Glenn Whelan's late strike snatched a surprise 1-0 victory for Stoke City to deny Tottenham Hotspur the chance to join Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League. Whelan latched on to a ball from Ricardo Fuller and curled a right-footed shot into the top corner with just four minutes remaining at White Hart Lane.

It capped a frustrating afternoon for Spurs after Niko Kranjcar had hit the woodwork in the 28th minute. James Beattie had also made an acrobatic clearance on the line to keep out a Peter Crouch header in the first half.

Aston Villa's European hopes were dealt a blow as Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored his first goal of the season to rescue a well-deserved 1-1 draw for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gabriel Agbonlahor scored for the sixth time in eight games to put Villa ahead in the midlands derby with ten minutes remaining.

But three minutes later Ebanks-Blake levelled from the penalty spot after Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell had brought down Michael Kightly.

Return of Bruce
Birmingham City climbed above Wolves in the table with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland. Sunderland manager Steve Bruce was returning to St. Andrew's for the first time since his acrimonious departure in 2007.

And it was the home crowd who were celebrating after 37 minutes with Sebastian Larsson's free-kick steered into the net by an unmarked Liam Ridgewell. James McFadden then made it 2-0 three minutes after the restart, neatly placing his shot into the bottom corner.

A Scott Dann own goal eight minutes from time gave Sunderland hope, and Darren Bent's late shot shaved the post as Birmingham clung on.

Brace for Rodallega
Two goals from Hugo Rodallega helped Wigan Athletic claim a 3-1 victory at Burnley. The Clarets were in front after just four minutes through Steven Fletcher, but Rodallega levelled seven minutes later in bizarre circumstances.

A cross into the box from Mario Melchiot brought Brian Jensen out of his goal, but the Burnley goalkeeper then unexpectedly collapsed in a heap allowing Rodallega an easy tap in. Jensen eventually limped off after a lengthy spell of treatment with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

Burnley were unable to recover from the blow and Rodallega grabbed his second of the match six minutes after the interval before Emmerson Boyce put the result to bed with his left-footed shot after 76 minutes.

Hull City and Portsmouth remain mired in the bottom three after a dour goalless draw at the KC Stadium. Hassan Yebda and Jamie O'Hara both had chances in the second half for Pompey, but home goalkeeper Boaz Myhill was up to the challenge.