Source: Daily_Mail
Bolton 1 Tottenham 1: Defoe cancels out Davies' strike to earn a replay
[LNB]By relieving Jermain Defoe of the burden of taking penalties, Harry Redknapp made one rather crucial mistake. He turned to another Englishman and, as Tom Huddlestone demonstrated to Fabio Capello here on Sunday, the English still seem to struggle when presented with such a task.[LNB] It was a dreadful effort from Huddlestone when a successfully converted spot-kick in the 71st minute could have secured a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for Tottenham. [LNB]First came the moment's hesitation in his run-up , and then a right-foot shot so telegraphed that Jussi Jaaskelainen knew exactly where it was going. He dived to his right and made the save, much to the relief of Sam Ricketts, whose handball had conceded the penalty. [LNB] Level pegging: Jermain Defoe (C) celebrates scoring with teammates David Bentley and Gareth Bale [LNB] [LNB]While Capello pencils in a few more practice sessions for hisEngland players - Defoe had missed six in 10 before being put out ofhis misery - Redknapp will reflect on what amounted to anotherdisappointing display after that midweek defeat at Wolves. [LNB]Clearly, the Reebok Stadium is not a happy hunting ground forTottenham. They have never won here in the Barclays Premier League. ButRedknapp will be distinctly unimpressed with the fact that, had Boltonproved more clinical with their finishing, it could have taken far morethan a single goal from Defoe to force the replay that will now followat White Hart Lane. [LNB]As Owen Coyle declared afterwards, his side controlled this tie forthe best part of an hour and created more than enough opportunities toput the result beyond lacklustre Tottenham's reach. [LNB]Bolton played some decent stuff, so much so that Kevin Davies -whose 35th minute goal completed a 17-pass move - branded Tottenham the'long ball' team for repeatedly punting it in the direction of PeterCrouch. [LNB] Off the mark: Kevin Davies scores the opening goal[LNB]'I had a blast at them at full time because we should have finishedthem off,' said Coyle, who braved the icy conditions by watching theentire game in a pair of shorts. [LNB]Tottenham also had their chances, not least in the 55th minute whenthey twice hit the crossbar, but Joe Jordan was most disappointed withHuddlestone's failure to score from 12 yards, their fourth miss intheir last five attempts. [LNB]'In training he hits them with real power but today he tried toplace it,' said Tottenham's first team coach. 'We've had a bad seasonwith penalties and we clearly need to do more work on them.' [LNB] Save of the day: Jussi Jaaskelainien palms away Tom Huddlestone's weak penalty[LNB]Getting a foreign player to take them might be a start. In front ofa meagre crowd of fewer than 14,000 - including 5,000 away fans -Bolton played some good football but Johan Elmander could not convertthe chances. [LNB]MATCH FACTSBOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen 8; Steinsson 6, Knight 6 (O'Brien 63min, 6), Ricketts 5, Robinson 6; Chung-Yong 7 (M Davies 74, 6), Gardner6, Muamba 6, Taylor 7 (Cohen 88, 6); K Davies 8, Elmander 6. Booked:Taylor. TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Gomes 7; Corluka 6, Dawson 6, King 6, Bale7; Bentley 6, Huddlestone 6, Palacios 6, Modric 6 (Kranjcar 63, 6);Defoe 7, Crouch 6. Booked: Huddlestone, Palacios, Defoe. Man of thematch: Kevin Davies. Referee: Phil Dowd.[LNB]It was the excellent Davies who struck, seizing on a neat ball fromElmander with a finish that exploited Vedran Corluka's failure to closehim down. It was the Bolton skipper's fourth goal in his last threeappearances against Spurs. [LNB]With the second half came a vast improvement in Tottenham'sfootball. Crouch sent a header against the crossbar, before a surgingrun from Wilson Palacios almost ended in an own goal from PaulRobinson. Fortunately for the Bolton full-back, Jaaskelainen divertedthe ball on to the crossbar and so to safety. [LNB]Defoe's 61st-minute equaliser - the England striker's 21st goal ofthe season - was not dissimilar to Bolton's goal. A neat pass fromGareth Bale, combined with Bolton's failure to close him down, enabledDefoe to take one touch before driving a left-foot shot pastJaaskelainen, albeit via Ricketts' shin and the underside of the bar. [LNB]Tottenham finished the stronger but Defoe, Crouch, Palacios and NikoKranjcar joined Huddlestone in failing to score what would have been adecisive second.[LNB] [LNB] Gary Lineker: It's simple - John Terry and Wayne Bridge are England's best option nowBolton boss Coyle believes crocked Cahill can play again this seasonBOLTON WANDERERS FC
