Tottenham and Aston Villa drew 0-0 at White Hart Lane in the quest for a place in the Champions League.
Rivals cannot be separated in fight for coveted fourth place
Tottenham and Aston Villa inflicted self-harm on their respective quests for a place in next season's UEFA Champions League following a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane.
The result kept Harry Redknapp's Spurs in fifth place in the Premier League, while Martin O'Neill's Villa remained two points adrift in seventh position with a game in hand over their hosts.
Both sides were intent on attacking but the deadlock remained unbroken in an entertaining opening 45 minutes, in which Villa striker Emile Heskey was forced off due to injury.
Intent could not be faulted in the second half, but the neccesary quality in the opposing attacking thirds was sadly missing.
Tottenham, who had surrendered fourth place to Merseyside derby winners Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime, pushed in the closing stages and Jermain Defoe was unfortunate not to win a penalty when challenged by Stiliyan Petrov.
But Redknapp's men could not find a way past Villa's notoriously stubborn defence and, with Manchester City having lost at Hull City earlier in the day, both Spurs and Villa will be disappointed not to have fully capitalised.
Villa's Brad Friedel was the busier of the two goalkeepers in the first half, starting when Luka Modric threaded the ball through Carlos Cuellar's legs for Peter Crouch.
Sharp stop
Helped by the excellent-as-always Richard Dunne's block, Friedel managed to save.
The American also parried a fierce 25-yard drive from Tom Huddlestone but saved his best until just before the interval when David Bentley sent over a free-kick and Ledley King prodded Crouch's flick towards the top corner.
Friedel leapt to his right to get a glove on the ball, with Defoe sending the rebound over.
The visitors had attacks of their own, with Dunne almost on the end of Stewart Downing's cross followed by a penalty shout when Michael Dawson accidentally touched Gabriel Agbonlahor's shot.
Their best chance of the first half came when James Milner's long-range effort was saved by Heurelho Gomes and the Brazilian got up sharply to deny Agbonlahor following up.
Villa were forced into a change, however, midway through the opening period. Heskey was hurt by an earlier Wilson Palacios challenge and headed straight down the tunnel when he was replaced by John Carew, who himself had just returned from a knee injury.
Carew had to adjust to the pace of a high-tempo encounter, with last-ditch tackles and important saves around every corner.
Influence
Modric was looking to drift in from the left to influence the game, King had to time challenges perfectly and both sides were threatening from set-pieces.
The start of the second period followed the same pattern, with plenty of attacking football without an end product to break the deadlock.
Friedel was following in the footsteps of Boaz Myhill, Casper Ankergren and Joe Lewis - who all impressed at Spurs' ground in the last month - with his performance between the sticks.
The veteran's next save was from Huddlestone, who fizzed a drive towards the top corner but saw his effort turned around the post.
Carew had sight of goal when he was found at the near post but he could not steer his finish past Gomes.
In the latter stages Dunne blocked a long-range effort from Bentley and Crouch had an effort deflected just wide.
The hosts also had a late penalty shout turned down by Chris Foy when Defoe went over following a challenge by Petrov, before Crouch backheeled wide from close range in stoppage-time.
| Tottenham Hotspur |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 18 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 12 |
Corners |
4 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 75.2 |
Passing Success |
67.7 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 64 |
Tackles Success |
69.2 |
| 55.1 |
Possession |
44.9 |
| 55.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.2 |
|
