Manchester United put Spurs in place at White Hart Lane; Fulham thump Wolves

In a game they dominated, Newcastle were left frustrated by rivals Sunderland in a fiercely contested draw. Arsenal loanee Bendtner was the first to add his name to the score card, after Mike Williamson’s foul on Michael Turner won Sunderland a penalty. Bendtner stepped up to the mark and slotted home a right footed effort. Newcastle continued to press and bossed the game, their best efforts, however, were thwarted with some fantastic saves by Black Cats keeper Mingolet. Newcastle thought their luck was about to change as Ameobi won them a penalty and their goal-scoring machine, Demba Ba, stepped up to the spot, only to see it saved. Time was running out for Newcastle, and late in the 90^th minute Ameobi grabbed an equaliser to help Newcastle in their drive for a top five finish.

Elsewhere Fulham jumped up the Premier League table as they thrashed Wolves in a 5 goal thriller, which turned Terry Connor’s managerial debut into a nightmare. Russian Pogrebnyak has proven to be a fantastic loan signing for Fulham, having scored five goals in three appearances after he scored a hat-trick today, with Clint Dempsey also adding his name to the score sheet with a remarkable double brace. With a half-time score of 2-0 Wolves must have fancied their chances, especially after facing a similar obstacle at last week’s draw with Newcastle, but Fulham pushed on and executed every chance that they had to aplomb and finished with a deserved win.

At the top of the table, third-placed Tottenham completely dominated possession and forged several chances as they looked to close the gap on title chasers United. Flying out of the blocks Spurs threw several challenges at much-criticised keeper De Gea, but he denied them time after time. Despite seeing less of the ball, United’s finishing was of a completely different standard, and Rooney broke the deadlock on the 45^th minute connecting perfectly with an Ashley Young corner. Young, himself, scored two adding to United’s tally and adding pressure on table toppers City. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men survived a late scare as Defoe’s fired home in the 87^th minute but did little justice to the Londoner’s dominance of the game.

 Sam McKavanagh