Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010

Spur of the moment: Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko, right, beats a tackle from Wigan's Maynor Figueroa to score at DW Stadium on Sunday. Spurs won 3-0. AP PHOTO

LONDON (AP) Roman Pavlyuchenko scored two late goals as Tottenham captured fourth place in the Premier League with a 3-0 victory at Wigan on Sunday, while Manchester City and Liverpool labored to a 0-0 draw.

Aston Villa scored four goals in 13 minutes to come from behind to beat Burnley 5-2 and stay in contention for the lucrative fourth spot which means a shot at next season's Champions League. After Sunday's games only a point separates fourth-place Tottenham and seventh-place Villa. Man City and Villa both have a game in hand on their rivals.

Jermain Defoe turned home a cross by Gareth Bale in the 27th minute on a muddy pitch at Wigan's DW stadium for the opener, though television replays showed him to be in an offside position.

Pavlyuchenko added the second in the 85th from a pass by Luka Modric and scored the third in injury time.

"It was a great performance from us today. I was really pleased with the attitude we showed," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, whose team beat Wigan 9-1 at home in November.

The victory gives Redknapp's team 46 points from 27 games and it is ahead of Man City on goal difference. Liverpool and Villa have 45.

In a tedious match with few scoring chances, Man City had a penalty claim turned down near the end when Emmanuel Adebayor went down under a challenge by Daniel Agger.

"I don't think the result is good for anyone," said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. "We both wanted to win."

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