An own goal from Harry Kane rescued an unlikely point for Sunderland in a feisty Premier League match Tottenham dominated.
Chadli scored for Tottenham in their 2-2 draw against Sunderland
The visitors took the lead when Nacer Chadli fired home a rebound after two minutes.
In an electrifying opening Black Cats' winger Adam Johnson equalised moments later with a fine solo effort.
But after Christian Eriksen had prodded Spurs ahead, Kane unwittingly denied them a deserved three points.
Mauricio Pochettino will find the result hard to take after his men, inspired by impressive midfield duo Eriksen and Erik Lamela, dominated proceedings.
The home side, however, could have snatched an undeserved victory when substitute Will Buckley sidefooted over late on.
Gus Poyet, who played 98 times for Spurs, is still searching for his first league victory of the season.
But he will be happy with a point after Sunderland spent long periods on the back foot.
Spurs were looking to bounce back from a 3-0 home defeat at the hand of Liverpool
New signing Ricky Alvarez, who signed on a season-long loan from Inter Milan, failed to make an impact and the Argentina international struggled with the pace of a match the visitors controlled.
Tottenham, searching for two wins in three Premier League matches, struck first when Chadli tucked away a rebound after Vito Mannone had parried Emmanuel Adebayor's drive.
It was the Belgium international's third goal of the season but his side's lead was wiped out moments later before some fans had taken their seats.
Ex-Manchester City man Johnson dropped a shoulder and cut in from the left flank before nipping inside two defenders and sidefooting past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.
Adam Johnson is searching for an England recall and played well here
At times, in an often one-sided affair, Tottenham threatened to overrun the Black Cats in midfield.
Mousa Dembele came closest to giving them the lead their efforts deserved when he fired a swerving effort against the post from 25 yards out that had Mannone rooted to the spot.
After the break, Eriksen pounced when Sunderland failed to clear Chadli's cross.
With Spurs still in the ascendency, Lamela, at times unplayable, hit the bar from distance.
Tottenham thumped the Black Cats 5-1 in April and could have had a similar scoreline here had they taken their chances.
But they were left to rue their wastefulness when Kane deflected fellow substitute Jordi Gomez's cross past a disbelieving Lloris.
Sunderland will go to Burnley next Saturday buoyed by this result.
Spurs will dust themselves down before heading to Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in the Europa League. West Brom then await at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet said: "It was an incredible game. Without a doubt the most difficult we have had. I thought we played better but the opposition was the best we have played so far.
"We had to work very hard for this point. Sometimes it's not about tactics it's about the will to get something. We nearly nicked it at the end. That would have not been fair on Spurs.
"I can tell you we are very realistic here and we know who we are playing against. We will get the three points in the next couple of weeks. My message to Ricky Alvarez as soon as game finished was 'Welcome to England'. This is what you are going to get week-in-week-out and you have to be ready. It was a proper English game."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said: "I am very disappointed. When you create a lot of chances it is difficult to accept the draw. We need to improve. We need to be more aggressive and more focused.
"It's difficult to accept. You need to have luck and it's true Sunderland had luck. I think there's a gap in the stats but you need to kill the game. We did not do that and this happens in football.
"We need to show collectively more calm, more security. We need to win games like this."
Christian Eriksen had a fine game in midfield for the visitors
Sunderland's supporters applauded Tottenham defender Danny Rose who had spent a season on loan with the club
Emmanuel Adebayor had a frustrating day for the visitors and was eventually substituted
BBC Sport
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