Cyprus Mail

Struggling Tottenham Hotspur stretched their Premier League winless run to 10 games with a 2-1 defeat at cross-town London rivals Fulham on Sunday that left them still in danger of the drop.

Four points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United, Tottenham left Craven Cottage ever more in a relegation scrap after another derby disappointment following last week’s 4-1 home thrashing by leaders Arsenal.

Harry Wilson opened the scoring in the seventh minute for Fulham, the goal given after a VAR review for a possible foul on Radu Dragusin. There was nothing controversial about Fulham’s second, lashed in by Alex Iwobi in the 34th with the ball swerving past Guglielmo Vicario and into the net off the inside left post.

Richarlison pulled a goal back with a 66th-minute header, eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, to set up a nervy finish but the hosts should have put the match to bed by then with missed chances and vital saves from Vicario.

Fulham are ninth, level with Everton on 40 points and still pushing for a place in Europe next season.

Spurs, who did not manage a shot on target until Richarlison’s goal, stayed 16th.

Given plenty of space by the visitors, Fulham could have been 3-0 up six minutes after the break when Emile Smith Rowe sent a shot across goal and just wide of the post with Vicario beaten.

Vicario then made a vital save from the ever lively Rowe at close range in the 62nd.

Man United climb to third with come-from-behind win over Palace

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty before delivering a free kick that Benjamin Sesko nodded home for a 2-1 comeback win over 10-man Crystal Palace that moved the hosts into third in the Premier League standings on Sunday.

Interim boss Michael Carrick’s unbeaten run since his appointment in mid-January stretched to seven matches, his side now sitting on 51 points from 28 games. Palace slumped to 14th, stuck on 35.

United remain unbeaten since the January 5 sacking of Ruben Amorim and having won six of their last seven matches under Carrick, they moved up to third for the first time since May 2023.

“It feels like a big result, we were behind and had to show some character,” Fernandes told Sky Sports. “There are a lot of games to go still (in the chase for a top-four finish) and it is important that we don’t feel that we are in the position that we need to be. We need to make as many points as we can.”

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar was on Thursday gifted a replica shirt of London-based football club Tottenham Hotspur.

He was gifted the shirt by British MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who belongs to the opposition Conservative Party, and bears the name E. Tatar and the number 25 on its back.

Duncan Smith had previously served in the UK’s cabinet as work and pensions secretary between 2010 and 2016 and was Conservative Party leader between 2001 and 2003.

Both Duncan Smith and Tatar are known to be fans of Tottenham Hotspur.

The club is geographically the closest Premier League team to Duncan Smith’s Chingford and Woodford Green constituency and is supported by many Cypriots who reside in the United Kingdom, as Tatar did in the 1980s.

Last month, the club won its first major trophy in over 17 years, beating Manchester United 1-0 to win the Europa League – Europe’s second tier competition.

Tatar is in the UK as part of a visit to meet British politicians and attend London’s Turkish Cypriot cultural festival, which is set to take place this weekend in the borough of Enfield.

Liverpool will try to clinch their 20th English league title when they host Tottenham Hotspur in an early Sunday clash.

Manager Arne Slot’s side need only a draw to make official what has been clear for weeks. The Reds (24-2-7, 79 points) will move back even with Manchester United atop the ranks of most English titles won with their first league crown in five seasons and only their second since the 1989-90 campaign.

But after seeing his team win six of their last seven league matches and 13 of their 16 home league fixtures so far, Slot would rather not limp over the line.

“We’re only settling for a win and a point is not enough,” insisted Slot, who previously managed Feyenoord to the league title in the 2022-23 Dutch Eredivisie. “It’s mostly three, four or five minutes that you are really happy, and then ‘normal’ manager life starts again. Enjoying is what you do after the referee has blown his whistle.”

It would be the second league title for striker Mo Salah, defender and captain Virgil van Dijk, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and goalkeeper Alisson. And it would be the first they can celebrate with supporters after winning the 2019-20 crown behind closed doors during the pandemic.

Salah, 32, has enjoyed a career year, scoring 27 league goals and assisting 18 more to involve himself in an astounding 60 percent of Liverpool’s total league scoring output. And, presuming a productive result for his team on Sunday, Salah will be able to celebrate secure in his Liverpool future after signing a two-year contract extension earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the Spurs (11-18-4, 37 points) will make the trip North with one eye on Thursday’s first leg in the UEFA Europa League semifinals at home to Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.

Currently in 16th place en route to the most disappointing league season in recent memory, Tottenham are nonetheless safe from relegation and free to prioritize continental competition.

Manager Ange Postecoglou’s squad is mostly healthy, with only Heung-min Son unavailable with a foot injury.

