Spurs miss chance to break away

Weekend Review

This week’s results from the English Premier League has seen Tottenham Hotspur miss out on four valuable points that would have seen them stretch their lead on rivals Arsenal to nine points in the race for the fourth Champions League spot.

Last Sunday Martin Jol’s side could only manage a 1-1 draw after Sunderland’s Daryl Murphy slotted his first professional goal of his career two minutes from time.

Murphy’s strike cancelled out Robbie Keane’s opener in the 38th minute and saw the lowly Black Cats gain a valuable point in their tiresome battle to escape relegation.

Last night Spurs could only salvage one point after Wigan Athletic’s visit to White Hart Lane, in the only EPL match of the weekend because of FA Cup commitments.

Swede Andreas Johansson took the lead twice in Wigan’s first ever visit to Tottenham but both goals were nullified after Mido’s goal in the 23rd minute and Jermaine Defoe’s score with a little over 20 minutes to run.

Defoe is the form striker of the competition at the moment, having scored three goals in February so far.

Elsewhere during the week, it took an 87th minute goal from substitute Luis Garcia for Liverpool to defeat Arsenal and keep the Gunners in their woes. Arsenal have now only won two of their last seven matches in the league and face missing out on Europe if they continue their current form.

West Ham United took their winning streak in the league to five matches after outclassing Birmingham City 3-0 at Upton Park. Marlon Harewood grabbed a brace, whilst Dean Ashton scored his second goal for his new club.

Manchester City defeated Charlton at the City of Manchester Stadium 3-2 whilst Blackburn breezed past Sunderland 2-0 at Ewood Park on Wednesday with Craig Bellamy scoring both goals.

With two thirds of the season gone, Chelsea seems home with a 12 point break on Manchester United as they sit on 66 points. Liverpool remain a further game behind whilst Tottenham round up the top four with 45 points. West Ham has been the big movers and they are now equal on points with Arsenal in fifth and sixth respectively with 41 points each.

At the other end of the table, Sunderland seems certain for relegation, while Portsmouth and Birmingham are starting to look in real trouble.

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