Saved: Gomes stops first penalty

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Spurs fail to beat Blackpool

Jermain Defoe scored a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw for Spurs against a gritty Blackpool side who almost bagged a win.

Both sides enjoyed chances in the first half. Charlie Adam and David Vaughan brought good saves from Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes with long range strikes.

Spurs were frustrated at the other end by the brilliance of Matt Gilks who denied Rafael Van Der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Defoe in a first half in which Spurs looked to be in control.

Aaron Lennon was introduced at the interval and the diminutive winger caused no end of problems for Stephen Crainey but the breakthrough continued to elude the hosts and they were ultimately made to pay the price for their profligacy in the most bizarre fashion.

First, Michael Dawson reached up a hand in the box to palm down a corner and referee Lee Probert awarded a spot kick.

However, Gomes dived to his left to produce a world class save to deny Charlie Adam from the spot.

However, the Brazilian went from hero to villain as, from the resulting corner, he brought down Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Adam made no mistake from the spot second time around.

Ian Holloway’s side had 14 minutes to hold out for three points that would catapult them out of the bottom three and they looked to be making good work of it until Defoe produced a rocket from his right foot with just one minute left on the clock that gave Gilks no chance.

It was heartbreak for the Tangerines and it was almost made even worse when Van Der Vaart went within inches of winning the game for the hosts in injury time.

Ultimately this result does precious little for either side with Spurs now requiring a major slip up from Manchester City in the race for the Champions League.

To add to their woes Gareth Bale was carried off injured in the second half.

Blackpool, with Manchester United away on the last day, will feel that despite being out of the relegation zone once more, only on goal difference, they will need to beat Bolton at Bloomfield Road next week in order to extend their stay in the Premier League for another season.