Stoke 1 Tottenham 2

MATCH-WINNER ... Emmanuel Adebayor is congratulated by Steven Caulker after netting the winne

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR grabbed a late winner against 10-man Stoke to keep Tottenham's Champions League dream alive.

With Clint Dempsey cancelling out Steven Nzonzi's opener, Spurs were handed a golden opportunity to turn the screw on North London rivals Arsenal in the race for a top-four finish when Charlie Adam was given his marching orders.

But Andre Villas-Boas cut a frustrated figure in the dugout as his side failed to make their numerical advantage count — until Adebayor popped up seven minutes from to time to net the decisive goal.

Tottenham, in need of a victory to maintain their push for a place among European football's elite, were dealt an early blow when Nzonzi broke the deadlock.

With just three minutes on the clock, the former Blackburn man connected with Adam’s free-kick at the near post and his glancing header found the net despite the best efforts of Hugh Lloris to keep it out.

Spurs looked to hit back immediatley and Gareth Bale’s powerful long-range drive was tipped over by Asmir Begovic.

The visitors had the ball in the net in the 16th minute when Dempsey flicked home Kyle Walker’s wayward shot, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

But they did not have to wait long for the equaliser as Dempsey took advantage of a mix-up between Marc Wilson and Begovic to send the ball sailing over the stranded keeper's head just four minutes later.

Tottenham continued to push forward after equalising and Adebayor saw his goalbound shot well blocked by Robert Huth.

With the pressure mounting, Begovic pulled off a fine save to keep out Michael Dawson's header from Bale's free-kick before blocking a low effort to deny the Welshman.

Stoke's task became an uphill struggle just a minute into the second half when Adam was dismissed after picking up his second yellow card.

With his 10-man team pinned in their own half, Potters boss Tony Pulis sent on Andy Wilkinson and Cameron Jerome in place of Matthew Etherington and Peter Crouch.

RAY OF HOPE ... Andre Villas-Boas enjoys Clint Dempsey's equaliser

Spurs continued to push and Bale tested Begovic's handling with a low drive after Tom Huddlestone had shown good feet to dance his way into the penalty area.

For all their possession, the visitors were unable to find a way through as Stoke's players put their bodies on the line to make last-gasp tackles and blocks.

Bale did his best to get Tottenham going with a powerful run but was hacked down by Ryan Shotton, who was booked for the crude challenge, and Villas-Boas sent on Moussa Dembele in place of Scott Parker.

Pulis made his final change 17 minutes from time, hooking Shotton for Geoff Cameron, while Jermain Defoe climbed off the Spurs bench to replace Aaron Lennon.

The visiting fans held their breath just seconds later when Bale sent a right-foot effort just a whisker wide of Begovic's post following some good work from Dembele.

But Tottenham's pressure eventually paid off when Dempsey rolled the ball across the box for Adebayor to tap home from close range and secure three precious points.

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH gets Real over Mourinho

MOUR DELAYS ... Jose get-out clause is problem

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH has told Jose Mourinho he will NOT pay the £17million get-out clause in his Real Madrid contract.

Mourinho’s deal at the Bernabeu still has three years to run after he signed a new £12m-a-year contract last May. And part of the agreement is that a fee of 20m euros will be paid by whichever party breaks the deal.

But the Chelsea owner has made it clear it will not be him who pays it — and that the compensation row must be sorted before the Special One can return to Stamford Bridge.

Now Mourinho must convince his current employers that it will be in everyone’s best interests to allow him to walk away from the Bernabeu for nothing.

The Portuguese boss, 50, is desperate to leave the Spanish giants.

The club are equally keen to see the back of their controversial coach — and are already looking for their next manager.

But he will not quit and Madrid will not fire him because neither wants to pay out.

So Mourinho must convince club president Florentino Perez to call it quits and let him have a dream return to Chelsea without money changing hands.

As things stand, the former Porto boss is now threatening to stay and see out the remaining three years of his contract.

But Chelsea insiders are confident it is just a negotiating tactic and remain convinced he will take over from Rafa Benitez.