Spurs most recently fell 2-1 in league play to Nottingham Forest on Monday.

“Squad-wise, there’s no change. All the guys got through (Forest) OK,” Postecoglou told the Tottenham club website. “Again, with the program we have coming up, Thursday obviously is a big night for us, so it will be a matter of playing a few that need the game time and others we feel may need less exposure. We’ll have a look at that.”

Tottenham Hotspur winger Brennan Johnson scored twice in the first half before goals from Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski wrapped up a 4-1 victory at relegation-threatened Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday.

Johnson’s double came after the hosts had twice threatened to open the scoring early on through Liam Delap, whose glancing header hit the post. Ipswich forward Omari Hutchinson got one back before halftime but Spurs were not to be denied.

The home side battled hard for an equaliser but never created any clear openings in the second half and Tottenham went further ahead with a deflected Spence shot after 77 minutes and a fine individual goal from Kulusevski in the 84th.

The win left Spurs in 12th spot with 33 points from 26 games, while Ipswich remained third from bottom on 17, five points adrift of the safety zone after fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers won 1-0 at high-flying Bournemouth.

Ipswich had enjoyed a blistering start with striker Delap coming close with a shot across goal that was just wide of the far post and then with a deft header that hit the woodwork after he outjumped the defence to meet a Kalvin Phillips free kick.

But after surviving the early pressure Spurs took the lead through Johnson in the 18th minute. The Welshman tapped the ball home after a fine cross from Son Heung-min, who outfoxed Ben Godfrey down the left and played a ball into the six-yard box.

Johnson got his second goal eight minutes later after a similar break from Son, although this time the South Korean cut back inside and delivered a precise pass across the area for Johnson to pick his spot past helpless goalkeeper Alex Palmer.

Ipswich responded when Hutchinson swept a left-foot shot into the far corner of Guglielmo Vicario’s net in the 36th after Spurs defender Kevin Danso lost possession and Phillips found Jack Clarke down the left to cut the ball back.

Ipswich battled hard for an equaliser after the break but never created any clear openings and Tottenham wrapped up the points with a deflected Spence shot after he was set up following some trickery by James Maddison inside the box.

Kulusevski then ran down the right before cutting inside and firing a low shot into the far corner to seal the win. The home fans were upset as they thought play should have stopped after Jacob Greaves clashed heads with Tottenham’s Dane Scarlett.

Two second-half goals from Dominic Solanke and a sublime James Maddison free kick helped Tottenham Hotspur come from behind to overwhelm Aston Villa 4-1 on Sunday and end the visitors’ seven-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Spurs climbed to seventh in the table on 16 points, two points behind Villa who stayed fifth.

Unai Emery’s Villa led at halftime through Morgan Rogers, but Spurs were level soon after the break when Brennan Johnson tapped in at the far post.

Solanke’s two goals in four minutes, including a flowing team move finished off with a delightful dink over Emiliano Martinez, secured the win, before Maddison curled in a free kick in stoppage time.

Villa’s goal punctuated a drab first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Rogers poking home from a yard out after Lucas Digne’s corner was flicked on into the six-yard box.

Spurs skipper Son Heung-min provided an assist on his return from injury, whipping an excellent outswinging ball across the goal for Johnson to slot home at the back post shortly after halftime.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs had struggled to break Villa down in the first half, largely resorting to shots from distance, but they upped their intensity in the second period and two quick goals from Solanke sealed the win.

His first was a flowing one-touch team move, with Solanke latching onto Dejan Kulusevski’s cute pass and chipping the ball over the onrushing Martinez.

A mistake by Villa defender Pau Torres set Spurs charging forward again with second-half substitute Richarlison squaring for Solanke to grab his second.

Maddison put the gloss on a fine display late on, caressing the ball around the Villa wall from 20 yards out and into the top corner past a helpless Martinez.

Tottenham Hotspur can leapfrog Aston Villa into a Champions League qualifying spot with a Premier League victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday, while at the other end of the table Luton Town host Nottingham Forest in a relegation battle. Ange Postecoglou's Spurs side, who have lost once in…

Tottenham Hotspur hammered 10-man Aston Villa 4-0 in the Premier League on Sunday thanks to four second-half goals, allowing them to close the gap with their Birmingham rivals to two points in the chase for Champions League football next season. Villa's decision to start with a five-man backline cost them dearly…

Wolverhampton Wanderers put a dent in Tottenham Hotspur's top-four ambitions as Joao Gomes scored twice in an impressive 2-1 away victory in the Premier League on Saturday. Brazilian Gomes headed Wolves in front shortly before halftime and struck again in the 63rd minute after Dejan Kulusevski had equalised immediately after…