Aston Villa and Tottenham drew 1-1 as their tight battle to reach the Champions League continued.
Battle to reach the Champions League set to continue
Aston Villa and Tottenham delivered an indication that their battle to break the cartel of the Premier League's Big Four will continue to be a tightly-fought contest as they drew 1-1 at Villa Park.
Michael Dawson's second-half strike cancelled out Gabriel Agbonlahor's early goal in England's Second City to send Spurs third in the table and leave Villa fifth.
Agbonlahor scrambled the opener in the 10th minute as Spurs' captain-for-the-day Dawson and Wilson Palacios collided when attempting to clear Carlos Cuellar's flick on at a corner.
Villa then exerted energy in abundance in defending their lead and were grateful Cuellar was in a more familiar area of the field when he cleared a Dawson effort off his own goalline.
Martin O'Neill's side were not at their best in the first half, but could not be faulted for effort as they kept their lead at the interval, and the pattern continued in the second 45 minutes.
An improved Spurs called the tune and Niko Kranjcar was superbly denied by the excellent Brad Friedel before Jermain Defoe had a goal ruled out for handball.
Harry Redknapp's side, who thrashed Wigan last time out, then had the equaliser they deserved in the 77th minute when Dawson controlled and volleyed a Benoit Assou-Ekotto cross to leave Friedel with no chance.
Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker came into the side for Steve Sidwell while Habib Beye replaced ill left-back Stephen Warnock. He took over at right-back from Luke Young who switched to the opposite flank.
Spurs central defender Jonathan Woodgate's groin problem meant he made way for Sebastien Bassong.
Positive intent
Villa, unbeaten at home since the opening day of the campaign, looked full of positive intent in the early stages and started at a high tempo.
But it was home keeper Friedel who was called upon to make the first save of the game.
The former Blackburn player had to be alert to tip over a powerful drive from Kranjcar from just outside the box. Then after 10 minutes Agbonlahor put Villa ahead.
James Milner's near-post corner was met by Cuellar whose header was blocked on the line but the loose ball broke to Agbonlahor who squeezed it home.
Agbonlahor found a yard of space on the edge of the Spurs box but dragged his shot well wide.
Friedel had to be alert to tip over a drive from Tom Huddlestone after it had taken a slight deflection off Reo-Coker.
Aaron Lennon saw little of the ball in the opening half which was surprising given the destruction he had caused against Wigan.
Redknapp would have wanted more from his side attacking-wise in the second period - and his players responded.
Dominant visitors
Friedel had to be at his best to finger-tip a fierce 20-yard drive from Kranjcar around the post at full stretch.
The game was now more open, with Villa looking to catch Spurs on the counter-attack.
A mistake by Huddlestone allowed Agbonlahor to find Ashley Young in space but his centre was just too high for Carew who could get no direction or power on his header.
However, Villa were now dropping back in numbers as the visitors dominated possession-wise.
The impressive Cuellar blocked a shot from Kranjcar after throwing himself at full stretch.
Redknapp made his first substitution after 65 minutes, with Palacios replaced by Jermaine Jenas while the limping Reo-Coker made way for Villa midfielder Sidwell.
Friedel was again Villa's saviour when he blocked a low shot from Jenas.
Defoe bundled the rebound into the net but was adjudged to have handled by referee Phil Dowd.
With 15 minutes remaining, Emile Heskey was introduced in place of Carew.
But after 77 minutes Dawson deservedly brought Spurs back on level terms when he fired an unstoppable shot past Friedel from the edge of the box.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
11 |
| 7 |
Corners |
9 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 65.6 |
Passing Success |
80.7 |
| 18 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 72.2 |
Tackles Success |
63 |
| 36.2 |
Possession |
63.8 |
| 45.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
54.9 |
|
