LONDON: Clint Dempsey’s scored in stoppage time as Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 with Premier League leaders Manchester United at White Hart Lane yesterday.
On an Arctic-like afternoon in north London Robin van Persie’s first-half goal appeared to have secured the points for United until Dempsey slid home an equalizer with virtually the final kick of the game.
The leaders have 56 points from 23 games with Manchester City on 51 and Chelsea, who beat Arsenal 2-1 earlier in the snow-hit capital, on 45, four ahead of Tottenham.
Dutchman van Persie, often a thorn in Tottenham’s side when he was at Arsenal, took his league tally for the season to 18 with a header from Tom Cleverley’s cross midway through the opening period of an absorbing game.
Tottenham, whose strong recent run had seen them establish themselves in the top four, were twice denied equalizers by the outstretched legs of United keeper David De Gea as they attempted a rare league double over Alex Ferguson’s side.
Gareth Bale thought he had equalized shortly before halftime but De Gea performed marvels to keep out his deflected shot and after the break Dempsey wriggled through only to see the keeper again come to United’s rescue.
United, who began with Wayne Rooney on the bench, showed another side to their character. With resolute defending rather than fluent attacking play, they were content to absorb pressure and the policy seemed to have earned an important victory.
As the snow poured down, Bale also went agonizingly close to a late equalizer with a shot deflected past the post.
However, the hosts kept plugging away and Dempsey was on hand to equalize after De Gea could only punch a clearance to Aaron Lennon and the winger threaded a pass to the American.
Napoli held
Fiorentina defender Facundo Roncaglia, aided by a blunder from Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis, scored from just inside his own half in a 1-1 Serie A draw yesterday.
Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani replied for Napoli with his 100th Serie A goal and 17th of the season to take his side level on points with Lazio in second place.
Napoli and Lazio both have 43 points from 21 games, five behind Juventus who thumped Udinese 4-0 on Saturday.
Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice, the second an exquisite lesson in close control, to give AC Milan a 2-1 win over Bologna while bottom club Siena ended a run of six successive defeats by beating Sampdoria 1-0.
Fiorentina and Napoli served up a dismal opening half hour, punctuated by cynical fouls, bickering and five yellow cards, before Roncaglia inadvertently put the hosts in front in the 33rd minute.
From just inside his own half, the Argentine defender floated a long ball forward into the Napoli penalty area where it was completely misjudged by De Sanctis, flew over the goalkeeper’s head and bounced into the goal.
The usually dependable De Sanctis also collided with a defender while Roncaglia sheepishly celebrated. Cavani spared Napoli’s blushes nine minutes later when he scored with a glancing header following a low free kick from the left.
It was his 66th league goal in only two-and-a-half seasons with Napoli to add to 34 goals in just over three seasons with Palermo.
Napoli could have won it in the second half but were denied by Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto who produced a miraculous save to stop Goran Pandev’s header from six meters on the line.
Milan and Bologna also produced a dreary opening, which matched the conditions on a foggy winter’s afternoon at a sparsely-occupied San Siro.
Pazzini brought the game to life just after the hour when he scored with a shot which took a deflection of Mikael Antonsson.
He shone through the gloom again in the 82nd minute when he controlled Kevin-Prince Boateng’s low cross with his back to goal, flicked the ball backwards over his marker, turned and placed his shot past Federico Agliardi.
Bologna, beaten 3-2 by Inter Milan in the Italian Cup in midweek after fighting back from 2-0 down, again sprung into life after going two goals behind and pulled one back with a Philippe Mexes own goal two minutes later.
Siena remained bottom with 14 points despite their win but are now only two points behind Palermo and three adrift of Genoa thanks to a 71st-minute header from 35-year-old Albania forward Erjon Bogdani against Sampdoria.
Genoa lost 2-0 at home to Catania with Argentine Gonzalo Bergessio scoring after four minutes and his compatriot Pablo Barrientos adding another in the 86th.
Marco Boriello produced an extraordinary miss from six meters and Ciro Immobile twice hit the woodwork for the out-of-sorts hosts, who stayed three points adrift of 17th-placed Pescara.
Pescara also lost at home, 2-0 against Torino, with Mario Santana and Alessio Cerci scoring breakaway goals in the first half.
