United hold off Spurs

LONDON (AP):

Manchester United survived the second half sending-off of right back Rafael to hold Tottenham to a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane yesterday and remain unbeaten in the English Premier League.

The Brazilian defender picked up a second booking for tripping Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the 74th minute, but the visitors hung on to remain atop the standings, above Manchester City on goal difference.

Tottenham needed a win to go above Chelsea into fourth place and almost took maximum points when Rafael van der Vaart's curling shot in the 80th flew narrowly over.

Liverpool drew 2-2 with local rivals Everton to leave Kenny Dalglish still without a win in his second spell in charge of the Reds, while Birmingham-Aston Villa and Sunderland-Newcastle both finished 1-1.

City beat Wolverhampton 4-3 on Saturday and third-place Arsenal also won, 3-0 at bottom side West Ham, to move two points behind the joint leaders. United have two games in hand over City and one over Arsenal.

United manager Alex Ferguson refused to comment on Rafael's red card, but said he was happy with the point after a scrappy match.

Tough game

"It was a tough game but they didn't create many chances against us," Ferguson said. "It's a decent point for us. We can't complain."

The top five are separated by eight points, with a little more than half the season gone.

"It could be a real thrilling end to the season. All five have got chances - it's about winning games and keeping your nerve," Ferguson said.

United maintained their decade-long unbeaten run against Tottenham but created few clear-cut chances, with fit again striker Wayne Rooney twice denied by goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

Van der Vaart, Spurs' top scorer, headed wide another opportunity in a match that Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp felt was a fair result.

"If anyone was going to win, we were the more likely to," Redknapp said. "They've come here today and are difficult to beat. It was an interesting game without being a classic."

The Liverpool fans gave Dalglish a rousing reception as he emerged from the tunnel prior to kick-off as the former Scotland striker made an emotional return to Anfield, 20 years after his last match there as manager of the 18-time champions.

Dalglish's side had lost two matches since he took over last weekend - to United in the FA Cup and Blackpool in the league - and a win against Everton would have been the ideal way to kick-start Liverpool's stuttering season.

The Reds went to sleep, though, after Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles gave them the lead in the 29th, and Dalglish was staring at a third straight defeat when Sylvain Distin headed in a corner in the 46th and Jermaine Beckford curled home a neat finish after good work by Leon Osman in the 52nd.

Chance to draw level

Tim Howard gave Liverpool a chance to draw level after bringing down Maxi Rodriguez and Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt did not pass up the opportunity, sending the United States goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.

The draw kept the teams level just below midtable, on 26 points.

"I can see the belief coming back into those players and that's great news," Dalglish said.

Under pressure Villa manager Gerard Houllier saw his team perform well at St. Andrew's, with Wales centre back James Collins deservedly equalising for the visitors in the 72nd. That cancelled out the opener scored by Roger Johnson in the 49th.

Villa, whose point lifted them out of the relegation zone and into 17th place, hit the woodwork three times.

"It is a plus point, psychologically, to be out of the bottom three," Villa assistant manager Gary McAllister said.

Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan scored a dramatic equaliser in the fourth minute of second-half injury time to rescue a point for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Kevin Nolan put Newcastle ahead in the 52nd for his 10th goal of the season.

The end of the match was marred by crowd trouble, with a Sunderland fan running onto the pitch after Gyan's goal and appearing to push Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper to the ground. Rival sets of supporters were seen hurling seats at each other after the final whistle.