Jermain Defoe scores as Tottenham v Portsmouth grudge match ends all square

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Jermain Defoe had the last laugh in the mother of all grudge matches.

The Tottenham striker fired in a stunning 70th-minute equaliser against his former club to lift Spurs from bottom of the table up to 16th.

Defoe refused to celebrate when he scored for Portsmouth against Spurs in September - but did not show the same restraint yesterday and went wild in front of the home fans.

Harry Redknapp has spent £22million on Defoe in the past 12 months - £9m on taking him to Portsmouth last January and another £13m to bring him back to White Hart Lane. It is easy to see why Harry values him so highly. The England forward is a deadly goal poacher who will surely drag struggling Spurs to safety. The fixture was packed with so many grudges the bad feeling surrounding Defoe, Sol Campbell and the rest almost made home fans forget the Portsmouth manager Tony Adams is an Arsenal legend who would normally have been given a hate-filled reception.

There were 14 people involved in yesterday's game with previous: Defoe, Campbell, Sean Davis, Noe Pamarot, Younes Kaboul, Peter Crouch (former Spurs), Spurs boss Redknapp and his coaches Kevin Bond and Joe Jordan (formerly at Portsmouth). Adams, Armand Traore and Kanu have links to Spurs' enemy down the road.

Gareth Bale played for Pompey's foes Southampton. Oh, and Pompey coach Johnny Metgod played for Spurs.

There were rivalries all over the pitch and yet the two central figures, Defoe and Campbell, had the biggest impact.

Former Spurs skipper Campbell, a target of homophobic chants from Spurs fans at Fratton Park earlier in the season, was brilliant as he showed terrific mental strength yesterday to put in a man-of-thematch display. But the one moment Defoe got half a yard, the striker took advantage.

It was that tight yesterday and perhaps reflects the league overall as neither team is safe and yet still put on a brilliant show. It had incident and drama while chants and abuse of Defoe, Campbell and Redknapp never really happened either.

You could not take your eyes off it for a moment - especially with Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes virtually playing on one leg because of a groin strain.

What that says about reserve keeper Cesar Sanchez and youngster Ben Alnwick is anyone's guess, but Gomes was in all sorts of trouble yesterday.

When he fumbled Glen Johnson's 12th-minute shot, the ball fell to Crouch who seemed destined to score only for the Brazilian keeper to push out a hand to stop the danger.

At the other end, Portsmouth keeper David James was playing like a man possessed and, in the second half, made one of the saves of the season from Aaron Lennon's deflected near post shot. Tottenham captain Ledley King pulled a hamstring just before half time and David Nugent should have put the visitors ahead when clean through, but could not beat the limping Gomes. Nugent made amends 13 minutes after the break. Traore made a great run and fed Nugent, whose drive flicked off leftback Bale and flew in for his first Premier League goal since joining from Preston 18 months ago.

The Spurs defender has not played in a winning team in a league game in his 21 attempts.

Redknapp replaced him with David Bentley, who helped swing the game in Tottenham's favour. In the 70th minute Didier Zokora and Luka Modric combined to set up Defoe who fired a fierce low shot past James. Spurs should have had all three points but sub Darren Bent headed wide from five yards.

Redknapp said afterwards his wife Sandra could have scored it. It is hard to see Bent playing for him again after that put-down.

Tottenham: Gomes 6, Corluka 6, Woodgate 7, King 6 (Dawson, 44, 7), Bale 5 (Bentley, 68, 7), Lennon 7, Zokora 7, O'Hara 7, Modric 7, Pavlyuchenko 5 (Bent, 30, 4), Defoe 7.

Portsmouth: James 8, Johnson 5, Campbell 8, Distin 7, Traore 7, Davis 7, Kaboul 6 (Wilson, 88), Belhadj 6, Kranjcar 6 (Hreidarsson, 90), Nugent 7 (Utaka, 73), Crouch 6.

Man of the Match: Sol Campbell - Superb performance, never intimidated by the Spurs fans

Villain of the Match: Darren Bent - It's taxi for Bent after his last-gasp miss yesterday

Next Three Games:

Tottenham
Wednesday: Burnley (a) Carling Cup
Saturday: Man Utd (a) FA Cup
Tues Jan 27: Stoke (h) Prem

Portsmouth
Saturday: Swansea (h) FA Cup
Tues Jan 27: A Villa (h) Prem
Sat Jan 31: Fulham (a) Prem

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