Spurs frustrated as Brunt helps Albion make a point

West Bromwich Albion held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns as Chris Brunt’s equaliser capped a frustrating day for the north London club.

Harry Redknapp’s Spurs had made a promising start as Croatia midfielder Luka Modric opened the scoring midway through the first-half.

But they failed to turn their dominance into further goals and Brunt scored the 50th league goal of his career to equalise just before the interval.

There was worse news to come for Redknapp as Modric was forced off after being injured in a challenge with Brunt.

Modric left the ground on crutches and joins Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson on the White Hart Lane injury list.

The playmaker could miss Tottenham’s opening Champions League group clash against Werder Bremen on Tuesday.

Tottenham had started brightly and Gareth Bale’s cross picked out Modric, who flicked just over the bar.

Aaron Lennon should have done better after seven minutes when a back flick from Tottenham debutant Rafael van der Vaart found the England winger in space 12 yards out but he sent his shot wide.

It came as no surprise when Modric put Spurs ahead after 27 minutes.

Van der Vaart’s lofted cross hit Gabriel Tamas under pressure from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Modric was first to react, beating Scott Carson with a low drive into the corner of the net.

That was Modric’s last meaningful contribution as he limped off five minutes later with a leg injury.

At that point, Tottenham looked in control, but Brunt equalised against the run of play after 41 minutes.

Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini beat out a shot from Marc Antoine-Fortune but the ball looped up in the air and Peter Odemwingie got a touch before Brunt headed home from close range.

Cudicini then had to block a drive from Odemwingie as Albion started to play with more confidence.

Tottenham were back on top after the break and Carson had to make two saves within five minutes of the restart to keep out Bale’s powerful strike and then a long-range free-kick by Younes Kaboul.

Albion tried to regain some rhythm and Tottenham debutant William Gallas was yellow carded for pulling back Odemwingie after 54 minutes.

Former Arsenal defender Gallas also fired over with a shot on the turn and blocked a volley from Jerome Thomas with four minutes remaining.

It was Albion who came closest to snatching all three points with Cudicini saving Jonas Olsson’s close-range header and then turning away a shot from Odemwingie.