Blackburn: Netherlands playmaker Rafael van der Vaart scored either side of half-time to lead Tottenham to a 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, lifting his team to fifth place in the Premier League and maintaining his superb run of form in front of goal.
After seeing his 15th-minute opener cancelled out by Mauro Formica, Van der Vaart clinched all three points for Spurs at Ewood Park by curling in clinically from 20 yards.
Van der Vaart scored for the fourth successive Premier League game, taking his tally for the season in the league to five, as Harry Redknapp's in-form side moved above Liverpool and to within three points of fourth-placed Newcastle.
Blackburn slipped below Wigan to the foot of the table on goal difference, with just one victory to their name in nine games under beleaguered manager Steve Kean.
Rovers fans called for Kean's head after the match, adding to protests earlier this season for the Scot to be fired.
"Somebody's got to take it and I've got broad enough shoulders," Kean said. "I'll protect my players, we'll organize, get back out there and win games."
Kean found an ally in Redknapp.
"They (Blackburn fans) are demonstrating, but the players have given everything - they never gave up, they kept running and working and trying to get that goal back right until the last whistle," Redknapp said.
"If they had lost the dressing room or the players didn't like him, they wouldn't have been playing like they did today. I think it's unfair."
Van der Vaart was the difference between the two teams, putting Tottenham up front by collecting a pass from Kyle Walker and burying a low finish into the corner.
Formica met Chris Samba's header down from Morten Gamst Pedersen's free kick to find the top corner from 12 yards out, but Van der Vaart was not to be denied.
Elsewhere, French striker Louis Saha and midfielder Jack Rodwell grabbed late goals as Everton beat Fulham 3-1 at Craven Cottage to end their three-match losing streak in the Premier League.
Saha finished off a counter-attack seconds into the 90th minute to put the visitors 2-1 ahead and Rodwell made the points safe for the visitors with a powerful finish in the third minute of injury time.
The victory lifted Everton back toward mid-table, giving the team some relief after successive defeats to Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
"If you look back to previous seasons, we've tended to get better as the season's gone on, so I'm hoping that will be the case again," Everton manager David Moyes said. "What we needed to do from this period was find a win from somewhere."
Bryan Ruiz's 67th-minute goal - the Costa Rica striker's first in English football since his deadline-day move to Fulham - had earlier cancelled out the third-minute opener scored by Dutch winger Royston Drenthe.
Fulham remained fourth from bottom after nine games but it could have been so different had striker Bobby Zamora not hit the bar when faced with an open goal, moments before Saha scored.
"Bobby had the winning goal on his foot in the 89th minute and then we conceded a goal in the 90th minute," Fulham manager Martin Jol said.
"There's nothing you can say to Bobby. He's sick and we're all sick."
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