Tottenham's bid to overhaul Manchester City in the race for the Champions League suffered a blow as West Bromwich Albion snatched a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Simon Cox's late equaliser for the visitor leaves Spurs one point behind City, which can increase that lead when it plays Blackburn on Monday.
After a fairytale run in the Champions League, Spurs is desperate to take part in the competition again next season, but its hopes is dwindling after this result.
Tottenham went into the game on a high after showing tremendous character to come back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Arsenal in its last match.
But, despite its ambitions of a top four finish, Spurs kicked off with a record of one win in its last six matches.
Since Roy Hodgson replaced Roberto Di Matteo as Albion boss in February, he has steadied the ship so well that the team is virtually assured of its survival in the Premier League. Hodgson has to take the credit for the Baggies' revival, yet, striker Peter Odemwingie has also been instrumental.
He proved to be a pivotal figure once more as he capitalised on a slip-up by Benoit Assou-Ekotto to curl past Heurelho Gomes in the fifth minute.
It was an excellent counter-attacking move by West Brom and a pass from Carlos Vela to Odemwingie was crucial.
There was more bad news for Tottenham as Assou-Ekotto suffered a groin strain trying to stop the Nigerian international and had to be substituted.
Defensive error
Tottenham pressed for an equaliser and it came close to getting it when William Gallas headed over from Rafael van der Vaart's 17th minute free-kick.
Yet, it did pull level 10 minutes later. This time West Brom was caught unaware as Chris Brunt failed to clear the ball. His error allowed Roman Pavlyuchenko to hammer home from the edge of the box.
It was a well-taken finish from the Russian striker, who had not scored since March 6.
After the break, Odemwingie thought he had given West Brom the lead once again when he connected with Nicky Shorey's cross. But the striker was denied by an excellent fingertip save by Gomes.
Spurs was struggling to find a way through a resilient West Brom midfield, despite all the excellent work by the impressive Sandro.
Aaron Lennon was introduced to add more pace. Yet, it was Defoe who scored the next goal in the 67th minute. The striker netted his 100th Premier League goal with a fine low finish from the edge of the box.
There was still time for another twist as substitute Cox curled home from the edge of the box with only nine minutes remaining.
The results :
Aston Villa 1 (Bent 43) drew with Stoke 1 (Jones 20); Blackpool 1 (Campbell 32) drew with Newcastle 1 (Lovenkrands 17); Chelsea 3 (Lampard 44, Torres 84, Malouda 90) bt West Ham 0; Liverpool 5 (Rodriguez 7, 66, 73, Kuyt 23, Cole 86) bt Birmingham 0; Sunderland 4 (Gyan 55, Henderson 66, 77, Sessegnon 73-pen) bt Wigan 2 (Diame 52, Di Santo 90); Tottenham 2 (Pavlyuchenko 27, Defoe 66) drew with West Bromwich 2 (Odemwingie 5, Cox 81); Wolverhampton 1 (Fletcher 22) drew with Fulham 1 (Johnson 80).
