Premier League: Tottenham 1 Wolverhampton 1

Tottenham spurned their chance to join Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after being held to a 1-1 draw against Wolves.

Steven Fletcher gave the visitors a surprise first-half lead at White Hart Lane, tapping home from close range after Roger Johnson’s header was parried by Brad Friedel into the six-yard box.

Spurs responded in the second half after peppering the Wolves goal with shots until Luka Modric fired a 20-yard effort past Wayne Hennessey to get them back into the game.

The home side pressed forward looking for a winner but failed to beat the inspired visitors’ defence and goalkeeper Hennessey as Mick McCarthy’s side held on to gain a precious point.

Tottenham started the game brightly and could have gone ahead in the fifth minute following a good move down the right involving Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon.

The latter found Luka Modric on the edge of the visitors’ penalty box but the Croat’s right-footed effort went just past post.

The home side were dominating possession but were struggling to make inroads into the Wolves area as Spurs faced some resolute defending from McCarthy’s side.

Redknapp’s men were made to pay for their lack of a clinical edge when Wolves took the lead through Fletcher in the 21st minute.

The Scot pounced from close range on Friedel’s save following a contentious corner for the visitors.

Wolves should have doubled their lead when David Edwards was found unmarked in the Tottenham area by Matt Jarvis, but the midfielder failed to direct his shot on target.

Spurs thought they had got their equaliser when Emmanuel Adebayor converted from close range after latching onto Gareth Bale’s goal-bound effort only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.

Replays showed the striker was played onside by Kevin Foley.

Things nearly got worse for Spurs after the interval but Friedel produced an excellent save to deny Emmanuel Frimpong’s volley.

This save proved to be crucial as Tottenham equalised minutes later through Modric who hit a sublime 20-yard effort from the edge of the area.

Spurs were in full flow and should have taken the lead through Aaron Lennon, but the winger could only fire straight at Hennessey.

Bale, Adebayor and Modric all came close with half-chances in the latter stages, but they could not beat Hennessey and the determined Wolves defence.