Tottenham Hotspur failed to make the most of their domination as Aston Villa held out for a share of the spoils at Villa Park this afternoon.
Visiting Spurs dominated large parts of the opening 45 minutes, but they were unable to find a way past Shay Given in the home goal.
The Irish international was on hand to deny Gareth Bale on two occasions, while Emmanuel Adebayor also shot wide of the target from 20 yards out.
In what was a rare venture forward for Villa during the first half, they broke the deadlock. Defender Ciaran Clark sent the ball goalwards from 25 yards out and the ball went into the net courtesy of a deflection off Spurs defender William Gallas in the 35th minute.
Just three minutes after the restart Spurs found themselves down to ten men when Danny Rose was handed a straight red card for a high challenge on his former teammate Alan Hutton.
However, despite the numerical disadvantage Spurs hauled themselves level in the 62nd minute. Brazilian midfielder Sandro was brought down inside the area by Richard Dunne and Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up the convert the resultant penalty.
Spurs continued to dominate during the remaining minutes, with Bale in particular causing the Villa rearguard problems.
The hosts withstood the pressure during six minutes of time added on though to claim a point that all but secures their status as a Premier League team for another season.
Liam Apicella
