Wolves score late to draw 3-3 with Tottenham
Wolves score late to draw 3-3 with Tottenham
Tottenham drew level on points with fourth-place Chelsea, who have a game in hand.

Wolverhampton: Steven Fletcher headed in a late equaliser to earn Wolverhampton Wanderers a deserved point from a 3-3 draw with Champions League-chasing Tottenham in a thrilling match in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Scotland striker, who came on as a 73rd-minute substitute, rose to meet a cross by Matt Jarvis and found the corner of the net with three minutes left at Molineux.

Jermain Defoe had cancelled out Kevin Doyle's opening goal in the 20th with two long-range strikes in the space of five minutes — the England striker's first goals in the league this season.

Doyle equalised from the penalty spot in the 40th for his second of the game but Roman Pavlyuchenko put Spurs back in front before Fletcher's late strike.

The visitors drew level on points with fourth-place Chelsea, who have a game in hand, but one point from a possible six — after a 3-1 defeat to Blackpool last time out — could end up scuppering Harry Redknapp's side's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for a second straight season.

The positive from the game was the return of Gareth Bale after six weeks out with a back injury, with the Wales winger getting 20 minutes of action ahead of the Champions League last-16 second leg against AC Milan on Wednesday.

The points kept Wolves second from bottom but the central England team is now two from safety.

Wolves will rue two poor decisions by referee Mark Halsey.

He firstly chose not to send off Alan Hutton for the foul on Stephen Ward that resulted in the penalty for Doyle's second goal.

Hutton, the last man, pulled back Ward as the striker stretched to prod the ball in from six yards after Doyle's shot was deflected into his path. The Scotland defender was relieved to only be given a yellow card and although Doyle converted the penalty, Tottenham crucially still had 11 players on the pitch for the second half.

Halsey then ruled out what appeared a perfectly fair headed goal by Richard Stearman in the 80th, adjudging the defender to have fouled goalkeeper Heurelho Gomez as he leapt to meet a cross by Nenad Milijas.

Doyle had earlier given Wolves the lead in the 20th when he got to Milijas' free kick ahead of Gomez and flicked a header in from eight yards.

Defoe curled home a dipping shot from 25 yards in the 30th to equalise, the striker netting his first goal since April last year on his 250th appearance for Spurs.

Defoe scored from a similar range five minutes later to put Tottenham 2-1 up before Doyle's leveler from the penalty spot.

Pavlyuchenko collected a pass from Jermaine Jenas and smashed a fierce shot into the roof of the net in the 48th. In an end-to-end second half, both sides wasted numerous chances — including Defoe shooting against the post — before Fletcher's header.

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