Tottenham Hotspur continued their indifferent form with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough in their Premiership match on Saturday.

Tottenham created a number of chances in the first half but failed to put them away and only managed to take the lead through an own goal by Jonathan Grounds midway through the first half. Middlesbrough upped the tempo in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts with an equalizer in the 69th minute with Stewart Downing hitting the target to claim a point for his side.

Tottenham should have had put the result beyond Boro's reach by the end of the first half as they put out a brilliant attacking performance but were lacking the killer instinct to convert the chances that came their way.

Spurs had an early score when Afonso Alves put the ball in the net as early as in the 2nd minute but his effort was ruled out for off side. The hosts rallied and created a number of good chances as Berbatov and Jenas went close to breaking the deadlock.

Spurs took a deserved lead in the 27th minute when Aaron Lennon's cross was diverted by Grounds into his own net. The hosts seemed to have lost their spark in the second half as Middlesbrough stepped up the pressure and almost equalized minutes after the restart as David Wheater's header was cleared off the line by Lennon.

The visitors grabbed the equalizer in the 69th minute when Downing cut inside from the left flank before driving a speculative shot towards the target that was missed by everyone and settled into the net. Spurs tried to press forward in search of the lead but Boro hung on to claim a point that took them closer to a mid table finish.