Juande Ramos' Premier League career began with a 1-1 draw as Tottenham were held by Middlesbrough.
Tottenham and Middlesbrough play out draw
Juande Ramos' Premier League career began with a 1-1 draw as Tottenham were held by Middlesbrough at The Riverside Stadium.
Ramos made a surprising decision by starting Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe up front, but it paid off in the 35th minute when the former fired home into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Tottenham had been second-best until that point and Middlesbrough deservedly drew level after half-time with a rocket of a shot from right-back Luke Young, whose 25-yard drive flew into the top corner.
Neither Spurs nor Boro really pushed to grab a winner and the point apiece leaves both sides sitting anxiously just outside the Premier League's relegation zone.
Gareth Southgate's side almost took the lead just four minutes in when Stewart Downing was inches away from meeting stand-in skipper Gary O'Neil's cross-shot from the right flank.
The last time Ramos faced Boro was in the 2006 Uefa Cup final, where he led Sevilla to a 4-0 victory in what was Southgate's final game as a player.
Growing confidence
But on the first half hour's showing, a repeat rarely looked on the cards. A neat piece of interplay orchestrated by Steed Malbranque offered cause for optimism but he opted to cross for Bent when perhaps better positioned to shoot.
Slowly, Spurs grew in confidence and they soon had the left winger to thank for creating their opener.
The Frenchman dispossessed Young and slotted in Bent down the left and the England international checked inside Chris Riggott before rifling a low shot inside Mark Schwarzer's left post.
It could have been two for Spurs a minute before half-time when Bent got on the end of Defoe's cross but the ball trickled agonisingly wide of the far post.
The second half began at the same frenetic pace and the Teessiders were lucky to escape when Aaron Lennon's low cross deflected off Andrew Taylor and narrowly missed the lurking Defoe.
But the home side came straight back at them and only an excellent save from Paul Robinson in the 49th minute denied Jeremie Aliadiere from Fabio Rochemback's inswinging free-kick.
The England goalkeeper had no chance in the 52nd minute though when Young atoned for his earlier error, smashing a Spurs clearance into the top-right corner from 25 yards to level the scores.
There were claims for a penalty when Aliadiere's cross appeared to hit Lee Young-pyo's hand but referee Mike Dean waved them away.
End to end
One superb through ball from O'Neil almost sent Aliadiere clear but Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson combined to clear the danger.
Robbie Keane may have scored seven times in his last seven outings but the Republic of Ireland international was unusually clumsy in possession.
And fellow substitute Dimitar Berbatov had the chance to show his new manager what he is capable of when the ball fell to him on the edge of the area, but disappointingly, the Bulgarian fired over.
The energetic Jermaine Jenas took advantage of the home side's tiring legs as he ran free down the right but there was no one on hand to capitalise on his low ball across the face of goal.
Riggott could count himself fortunate moments later when Lennon's fierce shot cannoned off him only to land the other side of right post with Schwarzer beaten.
It was end to end in the closing stages but neither side could make the crucial breakthrough, leaving both still stranded near the bottom of the table.
| Middlesbrough |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
5 |
| 6 |
Corners |
7 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 72.7 |
Passing Success |
73.4 |
| 27 |
Tackles |
28 |
| 74.1 |
Tackles Success |
67.9 |
| 43.1 |
Possession |
56.9 |
| 49.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.3 |
|
