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Tottenham regains fourth place

— PHOTO: AP

CELEBRATION TIME: Tottenham Hotspur's Niko Kranjcar (left) congratulates Luka Modric after his goal against Everton on Sunday.

London: Tottenham regained fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Everton at White Hart Lane here on Sunday.

First-half goals from in-form Roman Pavlyuchenko and Luka Modric proved enough to lift it above Manchester City.

Ayegbeni Yakubu's second-half reply proved to be insufficient for a point, although Everton had plenty of chances to equalise.

Everton captain Phil Neville was booked in the ninth minute for a reckless tackle on Gareth Bale as Tottenham made a strong start. That materialised into the opening goal two minutes later as Pavlyuchenko netted for the fifth time in three games. Modric had been quiet but made his mark with the second goal in the 28th minute.

The midfielder received the ball from fellow Croat Niko Kranjcar and, having used quick footwork to get into the box, lofted the ball over Howard and into the net off the underside of the crossbar for a goal of rare quality.

Everton reduced the margin in the 55th minute through Yakubu after Tottenham failed to defend a corner.

Ramsey suffers injury

Meanwhile, Arsenal scored a dramatic 3-1 win on Saturday at 10-man Stoke which was marred by a serious injury to Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

Arsene Wenger's side trailed Stoke in the eighth minute when Ryan Shawcross flicked on Rory Delap's long throw for Danny Pugh to tap-in.

Nicklas Bendtner equalised for the Gunners in the 32nd minute with a towering header from Fabregas's cross.

The match was overshadowed by Shawcross's dismissal for a late tackle on Ramsey midway through the second half that appeared to break the youngster's leg. Players from both sides looked stunned as Ramsey was stretchered off with an oxygen mask in an incident that brought back memories of the horrific injury suffered by Arsenal's Eduardo in 2008.

But Arsenal regained its composure and Fabregas struck from the spot in the 90th minute after Pugh handled Bendtner's pass, then Thomas Vermalen added a third goal from close range.

Beleaguered Portsmouth finally had something to celebrate as the Premier League's bottom club claimed a 2-1 win over fellow struggler Burnley.

The results: Tottenham 2 (Pavlyuchenko 11, Modric 28) bt Everton 1 (Yakubu 55).

On Saturday: Birmingham 1 (McFadden 45-pen) bt Wigan 0; Bolton 1 (Knight 45) bt Wolves 0; Burnley 1 (Paterson 31) lost to Portsmouth 2 (Piquionne 25, Yebda 76-pen); Stoke 1 (Pugh 8) lost to Arsenal 3 (Bendtner 32, Fabregas 90-pen, Vermaelen 90) . — Agencies

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