Baggies keep Spurs in check

West Bromwich Albion fought back at the Hawthorns to claim a valuable point against Tottenham Hotspur.

Brunt header cancels out Modric opener in Hawthorns draw

West Bromwich Albion fought back at the Hawthorns to claim a valuable point against Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs, who were looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season in their last league outing, came out of the traps much better than the hosts and duly took the lead though Luka Modric. A mix-up between Gabriel Tamas and Jonas Olsson allowed the Croatian midfielder to mark his return to the Spurs' starting line-up with a goal in the 27th minute. But Modric was forced off the field shortly after. The Londoners missed the influence of Jermain Defoe, who will be out for three months with the ankle injury suffered on England duty, as they lacked the killer instinct to go further ahead and Chris Brunt soon equalised. The former Sheffield Wednesday winger grabbed his 50th career league goal four minutes from half-time from Peter Odemwingie's header to put the hosts level going into the interval. The Baggies were the better team in the second-half and could have taken all three points had Olsson not been denied by Carlo Cudicini or if Tamas had not squandered a sitter. But Roberto Di Matteo's promoted side can take solace at keeping their unbeaten home record intact, while Harry Redknapp's team will be hoping for a better performance when they begin their UEFA Champions League quest on Tuesday.

Bright Bale

Tottenham started brightly and Gareth Bale, who at times ran West Brom's defence ragged, got to the by-line and then turned back inside before his cross picked out Modric. His first-time flick flew high over Scott Carson's crossbar but it was an early warning to the home side. Aaron Lennon should have done better after seven minutes when a back flick from debutant Rafael van der Vaart found him in space 12 yards out and he sent his shot wide. Bale was troubling the Albion defence and one superb cross just failed to pick out the run of Lennon. It came as no surprise when Modric put Spurs ahead after just before the half hour mark. Van der Vaart's lofted cross hit the back of the head of Tamas under pressure from Roman Pavlyuchenko. Modric was first to react to the loose ball and beat Carson from 10 yards out with a low drive into the corner of the net. But it was his last meaningful contribution as he was replaced five minutes later by Niko Kranjcar after suffering a leg injury after an innocuous challenge with Gonzalo Jara. Tamas had chance to make amends for his error but he headed just wide from Brunt's corner. Carson held onto a dipping free-kick from Kranjcar as Spurs continued to dictate play and the home side were chasing shadows. It was completely against the run of play when Brunt equalised after 41 minutes. Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini beat out a shot from Marc Antoine-Fortune but the ball looped up in the air and Odemwingie got a touch before Brunt headed home from close range. Cudicini then got his body behind a well struck drive from Odemwingie. Jara was booked for a late challenge on Van der Vaart just before the interval.

Second half

Tottenham began the second half on the offensive and Carson had to make two saves within five minutes of the restart. The England keeper did well to parry an attempt from the ever-dangerous Bale after he had surged into the box from the left flank. Then Carson was forced to block a powerful 35-yard free-kick from Younes Kaboul. But Albion tried to retaliate and William Gallas was yellow carded for pulling back Odemwingie after 54 minutes. The home side were now more in the game than in the opening 45 minutes although Brunt was yellow carded after an hour for deliberate handball. Gallas fired over with a shot on the turn before Robbie Keane received wholesale boos as the former Wolves man replaced Pavlyuchenko. Chances were now few and far between although Tom Huddlestone dragged two attempts wide from the edge of the box. The Spurs stand-in skipper came to the rescue when blocking a volley from Jerome Thomas with four minutes remaining. Albion came close to snatching all three points with Cudicini blocking Olsson's close-range header and turning aside a curling shot from Odemwingie. Then in the dying seconds Tamas shot wide from 12 yards out when he should have scored. Spurs ended the match playing 4-4-2 as Peter Crouch made a late cameo but he could not rescue three points for the capital club, who now turn their attentions to their European run which starts midweek.

West Bromwich Albion	Team Statistics	Tottenham Hotspur
1	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
7	Shots on Target	6
7	Shots off Target	7
4	Blocked Shots	4
9	Corners	4
12	Fouls	11
3	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
80.4	Passing Success	84.1
24	Tackles	18
62.5	Tackles Success	72.2
39.8	Possession	60.2
55.2	Territorial Advantage	44.8