Spurs escape with draw

In a game of few chances, Spurs deservedly edged ahead through Luka Modric, after poor defending from the home side. Gabriel Tamas and Jonas Olsson failed to deal with a Rafael van der Vaart ball into the box, allowing Modric the chance to fire past a helpless Scott Carson.

The joy was short lived for Modric as he was forced to leave the field with an injury, and things were to get even worse for the visitors.

West Brom equalised with their first real attack, Marc-Antoine Fortune powering past Vedran Corluka before forcing a smart save from Carlo Cudicini. The Italian could only palm the shot back into the danger area, with Chris Brunt eventually bundling the ball over the line for an unlikely leveller.

Cudicini made amends for his error in the second half, making two fantastic saves to deny the impressive Peter Odemwingie and Olsson in the last five minutes as West Brom looked for a late winner, however Spurs survived and claimed a draw.

Tottenham started much the brighter, with debutant Van der Vaart involved in their first chance of the game.

The Dutch international played a sublime back-heel into the path of Aaron Lennon, and although the England man had a clear sight of goal, he could only fire over from 10 yards out.

The breakthrough came after 26 minutes, and it was a goal that Spurs' dominance merited. After Van der Vaart lofted a high ball into Roman Pavlyuchenko, Tamas's poor headed clearance found Modric, who made no mistake from just inside the box.

Disaster then struck for the Croatian when he was forced off with what looked like a serious injury, a suspicion which was enhanced when Modric left the dug out on crutches.

To make matters worse for Tottenham the home side found an unlikely equaliser after 40 minutes, with a helping hand from Cudicini.

After making a decent save from Fortune's powerful effort, Cudicini attempted to gather the second ball as it hung in the air.

He lost the aerial battle with Paul Scharner, and the ball found its way to Brunt who drew the home side level with a simple tap-in.

The visitors rarely threatened in the second half, and as the match went on, it was West Brom who looked the more likely to snatch a win.

Olsson was the first to be denied, Cudicini reacting sharply to keep out his near post header, but his best save was to come moments later.

The lively Odemwingie broke for the Baggies, cutting inside his defender before curling a superb 20-yard effort towards the far post. His shot looked destined for the bottom corner before the Spurs keeper's outstretched hand diverted the ball around the post.

Tamas wasted a late chance to win it for West Brom, but just as Lennon had done in the first half, he could not find the target after an impressive back-heel from his team-mate, this time Odemwingie, and fired wide as both teams were forced to settle for a draw.