Bolton brought Tottenham back down to earth as the Trotters defeated the conquerors of Inter 4-2.
Davies brace helps Bolton to 4-2 victory over Tottenham
Bolton Wanderers brought Tottenham Hotspur back down to earth with a bump as the Trotters defeated the conquerors of Inter Milan 4-2.
Spurs headed into the fixture off the back of an emphatic 3-1 scalp of European champions Inter in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, with Gareth Bale in particular enjoying a fabulous night.
But Tottenham struggled dearly for the majority of the 90 minutes at Bolton, who took a deserved, albeit controversial, lead through Kevin Davies before a strike from Gretar Steinsson doubled their advantage.
Davies grabbed his second of the game from the penalty spot to ensure of his side's third success of the season while Alan Hutton and Roman Pavlyuchenko netted fine consolations for the visitors, who are now level on points with Bolton in the table, before Martin Petrov ended any hope of a comeback.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle named an unchanged side to the one that lost 1-0 against Liverpool last weekend. Tottenham's Niko Kranjcar was handed his first league start of the season as Rafael van der Vaart missed out through injury, while Wilson Palacios and Sandro also came into the side.
The home side were the quicker out of the traps and Matthew Taylor could have broken the deadlock as early as the first minute when he raced onto a deflected cross only to thump over the crossbar. Spurs were then forced to defend against a number of high balls into the box as Bolton looked to break the deadlock.
Bale
Man of the moment Bale's first attacking involvement came on six minutes when he skipped down the left flank before seeing his low cross hooked away from danger. Luka Modric was then tackled in a dangerous area by Stuart Holden, but Johan Elmander scuffed the opportunity weakly wide.
An over-hit cross by Bale and a wayward shot by Sandro were then indicative of a poor opening at a flat Reebok Stadium. Both sides struggled to demonstrate quality in possession, and that resulted in a many a misplaced pass.
In the 23rd minute, Elmander flashed an inviting cross across Heurelho Gomes' six-yard box, but Alan Hutton made a vital intervention to nick the ball away from the lurking Kevin Davies. Taylor then tried his luck from 20 yards out, but the strike was straight down the throat of the goalkeeper.
Gomes was called into action when Steinsson's outside-of-the-boot cross caused the Brazilian to parry away. And on 31 minutes, Bolton went in front. Sandro was careless in possession, allowing Taylor to pass to an offside Davies. The flag stayed down and with his left boot, Davies arrowed home.
Spurs looked to respond and the creative Luka Modric scuffed a shot off target. Then, Bale turned on the afterburners as he sped down the wing before whipping in a lovely cross that Crouch could not reach, before Jussi Jaaskelainen parried away an awkward shot by the marauding William Gallas.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp reacted at the break by bringing on Pavlyuchenko for Wilson Palacios. But the Trotters started the second period the better, as first Chung-Yong Lee tested Benoit Assou-Ekotto before Steinsson's throw-in saw Taylor flick the ball into the hands of Gomes.
Woodwork
Bolton's Paul Robinson was the first player to go into the book after he caught Sandro with a late challenge. From the resulting free-kick, Bale's whipped effort clipped the outside of the post, much to the relief of keeper Jaaskelainen, who was a mere spectator.
The home side then threatened to double their advantage as Gomes made a decent save with his legs to deny a pouncing Elmander before Gary Cahill's strike swerved just wide of the far post. But in the 56th minute, Bolton did make it 2-0.
Right-back Steinsson found room inside Spurs' penalty area and, picked out by Elmander, he fired across goal coolly to stun the visitors. Shortly after the second goal of the game, Sandro spurned a great chance to pull one back, before Huddlestone entered the fray in place of the Brazilian.
Tottenham's upping of the ante and numbers forward presented Bolton with the opportunity to counter-attack, and that they did when Elmander raced clear from the halfway line only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle by Gallas.
And despite Spurs increasing their possession, Bolton always looked dangerous. Taylor struck the post with a bouncing volley before a surging run from Fabrice Muamba caused problems. Then, in the 76th minute, Bolton wrapped up the victory as Davies converted from the penalty spot following a clumsy challenge by Assou-Ekotto on Lee.
Hutton scored a late consolation for Spurs - a fine one it was too as he tip-toed in from the right and curled in with his left peg - before Pavlyuchenko's terrific 87th minute volley set up a tense finale. But it was too little, too late from Redknapp's men as in the dying seconds substitute Petrov raced clear and slotted past Gomes.
| Bolton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 4 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 11 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 7 |
Corners |
6 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 67.7 |
Passing Success |
76.5 |
| 33 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 66.7 |
Tackles Success |
61.5 |
| 43.1 |
Possession |
56.9 |
| 58.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
41.5 |
|
