April 03, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

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LONDON, April 2: A Robbie Keane penalty gave Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory over Reading on Sunday to move the London club up to sixth in the English Premier League.

The Irishman's 39th-minute spot kick, awarded for a harsh handball decision against Reading defender Greg Halford, secured a fifth successive league victory for Tottenham who face Sevilla in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.

The home side were made to sweat all the way to the end after missing a stack of chances while Marcus Hahnemann and his halftime substitute Adam Federici made a string of fine saves in goal for Reading.

Steed Malbranque hit the post in a bright start for Tottenham and substitute Jermain Defoe had a late effort ruled out for offside, while the closest Reading came was a header from Leroy Lita that rebounded off the post.

With fifth and sixth places guaranteeing UEFA Cup football next season, Tottenham have a two-point cushion over seventh-placed Everton who were playing at struggling Aston Villa on Monday. Reading stay in eighth place.

Meanwhile, striker Salomon Kalou headed a stoppage-time goal to give Chelsea a dramatic 1-0 win at Watford on Saturday that cut Manchester United's lead back to six points and kept the title race alive.

With the regulation 90 minutes played at Vicarage Road, the championship looked destined for Old Trafford as United had earlier roared back from a goal down with half an hour left to crush Blackburn Rovers 4-1.

But Chelsea, winners of the last two titles, had Ivorian substitute Kalou to thank for a strike in the second minute of stoppage time that gave the Londoners 72 points to United's 78, with seven matches left to play.

In Saturday's opening game, Peter Crouch scored a hat-trick as Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-1 at Anfield to leapfrog the Gunners into third place on 57 points.

Down at the bottom, Sheffield United are only one point above the drop zone after losing 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic beat Wigan Athletic 1-0.

West Ham United defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 while Manchester City edged towards safety with a 1-0 triumph at Newcastle United. A last-minute goal by Ian Pearce earned Fulham a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.

Chelsea rounded off a pulsating day of action with a fine goal, Kalou meeting Andriy Shevchenko's cross with a well-placed header, and a priceless win.

United deservedly trailed to a 29th-minute Matt Derbyshire goal but second-half strikes by Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-sung and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secured a seventh successive league win.

Nemanja Vidic will be out for at least four weeks after suffering a serious shoulder injury. The long delay in treating the centre back seemed to affect United's concentration as poor defending of a cross allowed Derbyshire to knock in a loose ball.