SOCCER/Manchester City 0 Tottenham H 1:THE FIXTURE was a tough route to the Champions League but Tottenham Hotspur negotiated it with poise and purpose. Victory arrived when Marton Fulop pushed out a Younes Kaboul cross to leave Peter Crouch with a simple header into the net.

Manchester City have been denied and the only consolation lies in the wealth that can fund greater progress in the future. For Tottenham this was a pivotal and deeply satisfying moment in their history.

This struggle felt more intense than the contest of Chelsea and Manchester United for the title itself. That was to be expected since neither City nor Spurs had taken their place in the European Cup since the 1960s. This match, with its frenetic nature, would still not have been seen as preparation for the more studied games that lie ahead for one of these clubs.

The early part of the night, for instance, was notable for a pair of piercing runs that very nearly took Carlos Tevez clear on two occasions. That type of individualistic effort became less common and by the time the Argentinian fired into the side netting after 44 minutes, Gareth Barry, the colleague who had supplied him, would surely have been exasperated by that attempt from a very tight angle when the ball ought to have been cut back.

Tottenham competed effectively from the start and it was reassuring for them that the captain, Ledley King, despite his knee condition, was in shape to start successive matches at the heart of the back four. Harry Redknapp’s side had a second fillip as well. Aaron Lennon started his first game since December and this appearance will have come as a relief to the England manager, Fabio Capello.

The winger needed time to settle, but after 39 minutes he eluded Craig Bellamy and Peter Crouch knocked his deep cross down for Gareth Bale to put a first-time effort just wide. Tottenham were frisky and also, in the case of King, sneaky. He nodded home in the 20th minute but only after levering himself up with an arm on the shoulder of Barry.

City had come through a torpid goalless draw at the Emirates 11 days ago, when Roberto Mancini kept three attackers in the line-up but then deprived the trio of service because he had only defensive midfielders in the centre of the pitch. It will take the final league table to tell us whether the plan was wise then, but City were, of course, more enterprising against Tottenham, with Patrick Vieira on the bench.

Given the sheer weight of expenditure and expectation at Eastlands the pressure bearing down on Mancini must be more severe than that on Redknapp. Tottenham had been professional and effective when beating both Arsenal and Chelsea at White Hart Lane, even if they then went down 3-1 at Manchester United.

It has to be remembered that sides whose target it is to come fourth are, by definition, limited in scope. For that reason, this game was intriguing since it was as much about handling the situation for these sides as it was about dealing with one another. Scoreless as the game was at half-time, neither City nor Tottenham could have claimed they had exercised much authority.

City, with the greater need to win, were more forthright still following the interval. It was an intense spell and Barry, for instance, got himself so far forward that he was in place to knock back a deep, inswinging cross from Adam Johnson on the right. There was no one around to complete the move by scoring and Mancini’s side appeared to lack that attribute.

Jermain Defoe showed them a predatory touch in the 56th minute as his effort with the outside of the right boot called for the impressive save with which Fulop tipped the ball round the post.

Tottenham seemed to have slightly more pattern to their work in the last 30 minutes but each side were always just an inspired moment away from an even more resounding result.

MANCHESTER CITY: Fulop, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Adam Johnson (Wright-Phillips 71), De Jong, Barry (Vieira 57), Bellamy (Santa Cruz 84), Tevez, Adebayor. Subs not used: Nielsen, Richards, Onuoha, Sylvinho.

TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Bentley 71), Huddlestone, Modric (Palacios 88), Bale, Crouch, Defoe (Pavlyuchenko 81). Subs not used: Alnwick, Jenas, Gudjohnsen, Bassong. Booked: Kaboul, Huddlestone, Assou-Ekotto.

Refereee: Steve Bennett (Kent).