Spurs suffer another setback

Liverpool, England – Tottenham lost its third straight match 0 decision to Everton as Nikica Jelavic scored in his home debut.

The Toffees are now unbeaten in their last seven games and took the lead midway through the opening half as Jelavic netted his first Premier League goal.

Leon Osman was played into the penalty area on the left and he pulled the ball back for Jelavic, who beat goalkeeper Brad Friedel with a first-time effort from 12 yards.

Tottenham was much better after the break with Jermain Defoe forcing Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard to make a diving save 30 seconds after halftime before Howard thwarted him again a few minutes later.

Defoe had the ball in the net 15 minutes from time, but scored from an offside position.

The points weren't safe for Everton until the final whistle as Rafael Van der Vaart's deflected effort in stoppage time sailed just over the crossbar.

Spurs nearly scored the equalizer from the ensuing corner kick when a shot from outside the area fell to the feet of substitute Louis Saha, who struck the post from seven yards.

Bolton 2, QPR 1

Bolton, England - Ivan Klasnic scored four minutes from time to hand Bolton a vital 2-1 win at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday over fellow relegation- strugglers QPR.

The win takes Bolton out of the bottom three by one point and plunges QPR into the drop zone, although the London side will feel a bit unlucky not to take anything from the match.

QPR defender Clint Hill thought he had opened the scoring after 19 minutes when his header was clawed back from over the goal line by Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

But referee Martin Atkinson allowed play to continue and Wanderers went in front before the break through a goal from Darren Pratley.

Djibril Cisse equalized early in the second half for Rangers, but Klasnic came off the bench to score the winner after being set up by Ryo Miyaichi.

Aston Villa 1, Fulham 0

Birmingham, England - Aston Villa ended a four-game winless skid on Saturday courtesy of a stoppage-time goal from Andreas Weimann to hand the Villains a 1-0 win over Fulham at Villa Park.

Fulham moved into the top half of the league after winning its previous three matches, but was fortunate not to fall behind midway through the second half when Marc Albrighton's shot struck the crossbar.

The home side was next to get some help from the woodwork as Damien Duff got in behind the Villa defense but saw his effort strike the outside of the post.

Weimann entered the match in the final 20 minutes and he made his impact felt by pouncing on a rebound from Gary Gardner's shot and heading it past goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Chelsea 1, Stoke City 0

London, England - Roberto Di Matteo's first match in charge of Chelsea following the departure of Andre Villas-Boas was a less-than-convincing 1-0 win over 10-man Stoke City on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.

Stoke's Ricardo Fuller did Di Matteo a massive favor when he was sent off after 25 minutes for a foolish stomp on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

Yet the Blues struggled to take advantage and were denied by the crossbar when John Terry's header beat goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Didier Drogba forced Begovic into a wonderful save from a free kick, but the Ivory Coast international finally broke the deadlock with a little over 20 minutes to play when he took a neat pass from Juan Mata and rounded the 'keeper before rolling home his 100th Premier League goal.

Chelsea moves level with fourth-place Arsenal on 49 points, and the Gunners will face Newcastle on Monday.

Sunderland 1, Liverpool 0

Sunderland, England - Liverpool's woes deepened on Saturday as the Reds sustained a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland thanks to a second-half goal from Nicklas Bendtner.

Liverpool's hopes at a place in the top four were all but ended last weekend with a 2-1 defeat against Arsenal, and Saturday's defeat only confirms that notion as Kenny Dalglish saw his team lose for the third straight match.

There weren't a lot of clear-cut chances for either side, but the difference came early in the second half when Fraizer Campbell's low shot struck the post and then hit goalkeeper Pepe Reina, redirecting the ball back off the woodwork.

Bendtner then swooped in to score from a few yards and the Black Cats were able to see out the game with few scares down the stretch.

Blackburn 2, Wolverhampton 0

Wolverhampton, England - Blackburn's survival hopes got a big boost on Saturday at Molineux as Junior Hoilett scored a goal in each half to give Rovers a 2-0 win over struggling Wolverhampton.

The two sides entered the contest level on 22 points in a tight relegation battle, but it was the visitors who found themselves ahead shortly before halftime when a throw-in from Morten Gamst Pedersen was flicked into the path of Hoilett, who beat goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

Hoilett doubled his tally with 20 minutes remaining when he found space to fire a shot past Hennessey from 25 yards, moving Rovers three points clear of the drop zone.

Wolverhampton has collected only one point from its last four games and slips to 19th, one point from safety.