Football Update: EPL News- Tottenham Hotspurs Suffer At the Reebok Stadium against Bolton Wanderers by 4-2
Tottenham Hotspurs faced Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium for their 11th match in English Premier League. Spurs were flying high after their incredible win against Inter Milan in the midweek Champions League clash. However, history was against
them as they have never scored a league victory in this stadium. In the end, they failed to capitalize on their good form as they lost the match against Bolton by 4-2.
However, towards the end, Tottenham came close to a comeback. Spurs were three goals down, but they pulled two back with the first one coming 11 minutes before the full time. Before the comeback could be completed, Martin Petrov came from the bench and scored
the fourth for the home side.
Harry Redknapp had some problems while choosing his players for this match. Two of his main players, Rafael van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon, were missing because of hamstring problems. Despite missing these players, Tottenham looked like a great side but
they fell short of the target.
Bolton had an upper hand from the very start of the match. The first chance came in the opening minute as Lee Chung-yong found Matthew Taylor. The midfielder did not face any opposition from the defenders, but his wild shot went wide of the target. However,
Tottenham displayed a real lapse in their defending which Bolton exploited later on in the match.
Gareth Bale, who has had quite an outstanding season so far, missed a couple of opportunities for his side in the opening minutes. Lee saved one of his efforts while another one was shot above the goal by the Welsh International. It was a great ball played
by Luka Modric, but Bale could not control the final shot.
At this point, Bolton was playing a much better game, as Tottenham was losing possession in a rather easy fashion. One of these mistakes proved fatal as Bolton made use of the opportunity to score their first goal. Sandro lost the ball to Fabrice Muamba
who passed it along to Taylor. The midfielder found Kevin Davies who struck the ball powerfully in the corner for Bolton’s first goal. Gomes, Tottenham’s goal-keeper, dived but was unable to save the perfectly placed shot.
Tottenham rallied to find an equaliser, while Bolton defended well in order to keep their lead before half-time. First, William Gallas fired a shot towards goal from distance, but he was kept out by Bolton’s keeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen. After that, Younes
Kaboul had an opportunity from a corner, but the resulting header went over the target. Bolton went in the break with the lead of one goal, giving Redknapp a lot to think about.
Harry Redknapp decided to adopt a more attacking approach after the half time. Roman Pavlyuchenko was brought on in place of Wilson Palacios to pair up with Peter Crouch at the front. However, it was Bolton who found the next goal in the 56th
minute. Their fullback, Gretar Rafn Steinsson charged in the area and found himself at the end of a cutback pass from Johan Elmander. He fired the shot into the goal, as Gomes was helplessly looking towards his defenders.
Bolton started looking more dangerous, as they searched for the third goal. There were many opportunities but they failed to capitalize. However, in the 75th minute, Lee was fouled in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty for the home side.
Davies stepped forward and scored his second and Bolton’s third goal of the match.
As the match looked sealed for Bolton, Tottenham started a comeback. In the 79th minute, Alan Hutton got the first goal for his team after a great individual effort. Soon, Pavlyuchenko found the net with a powerful shot. However, Petrov, who came
as a substitute in 82nd minute, scored the fourth goal to confirm the three points for his team.
With this victory, Bolton has moved into fifth place in the Premier League table. They are level on points with Tottenham, but placed ahead because of a better goal difference.
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