Everton condemns Spurs to 3rd straight EPL loss

Posted Sunday, March 11, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

LIVERPOOL, England (AP)—Tottenham slumped to its third straight defeat in the Premier League on Saturday, losing 1-0 at Everton on Saturday to give its London rivals hope in the race for third place.

Croatia striker Nikica Jelavic scored the winner in the 22nd minute on his full debut for Everton, leaving Spurs only four points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea.

Arsenal can close the gap to just one point with a win over Newcastle on Monday in its game in hand.

Louis Saha, who left Everton to join Tottenham in January, almost snatched an equalizer for the visitors but struck a shot against the post in the dying stages as Spurs laid siege to the home goal at Goodison Park.

“How did we lose it? In the second half we never came out of their half. We just couldn’t get a goal,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said.

Spurs haven’t lost three straight games since October 2008, just before Redknapp took charge.

Everton climbed to ninth, two points off seventh-place Liverpool, on the back of an unbeaten run of 10 matches.

“This season the league is very close—everyone can beat everyone,” Everton defender Sylvain Distin said. “We just need to take care of our business and that’s what we did.”