Swann feels like new

FIGHTING FIT ... Swann will play at Lord's

GRAEME SWANN is certain he is 100 per cent fit — and ready for the biggest year of his career.

Spinner Swann was selected by England yesterday for the first time since undergoing his second elbow operation in the space of four years.

He will play against New Zealand in the First Test at Lord’s on Thursday after missing the drawn three-Test series on their patch earlier this year.

Swann, 34, said: “We have an incredible year ahead of us with back-to-back Ashes series and I’m confident the elbow will hold up. It certainly feels good.”

Yorkshire seamer Tim Bresnan — also back from elbow surgery — is named but is likely to be 12th man, while county team-mates Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root come into the middle order.

National selector Geoff Miller said: “We need to improve on our performances in New Zealand.”

Formula One Alonso reigns in Spain

FERNANDO ALONSO sent the home fans into delirium with his victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

His Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa produced a stunning drive to go from ninth to third.

The race descended into a tyre management exercise rather than a flat-out racing contest.

Ferrari’s decision to nurse the widely-debated Pirelli tyres with four pit stops allowed their drivers to finish either side of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.

Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was fourth while Jenson Button finished eighth after his McLaren teammate, Sergio Perez, abandoned his late challenge to finish ninth, following a radio message.

Lewis Hamilton meanwhile had a dreadful afternoon.

He started in second but finished down in 12th -- and was even LAPPED.

His Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, who started the race on pole, was sixth.

It was a shock as the Merc duo had looked so quick during Saturday’s qualifying session but just as in the previous race in Bahrain, they struggled when it came to the race.

Rosberg was able to maintain his first spot going into turn one but he was under pressure from Vettel immediately.

But it was not such a good start for Hamilton, who was quickly overtaken by Vettel while Alonso then squeezed past.

Button also made a nightmare start and he was running in 17th place at the end of the first lap, having started in 14th.

Hamilton continued to drop like a stone while Rosberg was struggling to fend off the challenge from Vettel.

Further back, Romain Grosjean saw his race ended on the ninth lap when his Lotus suffered a broken rear suspension.

But there were not any problems however for his teammate Raikkonen, who had a solid race after being 

The Finn needed to be quick too, for Alonso started to stretch his lead having seen off Rosberg and Vettel — much to the delight of the home crowd.

The Ferrari ace benefitted from an early stop to pass the German and gave a faultless display, as his teammate Massa also came into the reckoning.

The Brazilian, who picked up a three-place grid penalty, for impeding another driver, looked quick like Alonso.

The same cannot be said for Mercedes’ two drivers.

Rosberg held his nerve to remain in the top six but Hamilton appeared to give up the fight.

He was passed by Paul Di Resta on lap 26 while the sluggish Williams of Pastor Maldonado also trundled past, prompting the Brit to complain into his team’s radio “now I have been overtaken by a Williams”.

There were more glum faces down at Sauber, as Nico Hulkenberg was penalised for an unsafe release when he clattered into Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso in the pitlane.

The Frenchman then had a double whammy, as his rear tyre inexplicably exploded — just as Massa and Hamilton suffered in Bahrain and Di Resta did here on Friday.

The failure is sure to raise some more questions about the safety of the Pirelli tyres, which drew fresh criticism during this race.

The delicate lifespan of the rubber made this race more a pit stop management exercise than a flat-out contest.

The flurry of necessary pit-stops did shake up the order but it did little to dislodge Alonso’s lead as he continued to stay ahead of Raikkonen.

And while Alonso edged his way to the end of the race, attention turned to the chasing pack, as Button enjoyed another duel with his McLaren teammate Sergio Perez.

The two clashed in Bahrain and forced Button to complain about the Mexican.

The duo insisted afterwards they had buried the hatchet but will still be allowed to race each other.

Yet, that was clearly not the case here, as Perez received instructions over the team’s radio to save his tyres, prompting him not to overtake Button.

It all resulted in a lacklustre finish, aside from Di Resta, who once again finished as the highest-place Brit in his Force India in seventh spot.

