City's goal but James was equal to the task.
Superb reactions from James prevented Keane from giving Spurs the lead in the 40th minute with the striker taking Young Pyo-Lee`s pass and pulling the trigger only for City's alert keeper to tip the ball onto the bar.
But his heroics could not stop Spurs taking the lead two minutes before the interval with Mido flicking on to Keane to set up the initial opportunity.
A powerful run from Teemu Tainio put Spurs on the offensive shortly after the restart and the Finland midfielder was involved in Spurs' second in the 49th minute.
His perfectly-weighted lofted pass to Carrick released the England midfielder down the right and his ferociously-struck shot whizzed past James from a tight angle.
Spurs should have been cruising but two minutes later they let City equalise with no-one picking up Sylvain Distin's long throw-in except Samaras who prodded home.
The home side's response was instant but Keane's goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
City's belief had grown after slashing the deficit and they could have equalised but Richards failed to bury a good chance.
Lee supplied the ammunition for Anthony Gardner to shoot in the 70th minute but James collected from close range and then tipped a deflected Stalteri effort onto the post.
Jermain Defoe was brought on with eight minutes to go, replacing Lennon, and Spurs fans were subjected to an uncomfortable finish as City searched in vain for the equaliser.
Tottenham striker Robbie Keane conceded his side made hard work of their 2-1 victory over Manchester City which kept their Champions League qualification challenge on course.
Paul Stalteri put Spurs in front just before half-time and Michael Carrick added a second early in the second half.
City quickly pulled one back when Georgios Samaras volleyed in following Sylvain Distin's long throw into the box, but Martin Jol's side claimed the points, and in truth should have scored more, but for some wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping from David James.
Republic of Ireland skipper Keane told Sky PremPlus: 'We made it hard for ourselves and the last few weeks that's been the story. It was a smashing goal from Michael Carrick and all in all we have to be happy, but we made it hard.
'From now on in we'll only get tough games like this, and it's important we dig in and get more results like this.'
Jol felt his side were worthy winners, and has urged fans to stay calm even though north London rivals Arsenal are close behind in fifth with a game in hand.
'It's a great result and a very exciting game again. They made it difficult or us but if it wasn't for James we'd have scored three, four or five goals.
'The fans shouldn't get nervous because we are still in fourth - in the first half we did well but didn't score more, that was the only problem.
'If Arsenal win all their games then maybe we could have a problem but we don`t focus on other teams, we will see what we do between now and the end of the season.
'Everybody who is below us would like to swap with us. The next game is against Everton and all games are finals for us, but if we put in the same effort again today we are in with a good chance.'
posted by dgarden at 1:32 pm
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