Portsmouth secured its first points of the season Saturday by beating Wolverhampton 1-0 to halt a run of seven straight losses in the Premier League.
Midfielder Hassan Yebda, on-loan from Benfica, headed in Kevin-Prince Boateng's cross after 19 minutes to lift the gloom at Pompey, whose players' wages went unpaid this week and whose owner was hospitalized while trying to secure vital funding for the club.
Manager Paul Hart said after the victory that owner Sulaiman al-Fahim will be paying the players on Monday, adding that they should expect "good news in the next couple of days" over raising finances.
While the south-coast team's players will now also hope to receive win bonuses, they remain in last place, a point behind West Ham, which has played two games less.
"It's fantastic - we've waited a long time for it," Hart said.
"We have shown great courage in difficult situations and we stuck in today.
"Tottenham at the same time (after eight games) last year had just two points, so we are one better than they were. We know we have our work cut out to rise up the table."
Tottenham, which has recovered this season to the extent that the team is in the top four, came from behind twice at Bolton on Saturday to earn a 2-2 draw.
Ricardo Gardner put Bolton ahead after goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini parried Lee Chung-Yong's shot. Spurs equalized in the 34th minute against the run of play when Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar slotted home after Peter Crouch's knockdown to score his first goal since moving from Portsmouth.
Kevin Davies restored Bolton's lead in the 69th by meeting Tamir Cohen's cross at the back post with a header.
But the lead lasted less than four minutes with Vedran Corluka meeting Kranjcar's corner to claim a point for Spurs.
Despite Wigan inflicting Chelsea's first loss of the season last weekend, Roberto Martinez's side lost 2-1 at lowly Hull.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Geovanni scored in an eight-minute spell in the second half and Hull held on to secure its first league victory in six weeks despite Scott Sinclair's late header for Wigan.
Steven Fletcher put Burnley ahead in the 53rd with a left-footed shot that deflected off Joe Hart's legs and into the roof of the net.
Andre Bikey created and scored the second in the 62nd, charging forward and exchanging passes with David Nugent before shooting beyond Hart and into the far corner.
Sebastian Larsson curled in a consolation free kick in the fourth minute of injury time.
In the late match, leader Manchester United hosted Sunderland, which hadn't won at Old Trafford since 1968.
.jpg)
.jpg)
