Baggies peg back Spurs

Tottenham's quest for fourth suffered a blow after being held to a 2-2 draw by West Brom at White Hart Lane.

Cox leveller denies Tottenham at White Hart Lane

Tottenham's quest for UEFA Champions League football suffered a blow after being held to a 2-2 draw by West Brom at White Hart Lane. The Baggies were off to a dream start when Peter Odemwingie fired them ahead with just five minutes on the clock after Benoit Assou-Ekotto pulled his hamstring. Spurs managed to get back on terms when Roman Pavlyuchenko made the most of a loose ball by drilling a low shot in off Scott Carson's far post with 27 minutes played. Harry Redknapp's side got their noses in front for the first time on 66 minutes when Jermain Defoe, like Pavlyuchenko, arrowed a shot into Carson's bottom left-hand corner at the net. However, West Brom were not to be denied and Simon Cox ensured the Baggies emerged from North London with a point courtesy of a delightful curling shot from outside the penalty area, his first Premier League goal. The result means Spurs stay in fifth place one point behind Manchester City while West Brom should be good for another season of Premier League football having achieved the 40-point mark. Wednesday's North London derby may have been a thrilling encounter, but the two points dropped gave the West Brom clash added importance, especially given that City were not in action until Monday. Theo Walcott's strike had put Spurs behind five minutes into Wednesday's 3-3 draw and it was the same scenario on Saturday as Odemwingie latched on to Carlos Vela's pass to outmuscle Assou-Ekotto and curl a delightful 20-yard shot past Gomes for his 13th of the season. Assou-Ekotto picked up what looked to be a muscle strain in the challenge and was replaced by Sandro as Bale dropped to left-back.

High-tempo

Harry Redknapp urged his side to find an instant reply but the hosts' play bore no hallmarks of the high-tempo style they deployed to such good effect in Wednesday's comeback. Inconsistency in front of goal was also a problem. William Gallas spooned a header over from five yards before Pavlyuchenko miscued a diving header from the same distance moments later. Redknapp cut a frustrated figure on the touchline but he was punching the air after 26 minutes when Pavlyuchenko equalised. The Russian stole the ball off a West Brom defender and rifled past Carson with a 20-yard strike that went in off a post. Spurs then upped the pressure on their opponents as they looked to take the lead. First Bale curled a 25-yard free-kick just over before Rafael Van der Vaart stung Carson's palms with a fierce drive. The rebound fell to Pavlyuchenko, but he blazed over from 18 yards while the Baggies goalkeeper was struggling to get to his feet. Sandro was putting in a steely performance since his introduction, breaking up West Brom's play as the hosts looked for a second. Defoe was struggling to get into the game but skipped past two Baggies defenders before being shrugged off the ball in the box. Five minutes into the second half Nicky Shorey found Odemwingie unmarked in the box but Gomes pulled off a top-class save to tip his header around the post.

Introduction

The home crowd demanded the introduction of Aaron Lennon and Redknapp heeded their advice and brought on the England winger for Huddlestone just after the hour. Luka Modric slipped in the box as he wriggled past his marker and Tottenham did not have the same fluency that they displayed towards the end of the first period. Lennon won a free-kick on the edge of the box but Van der Vaart's 25-yard effort sailed over. The home side's frustration at not finding a second ended after 66 minutes when West Brom paid the price for backing off Defoe, who found the bottom corner of Carson's goal with a well-placed strike. Every one of Defoe's team-mates aside from Gomes ran across the pitch to congratulate the striker on reaching his ton for the club. The strike was also his 100th Premier League goal and was the club's 1,000th in the division. The ball appeared to strike Michael Dawson's arm as he blocked James Morrison's shot in the box in the 73rd minute but Stuart Attwell did not give a penalty. Defoe breezed past three Baggies defenders before being shrugged off the ball in the box. Chris Brunt then picked the ball up at the other end before smashing a 35-yard drive inches wide, with Gomes well-beaten. West Brom had the shock equaliser nine minutes from the end when Cox curled a shot that flew over Gomes' head to make it 2-2 with his first strike since October. Redknapp replaced Pavlyuchenko with Crouch with three minutes left as Spurs desperately sought the winner they needed to leapfrog City. Dawson's frustration boiled over just a minute later when he was booked for a rash challenge on Odemwingie and the home side's push for a winner petered out, much to Redknapp's frustration.

Tottenham Hotspur	Team Statistics	West Bromwich Albion
2	Goals	2
1	1st Half Goals	1
3	Shots on Target	3
9	Shots off Target	6
12	Blocked Shots	2
11	Corners	1
8	Fouls	13
0	Offsides	3
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
86.5	Passing Success	79.4
19	Tackles	16
89.5	Tackles Success	68.8
61.3	Possession	38.7
61.7	Territorial Advantage	38.3