Ricky shows the heart of a champion

RICKY BURNS was made to dig deep to retain his WBO lightweight as Jose Gonzalez threatened to spoil the party in Glasgow.

Burns, 30, had his hands full in the opening half of the fight and was forced to endure an onslaught in the seventh as his mandatory challenger went for the kill at the Emirates Arena.

But the Scot refused to give ground and Gonzalez appeared troubled by the fact he had not managed to put the champion away.

With his spirit broken, the previously unbeaten Puerto Rican refused to get off his stool for the 10th round after claiming he had suffered an injury.

A relieved Burns said: “He caught me with a few good shots — but I proved I can take a good shot.

“He did hurt me in that seventh round, but that’s when I just decided to stand my ground and trade back with him.

"He caught me with a good few shots. I had a quick look up and I could see the ref and he was having a good look.

“I think he was thinking about stopping it but I just fired straight back with my own punches.

“Maybe I was guilty of over-stretching as well. I’m out there to make the fight exciting, but maybe I need to go back to the drawing board a wee bit.”

Fighting under the Matchroom banner for the first time, Burns was desperate to make an impression in front of his fellow countrymen.

The Coatbridge fighter found it difficult to get to grips with Gonzalez’s style but showed plenty of heart to hang in there as his opponent gave it everything during that pulsating seventh round.

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Burns said: “I knew going into the fight he was a good boxer and that he could punch — and he was a very heavy hitter in both hands.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult fight, we just didn’t know just how difficult or how awkward he was going to be.

“It is hard when you try to fight somebody who doesn’t want to commit. They make you miss and they make you pay and that’s what he was doing, stealing the rounds.

“I was getting caught with stupid shots on the counter, shots that I shouldn’t have been caught with. I think I learned my lesson from that.

“My trainer Billy [Nelson] was saying I was lunging in, but I think that was because I was trying to go out and go to town a bit.

“I knew that the rounds were close — they’ve said that the judges had me behind.

“But I felt the round before he pulled out he was getting tired and that’s when I started upping the workrate.

“I take my hat off to him — he’s a class, class opponent. He was very good technically and very hard to hit."

Matchroom supremo Eddie Hearn added: “He had a lot of pressure on him — the pressure of a new start and also the pressure of a nation on his shoulders.

“Gonzalez is a class, class fighter, very awkward.

“I felt Ricky was breaking him down — he’d won the last two rounds and I thought he was going to go on and win three more.

“But sometimes when you’re not at your best, to show heart and the determination that Ricky did shows he is a champion.

“He showed unbelievable courage in the seventh round, he dug in there and that’s when he found his best.

“We’ll be back here in September for another huge night.”

MAN DOWN ... Robeto Mancini

ROBERTO MANCINI is heading for the Manchester City exit following their disastrous FA Cup final defeat against Wigan.

The Italian’s fate was sealed at a board meeting held by the club’s hierarchy just hours before their appearance at Wembley.

And it is understood even a convincing win over the Latics would not have been enough to save the former Inter Milan coach from the chop.

Now the axe could fall as early as Monday, which will be exactly a year to the day after the club lifted the Premier League trophy.

Mancini, 48, is expected to be replaced by Malaga’s Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini — certainly by the time the club depart on a post-season trip to New York next Monday.

Before then the out-going champions have two more league fixtures to fulfil against Reading on Tuesday night and then at home to Norwich next Sunday.

Mancini could yet be in charge for those matches as compensation for the four-year deal he agreed last summer has yet to be finalised.

If he departs beforehand, assistant boss Brian Kidd could take charge as City need one point to ensure they finish runners-up to Manchester United.

Speaking after the 1-0 defeat to the Latics, Mancini said he expects his fate to be known "within the next two weeks".

He also took a swipe at club officials for failing to stamp out rumours claiming he would be replaced by Pellegrini after they first came to light in February.

The rumours intensified on the eve of the cup final with odds on the former Real Madrid boss taking over at the Etihad slashed to an amazing 10/1 ON with some bookies.

And late on Friday night, reports emerged in Spain that a deal had been agreed by City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain for Pellegrini to take over.