Tottenham 1 West Brom 1 - Report and pictures

Interim boss Gary Megson was 16 minutes away from snatching a typical Megson-era 1-0 at Wembley today against a Tottenham team who have swept Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund aside here this season.

The Baggies led for most of the game thanks to Salomon Rondon's fourth-minute strike, that dribbled into the net after he had held off £42m defender Davison Sanchez and Jake Livermore had robbed Dele Alli of the ball in midfield.

What followed was a Spurs onslaught, in the most part, but there was plenty of positive signs from a resurgent Albion team that looked far more healthy than recent weeks.

Jonny Evans was back to his best, and there were determined performances in midfield from Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore, and most impressively of all, 19-year-old Sam Field.

Although it was backs to the wall at times, Albion looked more assured in possession, and were more willing to play through the pitch rather than clip it into the channels.

Based on this showing , this squad should not be in a relegation fight.

It's 13 years since Megson last led the Baggies out, and five years since he managed any team, while Albion came to Wembley for the first time since 2008, when they lost 1-0 to Portsmouth in an FA Cup semi-final.

The 3,500 away fans were giddy with excitement before kick-off. Drunk on a heady cocktail of Wembley, life after Tony Pulis, the return of Gary Megson, (and perhaps some alcohol too), their was an air of positivity among the travelling masses.

Megson was always likely to make a statement with his team selection, and he didn't disappoint - dropping £108,000-a-week midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak to the bench in favour of 19-year-old Field. And it didn't take long for Albion to make an impact.

There was less than four minutes on the clock when Jake Livermore caught his England team-mate Dele Alli napping in the centre-circle and robbed him of possession.

He sent Salomon Rondon through on goal but it looked like Davinson Sanchez had recovered before the Venezuelan muscled him off the ball and rolled it into Hugo Lloris's far corner at snail's pace.

Rondon had the ball in the net early on against Chelsea last weekend too, but there was nothing wrong with this goal, and it sent the away end delirious as 'There's only one Gary Megson' rang around the gigantic stadium.

That gave the men in green confidence, and even though Spurs saw lots of the ball, as you'd expect, when Albion had possession they were cool, calm, and collected.

The away end even indulged in a few "Ole's" after the team kept the ball for longer than they had all season under Pulis.

Pehaps it was the big pitch, or a sluggish Spurs side, or a post-Pulis positivity. More than likely it was a mixture of all three.

But this new penchant for playing out from the back was not without its dangers, and 22 minutes in, it took a brilliantly well-timed sliding tackle from Field to stop Christian Eriksen capitalising on a poor clearance from Foster.

Spurs looked sluggish, and the home crowd were growing restless, while Albion continued to soak up pressure.

It took nearly half an hour for Harry Kane to get involved, when he drifted inside Ahmed Hegazi and squirted a shot wide of Foster's post.

Heung-Min Son tested Foster a few minutes later with a well-struck shot after cutting inside Matt Phillips too easily, but Albion were doing well to limit Spurs to long-range efforts.

But it became a bit of an onslaught towards the end of the first half, when the hosts started to up the tempo.

Foster had to cling on to an Eric Dier header from a corner with Alli lurking near the line, and a couple more shots flashed past the post.

On the stroke of half-time, Son fizzed a cross right across the goal one yard out that just evaded Kane's outstretched boot.

The onslaught continued after the break, when Albion were pushed back deeper and deeper until they had nine outfield players marshalling the edge of their penalty area with Rondon alone up front.

But Jonny Evans was putting in a monumental performance at the back that was nullifying Kane and helping to soak up pressure. And with Phillips on the pitch, there is always a threat on the counter.

Ten minutes into the half, Barry's gorgeous first-time ball sent the winger away, and he cut inside before flashing a shot - that Rodriguez nearly touched - inches wide off Lloris's post.

Pochettino sent on Moussa Dembele and Fernando Llorente on the hour mark in a desperate effort to salvage something from the game.

But Albion's midfield trio were biting at ankles, and refusing to give them a moment's peace.

Megson sent two men on himself soon after, removing Jay Rodriguez, who looked leggy in the second half, and the brilliant Field, who barely put a step wrong, for James McClean and Hal Robson-Kanu.

Spurs came agonisingly close with 20 minutes to go when Alli nearly latched onto Trippier's bouncing shot at the back post. Five minutes later, they were level.

Nobody picked up Kane when he drifted in between Evans and Hegazi at the near post, and it proved fatal, because Tottenham's main man guided Trippier's low cross through Foster's legs.

Spurs went searching for the winner after that, although they left themselves hopelessly exposed at times, and the Baggies wasted a three-on-two counter-attack when Rondon was tackled by Sanchez.

And even though most of the tackles came from men in green, the Baggies had two glorious chances to win it in injury time.

Firstly, Robson-Kanu chested down a looping ball and fired it goalwards straight at Lloris. But that was fashioned by the striker, Rondon's miss a minute later was far more glaring.

Phillips burst down the wing and put the ball on the plate for the Venezuelan but he couldn't divert it on target.

Despite that, the away end was in rapturous mood at full-time, and no wonder. Their team had shown far more fight than they had in the past few weeks and came away from Wembley with a well-earned point.

KEY MOMENTS

04 GOAL ALBION - Livermore robs Alli in the centre circle and sends Rondon clear. He outmuscles Sanchez before rolling his shot into the far corner at snail's pace.

74 GOAL SPURS - Kane slips in between Evans and Hegazi at the near post and guides Kieran Trippier's low bouncing cross through Foster's legs.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Jonny Evans - A supreme performance at the back from Albion's skipper.

TEAMS

Spurs (3-5-2): Lloris (c); Vertonghen (Dembele 60), Dier, Sanchez; Trippier, Winks (Llorente 60), Eriksen, Alli, Davies; Kane, Son. Unused subs: Vorm, Aurier, Foyth, Walker-Peters, Sissoko.

Albion (3-5-2): Foster; Nyom, Hegazi, Evans (c); Phillips, Livermore, Barry (Yacob 79), Field (McClean 67), Phillips; Rodriguez (Robson-Kanu 67), Rondon. Unused subs: Myhill, McAuley, Krychowiak, Burke.

Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)