LONDON: Manchester United survived the second-half sending-off of right back Rafael to hold Tottenham to a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane Sunday and remain unbeaten in the Premier League. The Brazilian defender picked up a second booking for tripping Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the 74th minute but the visitors hung on to remain atop the standings, above Manchester City on goal difference. Tottenham needed a win to go above Chelsea into fourth place and almost took maximum points when Rafael van der Vaart's curling shot in the 80th flew narrowly over. Liverpool drew 2-2 with local rival Everton to leave Kenny Dalglish still without a win in his second spell in charge of the Reds, while Birmingham-Aston Villa and Sunderland-Newcastle both finished 1-1. City beat Wolverhampton 4-3 Saturday and third-place Arsenal also won, 3-0 at bottom side West Ham, to move two points behind the joint leader. United has two games in hand over City and one over Arsenal. The Liverpool fans gave Dalglish a rousing reception as he emerged from the tunnel prior to kickoff as the former Scotland striker made an emotional return to Anfield, 20 years after his last match there as manager of the 18-time champions. Dalglish's side had lost two matches since he took over last weekend – to United in the FA Cup and Blackpool in the league – and a win against Everton would have been the ideal way to kickstart Liverpool's stuttering season. The Reds went to sleep, though, after Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles gave them the lead in the 29th, and Dalglish was staring at a third straight defeat when Sylvain Distin headed in a corner in the 46th and Jermaine Beckford curled home a neat finish after good work by Leon Osman in the 52nd. Tim Howard gave Liverpool a chance to draw level after bringing down Maxi Rodriguez and Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt didn't pass up the opportunity, sending the United States goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot. The draw kept the teams level just below midtable, on 26 points. Lazio in 2nd place Lazio joined Napoli in second place in Serie A with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria Sunday following a late winner from substitute Libor Kozak. The 21-year-old Czech forward headed in from the edge of the box in the 84th minute to break a deadlock at the Stadio Olimpico, then ripped his shirt off to celebrate, drawing a yellow card. AS Roma also got a late winner, with Fabio Simplicio directing the ball in off defender Max Pellegrino in the 89th for a 1-0 win at Cesena. Juventus pulled out a 2-1 win over Bari. Lazio and Napoli are next with 37 each, Roma has 35, Juventus 34 and Inter Milan 32 with two matches to make up. Elsewhere Sunday, Antonio Di Natale scored his league-leading 14th goal as Udinese defeated Genoa 4-2 to move into eighth; Brescia beat 10-man Parma 2-0 and Catania and Chievo Verona drew 1-1. Also, Cagliari beat Palermo 3
