Tottenham tightened their grip on fourth place and condemned Manchester City to a fifth successive Barclays Premiership defeat with a tense victory at White Hart Lane.

Canadian right-back Paul Stalteri pounced shortly before the interval for his first league goal of the season and England midfielder Michael Carrick doubled the lead in the 49th minute.

City grew in confidence in the second half and pulled one back through Georgios Samaras before creating further chances to level with Micah Richards squandering the best.

A string of saves from David James kept Stuart Pearce's side in the match, however, with the England keeper in magnificent form apart from one blunder.

Carrick, Robbie Keane and Anthony Gardner were all denied by James, who silenced the home fans' chants of 'England's number four' in emphatic style.

Pearce voiced his disgust after last weekend's dismal defeat at Middlesbrough and although City's losing streak continued, he will have been encouraged by today's second-half display.

Spurs, unbeaten at White Hart Lane since August, appeared to be cruising until Samaras capitalised on a lapse in concentration and were unable to relax until the final whistle.

Keane provided their greatest threat - he was kept out by James' reactions on three occasions - while Carrick gave a composed performance in midfield.

Spurs, who have stretched their lead over Arsenal to five points, made the brighter start but City created the first chance with Darius Vassell and Samaras linking to set up the Greek striker who blazed wide.

Mido was hauled down by Richard Dunne 15 yards outside the area but Carrick's powerful deflected free-kick was well saved by David James.

Micah Richards fired inches wide after being played in by Trevor Sinclair with City's movement slicing open Spurs' defence.

Martin Jol's side then squandered two magnificent chances in the space of a minute with Mido failing to capitalise on James rushing out from his line and Keane proving equally wasteful with an attempted chip.

A Paul Stalteri throw-in was gathered by Jenas who fed Keane and the Republic of Ireland skipper dashed across goal and struck a weak shot which James saved.

Kiki Musampa smashed a piledriver over the crossbar but the ease with which City gave the ball away was preventing them from building any momentum.

Jenas curved a well-struck free-kick towards the bottom right corner of City's goal but James was equal to the task.

Superb reactions from James prevented Keane from giving Spurs the lead in the 40th minute with the striker taking Young Pyo-Lee's pass and pulling the trigger only for City's alert keeper to tip the ball onto the bar.

But his heroics could not stop Spurs taking the lead two minutes before the interval with Mido flicking on to Keane to set up the initial opportunity.

A powerful run from Teemu Tainio put Spurs on the offensive shortly after the restart and the Finland midfielder was involved in Spurs' second in the 49th minute.

His perfectly-weighted lofted pass to Carrick released the England midfielder down the right and his ferociously-struck shot whizzed past James from a tight angle.

Spurs should have been cruising but two minutes later they let City equalise with no-one picking up Sylvain Distin's long throw-in except Samaras who prodded home.

The home side's response was instant but Keane's goal was correctly ruled out for offside.

City's belief had grown after slashing the deficit and they could have equalised but Richards failed to bury a good chance.

Lee supplied the ammunition for Anthony Gardner to shoot in the 70th minute but James collected from close range and then tipped a deflected Stalteri effort onto the post

Jermain Defoe was brought on with eight minutes to go, replacing Lennon, and Spurs fans were subjected to an uncomfortable finish as City searched in vain for the equaliser.

Teams

Tottenham Robinson, Stalteri, King, Gardner, Lee,Lennon (Defoe 82), Jenas, Carrick, Tainio (Davids 89), Keane,Mido.

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Murphy, Davenport.

Goals: Stalteri 44, Carrick 49.

Man City James, Danny Mills (Riera 59), Dunne, Distin,Thatcher, Sinclair, Richards, Musampa, Reyna (Sibierski 79),Vassell, Samaras.

Subs Not Used: Weaver, Sommeil, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Vassell, Richards, Thatcher.

Goal: Samaras 52.

Att: 36,167

Ref: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).