Tottenham Hotspur have closed to within three points of Everton in fifth thanks to a narrow victory over 10-man Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
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Spurs started the better of the two sides and had two early efforts through Nacer Chadli and Christian Eriksen, before Emmanuel Adebayor was lucky to get away with just a talking-to after appearing to strike Ryan Shawcross on the head.
Stoke improved and began to dominate after the 10-minute mark, with Stephen Ireland whistling a shot just wide in the 26th minute.
It was Spurs who broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute when Danny Rose powered home a header after a burst into the box and clipped cross by Adebayor.
Stoke's chances of getting back into the game worsened seven minutes after half time when Shawcross was given his marching orders for a second yellow card.
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Spurs saw plenty of the ball with the numerical advantage but it was actually Stoke who next went close when Peter Odemwingie headed over from close range at the near post.
Marko Arnautovic then wasted a great chance for Stoke to equalise with three minutes on the clock.
The Austrian led a counter-attack and could have passed to a teammate, but instead opted to shoot and trickled a slack effort straight at Hugo Lloris.
Spurs are now within touching distance of the top five while Stoke remain 10th.
Pascal Lemesre
