By: Lim Han Ming

EVERTON 0

TOTTENHAM 0

Everton had 15 shots on goal while Tottenham Hotspur mustered four.

But the sad truth is, none of the shots from both teams were on target.

What promised to be an intriguing battle between two of the top sides outside the Big Four turned out to be a boring yawn.

The 0-0 result was of little use to both sides, although the ramifications were greater for Everton.

The Toffees could have leapfrogged over Aston Villa into fifth spot with a victory last night after Villa had lost 1-3 to Fulham.

But David Moyes' men failed to take advantage of their rivals' slip-up despite finishing the match the stronger side.

With the draw, the Toffees are in sixth spot, one point behind Villa.

Spurs were also looking for a victory to boost their chances of qualifying for the Europa League in a four-way fight for seventh place.

Following the draw, Spurs are now in eighth spot, level on points with West Ham but ahead on goal difference.

The Hammers played Liverpool in a late match last night.

But Spurs find themselves two points behind Fulham following the latter's impressive victory over Villa.

If only Spurs could have maintained their spirited display in the first half.

Fizzled out

The visitors asked most of the questions in the opening half, but fizzled out in the second half as they were content to sit back and absorb the Everton pressure.

The home side failed to create any clear-cut chances in the first half, although their best chance fell to Brazilian forward Jo.

The on-loan striker from Manchester City timed his run to perfection as he latched on to Steven Pienaar's through-pass in the 41st minute.

But his first touch was a tad too heavy as Ledley King managed to block his shot from a tight angle.

Spurs, on the other hand, clearly missed the services of the injured Aaron Lennon.

Full-back Alan Hutton was pushed into a more forward role on the right wing, but he is hardly in the same class as Lennon.

Harry Redknapp went for the jugular late in the game when he substituted Luka Modric with Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 81st minute.

With the Russian striker partnering Jermain Defoe, captain Robbie Keane dropped into an attacking role just behind the two strikers.

But the three-pronged attack failed to produce a goal which would have boosted Spurs' European hopes.

Pavlyuchenko's only contribution was picking up a needless booking in the closing stages of the match, which aptly summed up Spurs' day.

Before the match, Spurs manager Redknapp spoke of his ambition of challenging the Big Four next season.

'It's possible but it is tough,' he said.

'You just have to look at three English teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League and Liverpool not making it despite being fantastic.'

Full points to Redknapp for being ambitious, but from the evidence of last night's match, both teams have a long way before they could force their way into the Premiership's elite quartet. -TNP