STOKE, England: A late winner from Dean Whitehead gave Stoke a 3-2 victory over Birmingham Tuesday after his side had squandered a two-goal lead and looked set for an embarrassing draw. Having conceded goals to Robert Huth and Ricardo Fuller, Birmingham's fight-back began when Keith Fahey pulled a goal back in the 76th minute. Cameron Jerome then grabbed a quick equalizer just two minutes later. But Whitehead dispatched Matthew Etherington's cross into the net in the 85th to seal three points for Stoke. The victory lifted Stoke three points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, while Birmingham remains a point behind. Asamoah Gyan, meanwhile, came to Sunderland's rescue at Tottenham in the other match, with the Ghana striker scoring his third goal in two matches to clinch a 1-1 draw. Gyan's 67th-minute equalizer came after a mix-up in the Spurs defense between William Gallas and Younes Kaboul allowing Danny Welbeck's pass through. Rafael van der Vaart put Spurs ahead three minutes earlier, maintaining his record of scoring in all six home matches since being signed in August. Despite dominating possession and shots on target, Tottenham has gone four straight league matches without a win. Solskjaer leaves United Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is moving back to his home country to coach top-flight club Molde. The 37-year-old Norwegian signed a contract Tuesday and will begin his job on Jan. 10. Father-of-three Solskjaer said family reasons were the main factor in his decision to return to Norway after 14 years at Manchester United. The striker arrived at Old Trafford from Molde in 1996 and became a fans' favorite for his knack of scoring last-minute goals, including the winner in United's Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in 1999. He retired to a coaching role for the team in 2007 after failing to recover from a knee injury. Molde has won the Norwegian premier league twice but finished 11th this season. Arsenal loses appeal Laurent Koscielny will miss Arsenal's Premier League match away to Wolves Wednesday after his appeal against his sending-off against Newcastle was dismissed. The 25-year-old French defender was red-carded late on in Arsenal's 1-0 defeat by Newcastle after he brought down Nile Ranger on the edge of the penalty area. Koscielny will serve an immediate two-match ban, joining fellow centre-half Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles), midfielder Abou Diaby (ankle), left-back Kieran Gibbs (knee) and Aaron Ramsey (broken leg) on the sidelines.
