• Home
• /
• Football

Tottenham held at home by Everton

Tottenham Hotspur wasted the chance to bolster their top-four ambitions in the Premier League on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Everton.

Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart scored his fifth goal in seven appearances for Tottenham with an unmissable tap-in after 20 minutes after Everton had taken the lead when Leighton Baines curled a free kick past Heurelho Gomes.

The draw lifted Tottenham into third place with 15 points from nine games but they remained two behind Manchester City and four behind leaders Chelsea. City play Arsenal on Sunday while Chelsea host Wolverhampton Wanderers later on Saturday.

Tottenham, beaten 4-3 by Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, were the brighter side in the first half and should have reached halftime in front but Peter Crouch wasted a couple of good opportunities for the home side.

Neither side did enough to take all three points after the break although Tottenham did have the better chances with Crouch again guilty of some sloppy finishing.

After a slow start to the season mid-table Everton stretched their unbeaten league run to four games.