Birmingham City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Blues top scorer Craig Gardner rescued a point nine minutes from time to earn Blues a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at St Andrews, writes Matthew Viney.

Sebastien Bassong had given the visitors the lead 18 minutes in from close range, but the former Villa midfielder popped up late on to score his fifth goal of the season.

Wednesday night's goal-scoring heroes Nikola Zigic and Seb Larsson were surprisingly relegated to the bench, as Alex McLeish opted for a defensive 4-5-1 formation against Harry Redknapp's high-flyers.

The game began with some even exchanges as Crouch forced a good early save from Foster just four minutes in, from Aaron Lennon's cross.

Carr then smashed a decent chance well over the bar, after slipping at the final second, following Bowyer's clever chipped pass into the box.

Crouch dragged a tame shot wide from the edge of the box minutes later, and Defoe was denied a great shooting chance when Scott Dann slid-in to block his close range effort.

Spurs continued to create chances with their incisive, one-touch passing but it was a surprisingly route-one effort which gave them the lead on 18 minutes.

Liam Ridgewell brought down Gareth Bale 10 yards outside the box and Sebastien Bassong turned in the ball from eight yards out from Foster's poor punched clearance. Ridgewell also was booked for his indiscretion.

Carr produced a vital block on Crouch 25 minutes in, after the England international had escaped his marker in the box.

But Blues were beginning to look overwhelmed as Spurs continued to dominate with their slick passing game.

A tame Beasejour header and a thumping long-range drive from Craig Gardner, both which went wide, at least kept things competitive as the game neared half time.

Former Blues loanee Wilson Palacios then went into the book before the break for a petulant tussle with Gardner, and Bowyer fired horrifically wide from Ferguson's lay-off just before the break.

Bowyer volleyed comfortably over from distance five minutes after the re-start, and Gardner saw a tame free-kick punched clear as Blues pushed for an equaliser.

But the visitors continued to create the better chances, as first Ridgewell deflected a dangerous Defoe effort wide. Then the diminutive striker fired an inch wide of the post with 26 minutes remaining after beating Ridgewell and Johnson on his way into the box.

With half an hour left Zigic replaced Fahey and Larsson then replaced Bowyer 10 minutes later as McLeish switched formation, to 4-4-2.

Beausejour, who had continuously threatened down the left wing in the second, half, then forced a vital block from Gallas, as he shot from an angle inside the box.

But Bale and Defoe missed good chances to seal then game in the final quarter of the match, with the former shooting straight at Foster from close range, and the latter scuffing Lennon's cut back wide from inside the area.

Ridgewell was also guilty of wasting a great chance with 12 minutes remaining, when he fired straight at Gomes from close range.

But Gardner rescued a point for the home side nine minutes from time, nodding home substitute Zigic's headed pass to stretch Blues' unbeaten run to five games.