Alli's volley earns Tottenham 1-1 draw at Everton

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) Dele Alli enhanced his burgeoning reputation by scoring a superb equalizer to earn title-chasing Tottenham a 1-1 draw at Everton in the Premier League on Sunday.

The 19-year-old England international controlled on his chest a long pass forward from Toby Alderweireld and buried a first-time volley from just inside the area in first-half injury time.

Aaron Lennon put Everton ahead against his former club in the 22nd minute, shooting into the far corner after running onto a header down by Romelu Lukaku.

Fourth-place Tottenham lost ground in the title race to fellow contenders Arsenal and Manchester City, who both won on Saturday. Spurs dropped six points behind first-place Arsenal.

Alli has established himself as a regular for Tottenham in his first season since moving from third-tier MK Dons, and scored on his first start for England in a 2-0 win over France in a friendly in November. He has already been compared by some to former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard and appears to have a similar eye for goal.

Spurs are proving hard to beat this season but need to turn draws into wins to stand a chance of winning the league. They have now drawn nine of their 20 games, easily the most of the title challengers.

''There's a lot of talk (about the title),'' Alli said, ''but us, as players, aren't getting too carried away.''

Harry Kane and Ben Davies struck shots against the goal frame in the first half, either side of Lennon's goal.

''The first half was one of the best halves of the season for us,'' Alderweireld said. ''We were unlucky, we could have scored twice and were then unlucky to go behind, but showed a lot of character to come back. I think we lost two points today.''