Spurs stay 3rd, Chelsea winsLONDON – Manchester United missed the chance to make significant inroads into Manchester City's lead at the top of the Premier League after a controversial penalty secured fourth-placed Newcastle United a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford Saturday. United, which led through Javier Hernandez's early second-half goal, was pegged back by Demba Ba's 64th minute spot-kick that left Alex Ferguson's side four points behind City which plays at Liverpool on Sunday. “It was an absolutely shocking decision,” a frustrated Ferguson told Sky Sports after defender Rio Ferdinand was harshly penalized for a tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa. “It cost us.” Tottenham Hotspur, with a double from Emmanuel Adebayor, stayed third after coming from behind to win 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion while Chelsea emerged from its recent slump to give under-pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas a huge boost with a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge. Manchester City has 34 points, followed by Manchester United on 30, Spurs (28), Newcastle (26) and Chelsea (25). Arsenal moved up to sixth on 23 points despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Fulham. Franco Di Santo struck a last-gasp winner to lift Wigan Athletic off the bottom with a 2-1 victory at Sunderland. Blackburn dropped to the basement after losing 3-1 at Stoke City in the lunchtime kickoff. Manchester United has stumbled at home in this season's Champions League and after being held to a midweek draw by Benfica, it found high-flying Newcastle tough to crack on its return to domestic action, even when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Jonas Gutierrez's 79th minute dismissal. A fine performance from goalkeeper Tim Krul was overshadowed by Newcastle's equalizer. Ferdinand appeared to win the ball fairly from Ben Arfa but linesman John Flynn signalled a penalty. Referee Mike Jones then awarded a spot-kick after consulting with his assistant and Ba slotted in his ninth league goal of the season. “Why can't the referee overrule the linesman when it is so clear to him and he was so near to him... he was only yards away,” lamented Ferguson. “The problem is the referees are full time but the linesmen are not.” Chelsea, which had lost three of its previous four league games and its last two at home, cruised past Wolves after John Terry, Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata struck before halftime. In other matches, Everton won 2-0 at 10-man Bolton Wanderers and Norwich City beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 in a game between two promoted sides. Italian teams in hunt for Tevez – agent Carlos Tevez's agent Kia Joorabchian has revealed that the biggest teams in Italy are jostling for position in the race to sign the Manchester City rebel. Joorabchian met with AC Milan during the week and then revealed that negotiations went smoothly. “It was a constructive dialogue which left a good feeling,” Iranian-born Joorabchian told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Manchester City authorized the meeting with Milan officials. “Since the summer there have been three offers: Corinthians, Inter Milan and another Italian team.” Joorabchian said City had turned down Inter's summer offer and although he did not confirm reports the third Italian team is Juve, when asked directly he gave a “knowing smile” according to the newspaper.
