Soccer-Leicester stay calm to beat Spurs and put heat on Arsenal

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - 'Keep Calm And Carry On' could be Claudio Ranieri's motto for the second half of the season after his Leicester City side put the heat back on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Their chances of taking the title may still be minimal -- just two percent according to a statistical report in the Leicester Mercury -- but Robert Huth's late header made a top-four finish look a lot more likely. City had gone three league games without a goal, dropping behind Arsenal with fears that the slide had started, but their fighting spirit shone through at White Hart Lane. Huth's header, which ended a run of 374 minutes without a goal, left Leicester behind Arsenal -- who played out a 3-3 thriller at Liverpool -- only on goal difference and three clear of third-placed Manchester City. The gap to Spurs in fourth is now seven points. "A fantastic win against a big team," declared the manager, the verdict delivered without any sign of getting carried away. "The beginning was a difficult match because Tottenham started very well. But we maintained our calm, shape and slowly, slowly we got better and created some good chances to score a goal," he told Sky Sports television. "In the second half it was an open match. We created some chances to score, they created some chances and we won. We are very happy. "Unfortunately, it's January, not May. There's so much work to do. We have to remain calm and believe in what we're doing," said the Italian. Wednesday's game was the second of three in the space of 10 days between the opponents. Ranieri's side, with three successive clean sheets to their credit in the league, drew 2-2 with Spurs in the FA Cup third round at White Hart Lane on Sunday and play the replay at home next Wednesday. "Tottenham is one of the best teams in the league, it's normal that they play at home and put us under pressure. But we continue to believe and we want to win, we came here to try to win," he said. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was disappointed. "All the stats are positive for us. It's difficult to explain -- we deserved more and to win the game," he told the BBC. "In football you can get punished for one little mistake. We are going to try to analyse the game. We were unlucky tonight." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)