LONDON, 19 August 2007 — Tottenham lifted the pressure on manager Martin Jol by scoring three goals in the first 14 minutes yesterday on the way to a 4-0 Premier League victory over Derby.

Losses to Sunderland and Everton had left Spurs last in the standings with speculation that Jol, who has led the team to fifth-place finishes in the last two seasons, might be the first Premier League manager to lose his job.

But Steed Malbranque scored twice in the first six minutes and Jermaine Jenas scored a third after a 40-meter run in the 14th to lift the clouds of gloom from White Hart Lane. Ten minutes from the end, Darren Bent scored his first competitive goal for Spurs since his move from Charlton.

In yesterday’s other games, Brian McBride put Fulham ahead in a 2-1 loss at home to Middlesbrough but was carried off with a dislocated knee. The American striker was injured in the act of scoring and Fulham said his knee may also be broken. Leaders Everton lost 1-0 at Reading to lose the top spot to Wigan, which outplayed newcomer Sunderland 3-0 helped by two penalties. Portsmouth came from behind to beat Bolton 3-1 and West Ham won 1-0 at Birmingham, and Newcastle and Aston Villa drew 0-0 in which Michael Owen made his first appearance of the season as a 63rd-minute substitute. After McBride’s goal at Craven Cottage, Middlesbrough turned the game around with strikes by new signing Ahmed Mido, who only joined the club on Thursday, and Lee Cattermole. Fulham was furious that it had a late equalizer ruled out even though TV replays suggested David Healy’s shot had crossed the line. Stephen Hunt scored Reading’s winner a minute before halftime against Reading and Mark Noble’s 70th-minute penalty earned West Ham the points at Birmingham. Emile Heskey gave Wigan a 19th-minute lead against Sunderland and spot kicks by Denny Landzaat and Antoine Sibierski gave the Latics a lopsided victory.

Three months after the team narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League with a victory on the final day of the season, they sit atop the standings with six points from three games although other teams have a game in hand. Nwankwo Kanu scored one goal and created the other two to guide Portsmouth to a 3-1 victory over Bolton. After Nicolas Anelka had put Bolton 1-0 ahead in the 12th minute, Kanu equalized in the 16th and provided the pass for John Utaka’s strike in the 30th. Matt Taylor’s penalty after a foul on Kanu made it 3-1 with two minutes to go.

Materazzi Reveals Exact Words to Zidane

In Milan, Italy defender Marco Materazzi has finally revealed the exact words he used to provoke Zinedine Zidane into headbutting him in last year’s World Cup final.

“I prefer the whore that is your sister,” he said in a interview with the TV Sorrisi e Canzoni magazine which comes out tomorrow, Italian media reported yesterday. Materazzi had previously said that he had mentioned the France midfielder’s sister in the verbal jousting between the two in the Berlin final, but had never given the exact words.