ROBERTH HUTH’S LATE header sent Leicester City joint-top of the Premier League with Arsenal as they beat title rivals Tottenham 1-0 tonight.
Just four days after contesting a full-blooded 2-2 draw in the FA Cup third-round on Sunday, the sides returned to White Hart Lane in a top-four Premier League battle.
And it was fourth-placed Tottenham who created the better opportunities on home turf with their top scorer Harry Kane — whose late penalty rescued a replay in the cup — hitting the crossbar in the second half.
Erik Lamela also saw two chances go begging after the break, and their profligacy ultimately proved costly as Huth headed home Christian Fuchs’ corner in the 83rd minute.
Leicester, who named the returning Jamie Vardy in their XI after he missed the cup fixture due to minor groin surgery, had failed to win or score in their past three league matches.
But their late show in north London, coupled with Liverpool’s 3-3 draw against Arsenal, means the east Midlands club are level with Arsene Wenger’s men on 43 points, while Tottenham are now seven points off the pace.
Title-chasing Manchester City were frustrated by Everton at the Etihad Stadium as the visitors withstood heavy second-half pressure to claim a 0-0 draw.
Kicking off earlier than top two Arsenal and Leicester City, Manuel Pellegrini’s men were on top for long spells against Everton, especially after the break, but failed to find the breakthrough and were frustrated by the lack of a penalty award when John Stones appeared to bring down Raheem Sterling late on.
However, Everton survived to earn a point ahead of the second leg of their League Cup semi at the Etihad next week, while City remain without back-to-back league wins since October.
Sunderland came from behind to beat 10-man Swansea City 4-2 at the Liberty Stadium thanks to Jermain Defoe’s hat-trick, but the match was dominated by questionable refereeing decisions.
Defoe gave Sunderland an early lead, turning home the rebound after Lukasz Fabianski could only parry Fabio Borini’s shot to the marginally-offside former England international.
Gylfi Sigurdsson then scored from the penalty spot after 22 minutes when Wes Brown was adjudged by referee Graham Scott to have impeded Andre Ayew in the box. Scott, a late replacement for Andre Marriner, was making just his fourth Premier League appearance and harshly sent off Kyle Naughton for a high boot on Yann M’Vila after 37 minutes.
Sunderland were level shortly after half-time when Patrick van Aanholt’s shot took a wicked deflection off Federico Fernandez and flew into the top corner.
Defoe then defied the assistant referee again, sweetly finishing off Adam Johnson’s throughball, before Angel Rangel saw a strike ruled out for offside and Defoe completed his treble by tucking in Van Aanholt’s low cross.
