London, England

American Clint Dempsey hit an injury-time goal to help Tottenham Hotspur salvage a 1-1 tie with Premier League leader Manchester United Sunday at White Hart Lane.

United were just minutes away from maintaining a seven-point advantage over closest pursuer, defending champion Manchester City, when Dempsey notched the game-tying goal in the penalty area in the 93rd minute.

The tie cut United's lead over City to just five points and 11 points over Chelsea. The Spurs remain fourth with 41 points but dropped four points behind Chelsea after the West London side beat Arsenal, 2-1, earlier in the day.

The game was delayed after a late pitch inspection due to heavy overnight snowfall in the capital.

United looked headed for an easy win, controlling the early part of the match.

In the 25th minute, Robin van Persie, who was making his first appearance in north London since his summer switch from Arsenal, took advantage of some sloppy marking from Kyle Walker to nod home a goal in the 25th minute.

Meanwhile, Chelsea dented Arsenal's top-four hopes with a 2-1 victory at conditions at Stamford Bridge.

Juan Mata and Frank Lampard scored in the first half to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead but Arsenal fought back and cut the deficit to one behind Theo Walcott's goal.

However, Chelsea kept its composure and protected a one-goal lead to move four points clear of Tottenham for third place.

Arsenal remained in sixth place with 34 points, seven points behind the Spurs in fourth.

"I'm happy because we were creating a lot of chances at home in the last few games. We weren't winning, but we were controlling the matches," Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez said.

"Today, we had a lot of chances in the first half and we were on top of them. Even in the second half when they were pushing and pushing, we had a lot of situations on the counter-attack where we could have scored again," Benitez added.

 

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