Rafael van der Vaart returned from suspension Saturday to score the goal that earned Tottenham another comeback and a 1-1 Premier League draw against Everton.
Suspended for Wednesday's 4-3 Champions League defeat at Inter Milan, Van der Vaart scored his fifth goal in as many games to send Spurs to 15 points in the Premier League.
Van der Vaart's 20th-minute goal came three minutes after Leighton Baines hit a free kick for his first goal in 14 months.
''You don't get an easy game with Everton, you never do,'' Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. ''We had the better of the chances but it was always going to be a tough day on the back of a hard week.
''We just needed a break, but it didn't quite come. But to come back again from 1-0 down shows a lot of character. We go behind, we never give up, we come back.''
Peter Crouch, however, missed more than one chance to clinch what would have been Tottenham's fourth comeback win in five league matches.
''It was a good point, a hard-earned point,'' Everton manager David Moyes said. ''We had a few opportunities on the counterattack which we didn't take late on, but overall I'm pleased we came here and got a hard-earned point.''
Everton, without Mikel Arteta, chased and harried all over the pitch while Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios, starting his first league game for six weeks, was booked for a foul on Ayegbeni Yakubu as the visitors looked to hit their opponents on the break.
But Tim Cahill's tame long-ranger and Luka Modric's low strike from the edge of the box - well saved by Tim Howard - were the only efforts on goal until Baines struck.
The fit-again Younes Kaboul fouled Yakubu on the edge of the box and Baines stepped up to curl a free kick into the top corner.
But Tottenham were level inside three minutes after Howard flapped at Alan Hutton's cross and Crouch nodded the ball back across goal for Van der Vaart to put it over the line.
Modric, captain in the absence of Ledley King and Tom Huddlestone, fired wide from 20 meters (yards) and Crouch saw a penalty appeal turned down after getting sandwiched between Phil Jagielka and Phil Neville.
Baines curled over another free kick from a near identical position from where he had scored and Crouch sent a weak header straight at Howard from Hutton's cross in first-half stoppage time.
Spurs withdrew Palacios for Sandro at the interval, with Crouch's scuffed shot the first effort of the second half. Sandro almost laid on a 52nd-minute goal for man-of-the-moment Gareth Bale, whose flicked header was cleared behind by Jagielka despite being just off target.
That was moments after Seamus Coleman became the first Everton player booked for bringing down Aaron Lennon as Tottenham broke.
Crouch almost deflected John Heitinga's free kick into his own net before the visitors were forced to bring off a hobbling Yakubu for Louis Saha just past the hour mark.
Steven Pienaar, returning for Everton after injury, sliced high a wide from 25 meters (yards) but it was not happening for either side and Spurs decided to introduce Roman Pavlyuchenko for Lennon in the 69th.
Bale switched to the right and he and Sandro immediately set up Crouch for a weak effort at Howard, with Cahill just off target with a snap shot at the other end.
Van der Vaart was booked after furiously protesting against the award of a goal kick when he looked to have won a corner.
Pavlyuchenko saw his finish blocked behind by Sylvain Distin following a Spurs break and Sandro was yellow carded for felling Saha as he tried to do the same.
Tony Hibbert replaced Heitinga for the final 12 minutes, shortly before Coleman was withdrawn for striker Jermaine Beckford.
With two minutes remaining, Van der Vaart looked to have a chance to snatch all three points but his shot on the turn was blocked by Distin and Hibbert.
