Tottenham Hotspur have been held to a 1-1 draw with Panathinaikos is tonight's Europa League group stage encounter in Greece.

Michael Dawson gave Andre Villas-Boas's team a first-half lead but they were denied the win in the 77th minute when Toche fired home for the Greeks.

The visitors were appealing for a penalty as early as the third minute when Andre Pinto looked to have handled Steven Caulker's goal-bound effort. However, the referee dismissed the Spurs protests.

Despite the Londoners enjoying the majority of possession, they struggled to show much attacking spark during the opening 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, their Greek hosts rarely threatened Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal.

The away side made the breakthrough 10 minutes before the half-time whistle as Dawson nodded in from Tom Huddlestone's free kick.

Huddlestone nearly doubled their lead towards the end of the half, but his drive was pushed away by Panathinaikos goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Jermain Defoe, who looked frustrated in attack for much of the night, should have made it 2-0 early in the second half - only to blaze his shot over the crossbar after some good control.

Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale then fired off target as Spurs had difficulty in killing off the game.

Their wastefulness in front of goal was punished with 13 minutes left on the clock when Toche poked the ball past Lloris from Giourkas Seitaridis's clever through ball.