Spurs hopes run up against brick wall

For the second week running, Sunderland ruffled the feathers of one of the Premier League’s big movers and shakers, but for their supporters, it wasn’t all good news.

In confirming their new-found identity as high-profile party-poopers by doing their bit to stifle Tottenham’s top-three ambitions, they did Newcastle a significant favour when it comes to the Champions League hopes of their bitter rivals. Stadium of Light regulars didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

They earned a merited share of the spoils against a Spurs side who have forgotten how to win on the road by way of not so much Ha’way the lads, as away the lads. It’s more than three months since Tottenham won anywhere other than White Hart Lane, but for long spells they were cast as unwitting hosts.

Sunderland sat back and invited them forward with the intention to hit them on the break. Martin O’Neill accepted the relative limitations of his side in comparison to Harry Redknapp’s richly talented team, and his conservative game plan worked a treat.

However, unlike their stirring 3-3 draw with Manchester City, it made for a dire spectacle.

A dour stalemate was met with more enthusiasm at St James’ Park and Stamford Bridge, as Tottenham’s rivals for the top four were given fresh incentive to keep up the chase. Chelsea and Newcastle trail them by just three points with six games to go.

“Newcastle might say they’re not in the shake-up for the Champions League, but they’re in the thick of it,” skipper Scott Parker insisted after Spurs’ untimely loss of form stretched to a single win in seven league games.

The former Newcastle midfielder added: “When you get to this stage of the season and are in the position Newcastle are in, they’ve got to be top-four contenders. We consider them to be rivals. Alan Pardew has done a fantastic job.”

His manager Redknapp concurred: “On the back of a terrific season, Newcastle are bang in there with a chance. They’ve worked miracles with what they’ve achieved, full credit to them. They’re not up there by luck.”

Neither are Spurs. A cursory glance at their remaining games suggests they have — on paper at least — the easiest run-in of the top four challengers.

Arsenal, of course, will also have a big say in the final make-up at the summit behind the Mancunian mash-up.

But mid-table Fulham are the highest-placed of the six clubs Spurs are still to face, and Parker said: “A top-four finish is in our hands. Our run-in’s pretty decent, and now we’ve got to make the most of it.

Entertainment was in desperately short supply, as both goalkeepers earned their easiest clean sheet of the season. Michael Turner — the game’s outstanding defender — deserved a slice of luck when he cleared a Rafael van der Vaart effort off the line with the aid of his arm.

Phil Bardsley and Parker escaped with borderline handball decisions in the area, Gareth Bale put a second-half header onto the roof of the net and Benoit Assou Ekotto fired narrowly wide. That was it for goal-mouth incident.

O’Neill made no apologies for his safety-first approach, one which moved Sunderland a point nearer to matching their best-ever Premier League finish of seventh, last achieved under Peter Reid in 2001. Brushing-off suggestions Sunderland had done little more than do Newcastle a favour, he added: “I’ve never gone out to do a favour for anyone.”