D Thursday, December 17, 2009 METROSPORT 23 Opener: Kranjcar, right, celebrates his goal Slick Spurs sink City as Robinho storms off Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Kranjcar, Defoe (Jenas 90), Crouch. Booked: Palacios, Kranjcar. Man City: Given, Richards, Onuoha, Toure, Sylvinho, Ireland, De Jong (Petrov 71), Barry, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho (Santa Cruz 59). Booked: Sylvinho, De Jong, Tevez. Referee: A Wiley TOTTENHAM..........................3 MAN CITY ................................0 TOTTENHAM reinvigorated their challenge for a Champions League place with an emphatic victory at White Hart Lane last night. The result kept Spurs fifth and moved Harry Redknapps men to within two points of the Champions League places. Nico Kranjcar started and finished the scoring, netting once in each half, with Jermain Defoe grabbing the other as Spurs saw off one their main rivals for a top-four finish. England winger Aaron Lennon set up the opener his cross falling to Kranjcar at the far post after Peter Crouch had his header blocked. City were without Joleon Lescott after the defender had surgery on a knee injury which will keep him out for five weeks. They fell further behind in the 54th minute when Defoe latched on to a Crouch flick. City forward Robinho appeared to storm off down the tunnel after being substituted and a fine individual effort by Kranjcar sealed the victory in injury time. rEsulTs SOCCER UEFA Europa League Group C Hapoel Tel-Aviv v Hamburg....... 6.00 Rapid Vienna v Celtic ................ 6.00 Group I Benfica v AEK Athens................ 8.05 Everton v BATE.......................... 8.05 GOLF (Until Sunday) European Tour: South African Open Championship (Pearl Valley Golf Estates, Western Cape, South Africa) HORSE RACING Exeter, Ludlow, Southwell, Wolverhampton barclays premier league Burnley ........1 Arsenal ........1 Alexander 28 pen Fabregas 7 Att 21,309 Chelsea........2 Portsmouth .1 Anelka 23 Piquionne 51 Lampard 79 pen Att 40,137 Liverpool......2 Wigan...........1 Ngog 9 NZogbia 90 Torres 79 Tottenham ...3 Man City ......0 Kranjcar 37, 90 Defoe 54 Att 35,891 P W D L F A Pts Chelsea 17 13 1 3 42 14 40 Man Utd 17 12 1 4 37 14 37 Arsenal 16 10 2 4 41 20 32 Aston Villa 17 9 5 3 28 14 32 Tottenham 17 9 3 5 38 22 30 Liverpool 17 8 3 6 34 23 27 Birmingham 17 8 3 6 18 17 27 Man City 16 6 8 2 29 24 26 Fulham 16 6 5 5 20 17 23 Sunderland 17 6 3 8 22 24 21 Stoke 16 5 6 5 15 19 21 Blackburn 17 5 4 8 17 30 19 Burnley 16 5 3 8 20 34 18 Wigan 17 5 3 9 20 38 18 Everton 16 4 5 7 22 30 17 Hull 17 4 5 8 17 34 17 Bolton 16 4 4 8 23 33 16 Wolverhampton17 4 4 9 15 31 16 West Ham 17 3 5 9 25 34 14 Portsmouth 17 3 2 12 15 26 11 eurOpa league grOup e Basle............2 Fulham.........3 Frei 64 pen Zamora 42, 45 Streller 87 Gera 77 Att 20,063 CSKA Sofia..0 Roma ...........3 P W D L F A Pts Roma 6 4 1 1 10 5 13 Fulham 6 3 2 1 8 6 11 Basle 6 3 0 3 10 7 9 CSKA Sofia 6 0 1 5 2 12 1 fIxTurEs Two Moor problems for Wenger Turf to beat: Alexander levels from the spot ARSENAL suffered a double blow at Turf Moor last night as Burnley put a dent in their title bid and skipper Cesc Fabregas limped off before half-time. The Gunners, who were beaten 2-0 by the Clarets a year ago in the Carling Cup, had taken an early lead after a flash of brilliance from Fabregas but the home side fought back. Thomas Vermaelen was penalised for a foul on Andre Bikey and Graham Alexander stepped up to score his 100th league goal from the penalty spot. Then Fabregas, doubtful before kick-off with a back injury, was forced off and Arsene Wengers side struggled to break down Burnley for a second time. The first chance of the game had come for the Clarets as Clarke Carlisles deflected header was goalbound before Manuel Almunia palmed the ball on to the crossbar. The Gunners made the most of that reprieve and led on seven minutes when Fabregas beat two players before firing in. Andrey Arshavin hit a post but Alexander drew Burnley level on 28 minutes and Chris Eagles nearly won it when he struck a post. No happy returns at chelsea for avram CHElsEA ...................................................2 pOrTsMOuTH........................................1 CHELSEA regained their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table after Frank Lampards sec- ond-half penalty was enough to see off former boss Avram Grants Portsmouth. Grant, returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time since he was axed in the summer of 2008, saw his side give the Blues a fright just after the break when Fred- eric Piquionnes stunning strike pulled them level. That cancelled out a 23rd-minute opener from Nico- las Anelka, who had made it clear before kick-off he was seeking a new deal under Carlo Ancelotti. The Frenchman, making his 100th appearance for Chelsea, did his chances no harm by taking on the hosts goalscoring responsibilities in the absence of the injured Didier Drogba, slotting home a right-wing cross from Alex. Chelsea, who had gone four matches without a win before this match, struggled to find their best form again in front of their increasingly frustrated fans. But they were handed a lifeline when Marc Wilson brought down Branislav Ivanovic and Lampard stepped up to fire past Asmir Begovic on 79 minutes for a cru- cial win that puts them clear again of champions Man- chester United. Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel (Malouda 64), Ballack, Lampard, Deco (J Cole 58), Anelka, Kalou (Borini 79). Portsmouth: Begovic, Finnan, Ben-Haim, Wilson, Hreidarsson, Mokoena (Utaka 85), Mullins, OHara, Diop (Hughes 60), Boateng, Piquionne (Dindanne 71). Referee: Mark Clattenburg MATCH FACTS Head master: Chelseas John Terry, right, holds off Kevin-Prince Boateng Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Caldwell, Carlisle, Jordan, Eagles (Blake 83), Elliott, Alexander, Bikey (Gudjonsson 70), McDonald, Fletcher (Nugent 83). Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Silvestre, Walcott (Eduardo 63), Fabregas (Ramsey 43), Song Billong, Diaby, Nasri, Arshavin. Referee: Mike Dean burNlEY............1 ArsENAl ............1 sOCCEr PREMIER LEAGUE By RICHARD HOOKHAM EurOpA lEAguE bobby warms to his task BoBBy ZAMorA continued his fine run of form as Fulham defied the cold in Switzerland to secure their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League. The much-maligned striker has now scored four in his last three games after his double put the visitors 2-0 ahead at half-time. Zoltan Gera made it 3-1 with a neat finish after Basle had profited from a debatable penalty converted by Alexander Frei. Basle set up a nervous ending with a second from Marco Streller but Fulham held out to join group winners roma in the last 32. bAslE..............................2 fulHAM......................3 PADDy McCourt and Lee Naylor are out of Celtics Europa League dead rubber against Rapid Vienna at the Ernst Happel Stadium tonight. McCourt (groin) and Naylor (abductor) stayed behind as the sqaud left Glasgow yesterday. Chinese midfielder Zheng Zhi is ineligible and Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney are still out. Picture:ActionImages index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html