Last laugh to Harry Redknapp? Not quite, but the Queens Park Rangers manager could at least afford himself a satisfied smile after his first encounter with Tottenham since being sacked by the club last summer. Meanwhile, the watching Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, was left to reflect on being frustrated by Redknapp again. A hard-earned draw boosted QPR's chances of avoiding relegation and dented André Villas-Boas's hopes of emulating his feat of leading Spurs to a top-four finish.

Redknapp maintains that he was a victim of internal politics at Tottenham and although gathering points for QPR is the most important thing on his agenda now, doing so while exacting a small measure of revenge for his dismissal from White Hart Lane must have made it a little sweeter. Redknapp and the man who replaced him at Spurs made sure they appeared statesmanlike, shaking hands warmly before the game and even adding a hug to banish any talk of a cold war.

Redknapp made sure, however, that his players came out with fire in their bellies. Tottenham were going to have to fight for the victory that Villas-Boas had said was essential on a weekend when two of their main rivals for Champions League qualification, Manchester City and Arsenal, could weaken each other. At Tottenham Redknapp sought to build a bold attacking side but, reflecting the different demands of his current job, here he set out to stifle the side he once helped build. He said he had no qualms about making that adaptation.

"You have to play with the hand that you've got," he explained. "I played 4-4-2 against Liverpool [when losing 3-0 on 30 December] and we got ripped to pieces. So we had to change the mindset when we went and won at Chelsea and we tried to do that again here. That's what you have to do against the better teams."

QPR pestered the visitors frantically early on to prevent them finding any fluency, with Stéphane Mbia proving especially meddlesome, much to the annoyance of Mousa Dembélé, whose every touch was tracked by the Cameroonian. Tottenham's challenge was to find the wit to rise above the determined heckling of the relegation-threatened side and in the fifth minute they delivered a tantalising assertion of their superiority. Jermain Defoe skittered across the pitch, exchanging deft passes, before unleashing a fierce drive from 20 yards. Júlio César excelled to tip the shot on to the post and then produced an even better save to foil Emmanuel Adebayor on the rebound. Tottenham failed to build on that promising start, as the diligence of QPR's five-man midfield made the visitors look ponderous and unimaginative.

Tottenham's wingers seemed unable to get into the game and got little help from their central midfielders and full-backs. Adebayor's impact after his early miss was such that one wondered whether he had already left for the Africa Cup of Nations. The most piercing pass of the first period came from Adel Taarabt, who dissected the visiting defence with a wonderful ball to Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 11th minute. The winger took his time getting a shot off and when he eventually did so, Michael Dawson deflected it behind for a corner.

Villas-Boas had to use the break to come with a plan to circumvent the wall erected by Redknapp. He might have thrown in a good old-fashioned rollicking too, as his team had not only been unable to out-think their opponents but were also being outfought. The resumption brought signs of change. Gareth Bale forced an awkward save from César with one of his wobbly free-kicks and moments later, as the seemingly invigorated visitors applied sustained pressure, Kyle Walker fired another free-kick inches wide.

But soon Spurs shrivelled up again. Once more it was left to Taarabt to show a flicker of class, as in the 77th minute he again put Wright-Phillips through with a perceptive pass. Hugo Lloris hurtled out of his area to eradicate the threat. After that the match, much like Tottenham's last season under Redknapp, fizzled out. But this time he at least got a measure of satisfaction out of it. Redknapp knows it will probably take more than keen bluster to get QPR out of trouble but Spurs must be concerned that was pretty much all it took for their Champions League campaign to stall here.