Cross-Channel Review:A stunning volley from Danny Rose helped Tottenham secure a 2-1 win over north London rivals Arsenal which surely puts paid to the Gunners' Premier League title hopes. The midfielder, on his full league debut for Spurs, returned a Manuel Almunia punch with interest by unleashing an unstoppable volley to put Harry Redknapp's men ahead in the first half.
The home side doubled their lead through Gareth Bale early in the second half and although Nicklas Bendtner pulled one back for the Gunners, Arsene Wenger’ s men are now six points behind league leaders Chelsea, having played the same number of games.
Spurs are now just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City in the race for Champions League qualification.
Aston Villa’s faint hopes of finishing fourth suffered another setback despite Everton defender Phil Jagielka’s injury-time own goal rescuing them a point.
Villa boss Martin O’Neill had challenged his side to win their remaining six games to give them a realistic hope of overhauling Manchester City and Tottenham in the race for fourth, but they had to settle for a point after cancelling out Tim Cahill’s double with Gabriel Agbonlahor’s 50th goal for the club and Jagielka’s late helping hand.
The result left Villa seventh, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Wigan missed a golden opportunity to ease their relegation worries after being held to a goalless draw by an already-relegated and under-strength Portsmouth at the DW Stadium.
Pompey’s Jamie Ashdown was by far the busier goalkeeper but his display was certainly not in the brilliant category as the Latics squandered a number of chances.
And although the draw lifted Wigan up a place to 16th they are only five points above the bottom three with the visit of Arsenal to come at the weekend.
IN SCOTLAND champions-elect Rangers have to wait longer than they had hoped to secure the Premier League title after being held to a goalless draw by 10-man Dundee United at Tannadice.
A win would have allowed the Glasgow giants to wrap up the championship with another victory over Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday - but they now need Celtic to drop points against Hibernian 24 hours earlier for that to happen.
United - who are hoping to catch the Hoops for the runners-up spot - managed to hold on for a point despite seeing Mihael Kovacevic dismissed with 20 minutes to go.
Tonight’s Results
Premier League
Aston Villa 2 Everton 2
Tottenham 2 Arsenal 1
Wigan 0 Portsmouth 0
Scottish Premier League
Dundee United 0 Rangers 0