It took 14 minutes for West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster to start slowing play down. A Spurs shot went out for a goal kick and he took plenty of time over it.
He did it again, a little later. And again. And again. And again. He held onto the ball when Spurs won a corner and a frustrated Dele Alli had to wrench it from his grip. Referee Michael Jones had a word. Foster protested his innocence.
Boos and jeers rained down every time he took a kick, from hands or the ground. Eventually, in the 82nd minute, he was shown a yellow card. So, too, was Allan-Romeo Nyom, for delaying unnecessarily over a throw-in.
Striker Salomon Rondon gave West Bromwich Albion a shock lead which helped his side hold Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw
Rondon beat Spurs goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris with a slow shot that trickled over the line after just four minutes
Harry Kane celebrated his ninth Premier League goal of the season on 74 minutes to give Tottenham hope of a turnaround
Using his left foot, England frontman Kane diverted a Dele Alli cross past Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster from close range
PLAYER RATINGS AND PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Tottenham (5-3-2): Lloris 6; Trippier 6, Vertonghen 6 (Llorente 60 6), Sanchez 5.5, Dier 6, Davies 6; Winks 5.5 (Dembele 60 6), Eriksen 6, Alli 6.5; Son 6, Kane 6.5.
Subs nots used: Vorm, Sissoko, Foyth, Aurier, Walker-Peters.
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 5
Booked: Dier
West Bromwich Albion (4-3-3): Foster 6; Nyom 7, Hegazi 7, Evans 7, Gibbs 7; Barry 6 (Yacob 79), Livermore 6, Field 6 (McClean 67 6); Phillips 6, Rondon 7.5, Rodriguez 6 (Robson-Kanu 67 6).
Subs not used: Myhill, Burke, Krychowiak, McAuley.
Manager: Gary Megson (caretaker) 7
Booked: Barry, Gibbs, Nyom, Foster
Referee: Michael Jones 6
Attendance: 65,905
MOTM: Rondon
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Tottenham right back Kieran Trippier touched the ball more than any other player and was up and down the right wing all day
Salomon Rondon scored the game’s opener after being played in by Jake Livermore
For more stats and maps visit Sportsmail’s superb Match Zone.
If West Brom’s owner Guochuan Lai wanted an antidote for Tony Pulis’s anti-football, it was probably not 66 minutes of running the clock down, nor defending their own penalty area for the majority of the match, as they did under interim manager Gary Megson.
Twenty-seven per cent possession, one shot on target, one goal from Salomon Rondon so that they earned the draw despite Harry Kane’s second-half equaliser. It was not pretty, but the pragmatists will see this as a crucial point away from home against one of the top sides.
Tottenham’s pragmatic manager Mauricio Pochettino also admitted that Tottenham will be out of the Premier League title race if Manchester City win on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s side take on Huddersfield Town and a victory will move them 13 points ahead.
‘Yes it is true the gap now is 10 points,’ the Argentinian said. ‘It is massive in the Premier League. But now we need to be focused on trying to improve us and try to be more consistent here at Wembley.
‘And try to win more games here like last season at White Hart Lane. It’s true it’s different to White Hart Lane, but that is our reality we cannot escape it.’
Pochettino had been talking up Davinson Sanchez as potentially the best centre-back in the world in the build-up so it was no surprise that less than five minutes had been played when something went wrong for the young Colombian.
Foster continually frustrated Spurs with blatant time-wasting tactics, despite a ball-boy attempting to help him up his speed
There was no surprise at all when Foster was eventually shown a yellow card by referee Mike Jones after 82 minutes of play
Foster was well beaten by Kane’s tidy finish on what was a busy afternoon for the Baggies goalkeeper and his defenders
Kane has now scored nine Premier League goals this season as he moved level with Mohamed Salah in the Golden Boot race
His team-mate Dele Alli was most at fault for allowing West Brom’s opening goal, losing possession in the centre of the park easily to Jake Livermore by dallying on the ball. Spurs players were high up the pitch, exposed and Livermore fed Rondon.
Sanchez was unable to race back quite in time, and when he attempted to shoulder barge the West Brom striker he thumped into an immovable tank, one that applied the cutest finish to roll the ball through the defender’s legs and into the far left of goal, with Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot.
Spurs weren’t working and Pochettino switched from virtually a back five, set up with the intention of drawing West Brom further up the field to make them easier to open up, to a more attacking formation halfway through the first half, and they proceeded to dominate it.
It immediately worked with Heung-Min Son, now out on the left, receiving the ball and cutting in to shoot, forcing Foster into a diving save. Eric Dier met Kieran Trippier’s corner and headed on target and though Alli was lurking Foster grabbed the ball. The kick out took a while.
‘The noise that I heard from Tottenham most of the time was slaughtering Ben for what they deemed taking too long,’ Megson said. ‘I didn’t think the amount of time Ben was taking for the amount of time Hugo was taking at the other end.
‘We had to speak about that at half-time, that we didn’t bring the crowd into it. With the result the way it was going and the way our supporters were going, we were doing fine. The last thing we needed was to give them an opportunity to get back into it. He wouldn’t be the first goalkeeper to take his time.’
Attacking midfielder Alli, who celebrated Kane’s goal with a handshake, has now assisted three goals in his last two matches
South Korean international Heung-Min Son (pictured tussling with Allan Nyom) was one of Tottenham’s brightest attackers
But right back Kieran Trippier (pictured tracking Jay Rodriguez) was Tottenham’s busiest player, touching the ball 112 times
England defender Trippier covered a remarkable amount of ground as he continually ran up and down Tottenham’s right flank
Son, again a fresh nuisance down that flank, sent in a powerful low cross right in front of goal, too quick for West Brom’s defence but also for his team-mate Kane, who was in position to convert from close range but could not connect with the ball.
Still West Brom would not break down and Pochettino switched things around again, bringing on a striker for a defender — Fernando Llorente for Jan Vertonghen — and Mousa Dembele for the disappointing Harry winks. Now two strikers up top, while West Brom tried to remain an impenetrable ball of defending. Where have we seen that before?
Finally, after all the chopping and changing, the equaliser came 15 minutes from time. Alli popped the ball in from the right and Kane’s deft touch sent it through Foster’s legs — for a bit of added retribution.
But West Brom held out for the draw — and Pulis would’ve been proud of that performance.
West Brom caretaker manager Gary Megson shook hands with Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino after the final whistle
The Wembley arch was lit up in multiple colours during the second half in support of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign
France No 1 Lloris wore a rainbow-coloured captain’s armband to back the campaign, as did Baggies skipper Jonny Evans