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LONDON, (AFP) - Robbie Keane claimed a Spurs fightback to earn a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa had felt as good as a win after a night in which manager Martin Jol came within half an hour of the sack.

That is how long there was to play when Villa opened up a 4-1 lead but a Pascal Chimbonda strike and a Keane penalty set the stage for Younes Kaboul to snatch an 92nd-minute equaliser and a point that may come to be regarded as a turning point in Tottenham's season.

"To come back from 4-1 down is unbelievable," Keane said after an unbelievable night of drama at White Hart Lane on the club's 125th birthday.

"You talk about dead and buried but we showed lots of character. That's what we have in this team. When you're 4-1 down, you go hell for leather. It does feel like a sort of victory to us in many ways."

The players celebrated Kaboul's equaliser by sprinting to embrace Jol, who had looked distinctly like a condemned man when Villa's fourth goal, a Craig Gardner free-kick, went in in the 59th minute.

"You should have seen him (Jol) at the end when we scored the goal," Keane added. "He had the support from everyone. He's shown what a good manager he is over the past couple of years."

Jol showed the strain of the evening when he admitted: "I don't know what to feel.

"It was awful but on the other hand it was a big celebration at the end. We almost spoiled the night and it was a great night.

"But we came back from the death and that was a big positive but I don't think I've ever been involved in a game like this. We could have won it at the end."

Jol admitted that thoughts that this might be his last game in charge had crossed his mind but claimed: "I thought about my future for the last six weeks so that's nothing new."

Asked if he felt he was safe for the time being, he added: "I don't know. It's not up to me."

Jol must have thought he was in for a more relaxing evening than he finally endured when a bright start was capped by Dimitar Berbatov heading the home side ahead from a 20th-minute corner.

It may have been a memorable fightback but it was nevertheless a night that Tottenham's England goalkeeper Paul Robinson will want to quickly forget.

From the outset, it appeared that Villa had decided to test his confidence on crosses and that approach soon paid off.

Two minutes after Berbatov had given Spurs a lead that their early efforts merited, Robinson dropped a corner and Martin Laursen gratefully fired home.

The Danish defender did not know too much about his second goal which came after another flap by Robinson allowed Zat Knight to get on the end of a Gareth Barry cross, the ball finding its way into the net off Laursen.

There was nothing the hapless England goalkeeper could do about Gabriel Agbonlahor's 40th-minute strike. After taking the ball off Michael Dawson, the youngster wriggled his way into the box and produced a cool, low finish into the far corner of the net.

Agonlahor was also instrumental in winning the free-kick that allowed Gardner to make it four, his trickery resulting in Kaboul chopping him down on the edge of the area.

Gardner's strike appeared to sneak through the edge of the wall and Robinson was unable to keep it out despite getting a hand to the ball close to his right-hand post.

Chimbonda kick-started the fightback by following up smartly after Jermain Defoe connected with a cross from Gareth Bale with a shot that hit the post.

Villa had introduced Marlon Harewood in the hope he would provide an outlet from the relentless pressure from Spurs.

Instead, the former West Ham striker's first meaningful contribution was to hack down Darren Bent to concede the penalty that Keane converted with aplomb.

From then on an equaliser always looked on the cards and Villa were made to pay for their failure to clear a corner in the second minute of injury time, when Kaboul levelled from close range.