Premiership: Everton avoid losing again

Tottenham 1 Everton 1

Les Ferdinand grabbed his 14th goal of the season, as Spurs drew 1-1 against Everton.

But he also gave Spurs a scare when he suffered a clash of heads and failed to emerge for the second half.

Ferdinand struck after five minutes, but David Weir equalised three minutes later.

Spurs went ahead when Simon Davies won the ball on the right flank and fed Oyvind Leonhardsen. The Norwegian midfielder whipped in a quick cross and Ferdinand buried a header inside the near post.

But Everton, who have not won here since 1985, hit back three minutes later and Paul Gascoigne - who received a warm welcome from the fans - was the provider. His cross from the right was headed out to Weir, and the big defender crashed home a volley from just inside the 18 yard box.

Ferdinand had a good chance to restore Tottenham's lead from the restart but screwed his shot wide. Then five minutes later Alan Stubbs almost sliced a Darren Anderton cross into his own net, but was relieved to see the ball go behind for a corner.

There was a concern for Spurs when Ferdinand seemed dazed by a clash of heads with Weir after 20 minutes, and, although he battled on, he did not look comfortable.

Teddy Sheringham was back in the Tottenham team after serving a three-match suspension, while Duncan Ferguson recovered from a touch of flu and returned to the Everton forward line in place of Jesper Blomqvist - partnering Kevin Campbell for the first time since October 13.

Neil Sullivan, who has just regained his place in the Spurs team, came to the rescue with a fine save after 36 minutes. Gary Naysmith's corner from the left was met with a powerful header from Ferguson, but the Scottish number one tipped it over the bar.

It was no surprise when Ferdinand did not emerge for the second half, being replaced instead by Steffen Iversen - preferred ahead of Sergei Rebrov who was also on the Tottenham bench.

Spurs kept up the pressure and forced another corner after 52 minutes and Anthony Gardner - the man in for King, saw his looping header smartly tipped over his bar by Simonsen.

Simonsen did even better after 73 minutes, this time leaping through the air to turn over Dean Richards' header from a right wing corner.

Iversen might have won it in stoppage time, but headed Etherington's cross on to the bar.