Source: Daily_Mail
Tottenham 2 Bolton 1: Niko Kranjcar rocket keeps Spurs in the hunt
Niko Kranjcar migh have been in Germany yesterday, not North London, had Tottenham been tempted to accept an ?8million bid from Werder Bremen for him during the transfer window.[LNB]Kranjcar, for all his lack of opportunities, showed no inclination to leave Tottenham. [LNB]'Didn't want to push him out,' said Tottenham manager Harry Rredknapp last night. [LNB]'Even though it's difficult for Nico to get a place in the team, when Luka Modric and Gareth Bale are fit, he's not the type of guy to spit the dummy because he's not playing. You need people like him around the place.'[LNB] In the Niko time: Kranjcar hammers home the winner for Spurs [LNB]Yesterday, was exceedingly grateful Kranjcar was on hand as a 78th-minute substitute to break the resolve of Bolton in the second minute of injury time with a moment of spellbinding brilliance.[LNB]Kranjcar's intervention came at the conclusion of a match that swung and turned on a series of penalties, one scored, one missed on a re-take, one given and then overturned on a linesman's flag and one denied that brought a booking for Bolton defender Gary Cahill for 'simulation' and enraged his club's manager, Owen Coyle.[LNB]'Was not only a stonewall penalty, but by booking Gary he's saying was cheating and that's something the lad would never, ever do,' said Coyle.[LNB]Referee Mark Clattenburg had a busy and, perhaps, far from flawless afternoon.[LNB]Coyle's day worsened when Kranjcar struck. Only moments before his goal, Tottenham fans had jubilantly absorbed the news of Arsenal's surrender of a seemingly unassailable four-goal lead at Newcastle. [LNB]'Cc'mon you Spurs' was being chanted at full volume as the clock turned over into injury time, and Aaaron Lennon took control of a for-once poor Bolton clearance.[LNB]Lennon swiftly squared the ball to Rroman Pavlyuchenko, who moved the ball to his right without delay. Waiting to take receipt of it was Kranjcar. He shaped to shoot with his right foot, only to switch to his other side, and with a sight of goal on his favoured left foot, he unleashed a shot from the edge of the area that flashed into the top corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal.[LNB] Dutch master: Rafael van der Vaart scores a penalty kick past Jussi Jaaskelainen[LNB]This time the roar echoing around White Hart Lane had Pavlyuchenkonothing to do with the meltdown of Arsenal.[LNB]When the final whistle blew a couple of minutes later, Bolton players could testify to the fact that football, on occasions, is a cruel game.[LNB]Cahill sensed he had already been a victim of rough justice when, in the 58th minute, he fell under a challenge from Steven Pienaar in the Tottenham area only to be shown a yellow card. Kranjcar's winner was like salt rubbed into an open wound.[LNB]Clattenburg had already invited controversy with three other incidents in the area. [LNB]Dan the man: Sturridge bagged his second in two games to bring Bolton level[LNB]All began well. Iin the fifth minute, he correctly awarded Tottenham a penalty when Kevin Davies embraced the ball on the ground after Jaaskelainen had parried the ball on his goal-line. Rafael van der Vaart scored with a masterful penalty struck into the top, left-hand corner.[LNB]Two minutes later, Tottenham received a second penalty when Lennon seemed to be brought down by full-back Sam Ricketts.[LNB]Van der Vaart delivered an exact reprise of his first penalty with confident aplomb.[LNB]However, Cclattenburg's whistle went again after Tottenham's Jjermain Defoe had encroached and ordered the penalty to be re-taken. Van der Vaart tried for a third time to place the ball in the same spot, but this time the ball sailed the wrong side of the post. Redknapp felt aggrieved. [LNB]'It seems the ref's said someone has put a foot over the line, but, if you look at that too closely, we could have every penalty being re-taken,' he said.[LNB]Clattenburg was spared from even greater controversy during injury time at the end of the first half. He awarded a penalty when Mark Davies handled as Van der Vaart who will miss Holland's international against Aaustria on Wednesday with a calf injury attempted to flick it over the Bolton midfielder but a flag had already been raised to signify a Tottenham player had strayed offside.[LNB]Daniel Sturridge, on loan from Cchelsea, equalised in the 55th minute and threatened Tottenham's defenders all afternoon. [LNB]'I believe we can help Daniel and he can help us,' said Coyle.[LNB]But yesterday, the plaudits were reserved for Kranjcar, a reserve who Rredknapp did not want to exchange for some hard cash on the table.[LNB]TOTTENHAM (4-3-1-2): Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Jenas, Palacios (Kranjcar 78min), Lennon; Van der Vaart (Pienaar 46); Defoe, Crouch (Pavlyuchenko 73). Subs (not used): Cudicini, Hutton, Bassong, Sandro. Booked: Jenas.[LNB]BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Elmander (Lee 68), M Davies, Holden (Muamba 87), Taylor (Petrov 77); Sturridge, K Davies. Subs (not used): Bogdan, Klasnic, Moreno, Wheater. Booked: Ricketts, Cahill, M Davies.[LNB]Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).[LNB] Harry Redknapp concedes title after admitting Van Bommel mistakeBeware the wounded Spurs: Bolton's Stuart Holden warns team-mates over injury-hit TottenhamAll the latest Bolton news, features and opinionAll the latest Tottenham news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Niko Kranjcar, Daniel Sturridge, Kevin Davies, Johan Elmander, Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch, Harry Redknapp, Gary Cahill, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, Wilson Palacios
