Bolton Wanderers' relegation battle looks set to go to the wire after earning a valuable point against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Stelios Giannakopoulos came on at the break and opened the scoring for the visitors, only for Steed Malbranque to reply shortly after, with Spurs failing to take their chances to dent the survival hopes of Gary Megson's men.
After two 1-0 victories, Megson now has a draw at White Hart Lane to take into the business end of the season, with two matches remaining.
Grzegorz Rasiak has deputised as the lone attacker but simply does not have the physical presence of the suspended Kevin Davies, with Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson going untroubled until the Polish forward was taken off at the break.
Raziak chased tirelessly as Bolton looked for a way into the match, but it was a frustrating return to White Hart Lane for him after a brief, unsuccessful spell at Spurs earlier in his career.
As usual, Berbatov and Robbie Keane were at the heart of Spurs' attacks. Keane had the first effort on goal, toe-poking straight at Ali Al Habsi after latching onto a Berbatov flick.
physical encounter
Berbatov almost got a sight of goal but Jermaine Jenas' chipped through-ball was just too strong.
Spurs made most of the running but they too found chances difficult to create. The clearest opportunity in the first half came seconds before the break when Keane had a close-range effort bundled wide by Ivan Campo.
At times the hosts looked as though they were playing in an exhibition match - they have little to play for as European football has been secured with the Carling Cup. They could still have a huge say in the relegation battle as they also face Reading next week.
Spurs manager Juande Ramos had predicted a physical encounter and Bolton lived up to his expectations, with Gavin McCann taking out Aaron Lennon on the right flank but escaping a booking from Mark Clattenburg.
Megson's first change was forced, in the 20th minute, when Joey O'Brien picked up a knock, with Danny Guthrie coming on.
But it was his double substitution at half-time that got the match going, with the visitors rewarded within 30 seconds of the restart.
Spurs failed to clear and El-Hadji Diouf, who was on for Rasiak, played the ball back to Gretar Steinsson on the right flank.
Dawson and goalkeeper Radek Cerny clashed together in the six-yard box and Stelios, on at the break for Campo, prodded home.
saving sharply
Tottenham's reply came in the 52nd minute, with Keane slipping the ball to the back post and Malbranque clipping his finish past Al Habsi.
Despite the goal, Ramos still brought on Darren Bent for Dawson, with Spurs going for three strikers in attack.
They should have taken the lead when Keane was on the end of a flowing move, but Al Habsi was out to block bravely.
Malbranque was found in a similar position to his goal, arguably for an easier chance, but was wide with his volley.
Al Habsi was called into action again in the 66th minute when Berbatov drilled towards the bottom corner, with the Bolton goalkeeper saving sharply.
The away side's goalkeeper did not have to work as hard when Bent was sent through and lobbed tamely into his hands.
Bent also had a header cleared off the line by Guthrie in stoppage time, while Berbatov headed over when found unmarked.
