Point saved, but Spurs feel the heat

Tottenham 2 Everton 2

Tottenham Hotspur began the day third in the Premier League but ended it overtaken by Chelsea, and their fans will also be wondering whether that sudden warmth they felt yesterday afternoon was the late arrival of spring in North London or Arsenal breathing down their necks — in fifth place and now only two points behind their local rivals.

Everton, though, are surely no longer serious pursuers after a result that keeps them six points behind the home side. A goal down after only 34 seconds, David Moyes’ men came back to lead 2-1 but a late charge from Tottenham brought the reward of a scrambled equaliser.

“It was a good point but I’ve got to say I’m disappointed after leading,” Everton manager David Moyes said. “We kept going after the early goal and I always thought we were likely to score. I don’t know if a point does a great deal for us.”

Andre Villas-Boas, the Tottenham manager, said: “We wanted to win but in the circumstances it was a great point. We believe that [the Champions League race] is going to go down to the wire and you could see how much desire there was in both teams to get that objective.”

Both sides were without key players — Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and William Gallas missed the match through injury for Spurs, while Marouane Fellaini and Stephen Pienaar of Everton were suspended — but as both managers had hoped, others stepped up. Victor Anichebe led the line superbly for Everton, and Kevin Mirallas added another spectacular solo goal to his show reel, while Scott Parker showed some of his old form as he drove Tottenham forward in the second half in an admirable refusal to accept defeat.

Tottenham caught Everton completely cold almost from kick-off when Jan Vertonghen, the Premier League player of the month, crossed from deep on the left. Phil Jagielka hesitated, Sylvain Distin stretched but could not reach the ball and Emmanuel Adebayor slid inbehind him to hit the ball in off Tim Howard.

Everton, though, are nothing if not resilient. Only Manchester United have gained more points this season from losing positions and the Merseysiders were level after 15 minutes.

Leighton Baines delivered a corner kick high to the far post where Phil Jagielka climbed above Vertonghen to head the ball down, between the legs of Hugo Lloris and into the net.

Tottenham looked to retake the lead but Everton were now defending their penalty area with much more resolve than in the first minute and were able to restrict them to long-range efforts. And the Toffees were looking increasingly dangerous on the break, with Anichebe holding the ball up well and bringing teammates into the game.

In the 53rd minute, Mirallas picked up Anichebe’s pass on the right just inside the Tottenham half, weaved past Vertonghen, Parker and Steven Caulker and slid the ball beyond Lloris. It was the Belgian winger’s second memorable strike in successive games following his solo run against Stoke City yet Spurs were nearly level within a minute.

Moussa Dembele’s strike from 22 yards took a deflection off Johnny Heitinga but Howard managed to change direction, get his right hand down to the ball and divert it against the crossbar.

Parker’s promptings could not force an opening but Spurs were not to be denied and with three minutes left, Kyle Walker skipped past Baines down the right and crossed for Adebayor.

He curled a shot round Howard and against the inside of the post from 15 yards, the rebound falling kindly for Gylfi Sigurdsson to score from eight yards. Anichebe, though, could still have won the game for Everton went he went through with time running out only for Lloris to block with his trailing leg.

Everton captain Jagielka said: “It was the worst possible start for us — team talk out of the window. Kevin scored a fantastic individual goal that we hoped would be the winner.

“We have to depend on otherresults to contend for a top-fourposition but we’ve just got to keep pushing.”