Kanoute keeps Spurs on Euro route
 |  Two early goals from Frederic Kanoute put Spurs on their way to victory |
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Tottenham Hotspur moved closer to UEFA Cup football next season with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Aston Villa at White Hart Lane..
A day after Chelsea won the Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, the chase for European football continued with Spurs moving into a provisional UEFA Cup slot in seventh place with two games to play.
Spurs were 3-0 up inside the opening half hour.
Mali international striker Frederic Kanoute scored twice and captain Ledley King was also on target before Gareth Barry pulled one back from the penalty spot just before the break.
Andy Reid added the fourth with a superb 20-meter strike and Stephen Kelly completed a miserable afternoon for Villa's stand-in keeper Stefan Postma with a close-range effort on 90 minutes.
Spurs manager Martin Jol said: "We wanted to play good football and score goals, so you can't wish for more.
"It's a long time since Tottenham played for a European spot ...and we want to achieve something this year, not next year. So we will fight on and hopefully we'll manage."
Though Villa boss David O'Leary thought his team should have had a penalty before Kanoute's opener, for a challenge by Spurs Erik Edman on Mark Delaney, he was clearly not impressed by their overall display.
"I thought we were poor today," O'Leary said. "I've a good bunch of lads who let themselves down today...we gave a lot of easy goals away."
Crushing win
Manchester United moved to within a point of second-placed Arsenal by crushing Charlton 4-0 at The Valley.
Paul Scholes opened the scoring after Charlton keeper Stephan Andersen spilled a Wayne Rooney shot in the 34th minute and Darren Fletcher rifled in the second just before halftime.
Both United's second-half goals came on the break, with Alan Smith adding a cool finish and Rooney netting with a neat flick past a stranded Andersen after 67 minutes.
Charlton's day became worse in the 85th minute when Chris Perry was sent off for dragging down Wes Brown as the United defender bore down on goal.
