FA CUP SIXTH ROUND Tottenham 3 Bolton 1:TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR have their place in an FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea but only after a show of persistence by Bolton Wanderers and particularly the goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Harry Redknapp’s side did not break the deadlock until Ryan Nelsen headed home from a corner in the 74th minute. Another goal followed three minutes later when the substitute Jermain Defoe released Gareth Bale to score.
The Bolton substitute Kevin Davies responded in the 90th minute after an Ivan Klasnic cross but it made no material difference. Louis Saha curled in a third goal for Tottenham with the last kick of the game. There were celebrations at the close but the shadow of the previous encounter and the ordeal of one Bolton footballer still lay over White Hart Lane.
In view of Fabrice Muamba’s struggle for life during the initial fixture that had to be abandoned it seemed crass to place great significance on this game. Nonetheless results cannot be disregarded entirely.
Perhaps Tottenham anticipated a little goal therapy in this tie. After all, Owen Coyle’s side has a weak defensive record away from home in the Premier League. This, however, was an FA Cup tie, the sort of occasion where sides are invited to assume a new identity. A breakthrough for Tottenham was elusive, despite their domination of the first half.
Bolton are perhaps beginning to galvanise themselves, if consecutive wins over Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers in the League are any guide. In this fixture, all the same, they were initially obliged to devote themselves to obduracy.
That was best typified by the goalkeeper Bogdan. In the eighth minute he had to pull off a double save from Jake Livermore and Luka Modric.
The visitors were being stretched and troubled in that opening phase and their discomfort was intensified when Darren Pratley had to be carried off in the 28th minute after hurting himself while fouling Bale. A yellow card was shown to the man being borne away, Tim Ream taking over from the midfielder.
There were not all that many hectic scenes before the interval but Bolton would gradually find themselves in difficulties. Bogdan, for instance, did particularly well to pull off a save after Emmanuel Adebayor had drawn defenders away and left Bale in space to set up Scott Parker. The attempt that followed, easily saved, illustrated why Parker is so firmly established as a defensive midfielder.
It would be wrong to dwell on Tottenham’s frustrations. From Coyle’s perspective a 4-1-4-1 system had enjoyed at least a minor success in checking Tottenham. For all that, it is gruelling indeed to hold out for 90 minutes to secure a replay at the Reebok. There must have been an appreciation by Tottenham at half-time that it was within their scope to breach the Bolton defence and then find out if Bolton were capable of reacting.
They came close to doing precisely that after Modric had been brought down in a central position on the fringes of the penalty area. The free-kick from Rafael van der Vaart had menace as it clipped the bar on its way over.
Bolton were commendable in their own fashion. The durability that could help Bolton keep their place in the top flight was being illustrated.
Accuracy eluded Tottenham to an extent and, following a cross by Van der Vaart a header by Ledley King from 12 yards went over the bar in the 60th minute. The side was closer still when Bogdan blocked a shot from the Dutchman with an outstretched leg.
The first save of note for Carlo Cudicini did not arrive until he blocked an Ivan Klasnic attempt at his near post with 20 minutes remaining but Tottenham got their breakthrough thanks to Nelsen.
Guardian Service
TOTTENHAM:Cudicini, Walker, King, Nelsen, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Livermore, Parker (Defoe 71), Bale, Adebayor (Saha 79), Van der Vaart (Rose 80). Subs not used: Friedel, Kaboul, Giovani, Kranjcar.
BOLTON: Bogdan, Alonso, Boyata (Kevin Davies 76), Knight, Ricketts, Reo-Coker, Mark Davies, Pratley (Ream 28), Eagles, Klasnic, Miyaichi (Sanli 79). Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Petrov, Ngog, Vela. Booked: Pratley.
Referee: Howard Webb(S Yorkshire).