Villa hold Bromwich Spurs win

Darren Bent came off the bench to earn Aston Villa a deserved point with a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw with midlands rival West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday. The England striker lashed in a left-foot shot from close range in the 80th minute, denying West Brom a victory that would have lifted the team to third place. Shane Long put the visitors ahead in the 51st, guiding home a low finish after Ron Vlaar’s attempted clearance flew straight at the Ireland international. Villa have won just one of their first six games under new manager Paul Lambert and stayed in 15th place in the 20-team standings. Substitute Romelu Lukaku nearly won all three points for West Brom when his deflected shot brushed against the post. Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas predicted “big things” from his side after a stunning 3-2 victory against Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. Goals from Jan Vertonghen, Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey saw Spurs to their first victory at Old Trafford in 23 years and their first win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in 27 attempts; a run dating back to May 2001. After a slow start to Villas-Boas’ reign at White Hart Lane, three straight league wins have taken Spurs into fifth place and seem to have turned the tide for their Portuguese manager. “We were tremendous today,” said Villas-Boas after Saturday’s thrilling success.