Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Bolton Wanderers
Posted: Saturday 3rd December 2011
Tags: Match Reports, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, Gary Cahill
The threat of relegation remains a real possibility as ten-man Bolton fell to a poor 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Gareth Bale opened the scoring after seven minutes in north London with a close-range flick from a corner, before Wanderers were left with an uphill task when Gary Cahill was sent off for a challenge on Scott Parker.
Wanderers had Jussi Jaaskelainen to thank for keeping the score 1-0 until the break, but he was beaten five minutes after the restart as Aaron Lennon cut in from the left and struck past the Bolton goalkeeper.
Then, on the hour, Bale flicked on a corner from Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe reacted first to slot home from close range and ensure Harry Redknapp's side took all three points.
The afternoon began with a minute of applause for former Wanderers midfielder Gary Speed, who sadly passed away last weekend.
On the pitch, Spurs immediately raced out of the blocks and it came as no surprise to see them take the lead with just seven minutes played.
Bale managed to evade the marking of Dedryck Boyata from a corner and got ahead of Ivan Klasnic to flick the ball past Jaaskelainen from the near post. In tribute to the late Speed, Bale removed his boot to display a message reading 'RIP Gary Speed'.
If Bolton weren't already facing a difficult afternoon, they were left with an uphill task on 18 minutes when Cahill lost possession just inside his own half and caught Parker with a late challenge.
Despite Zat Knight appearing to be providing cover in the centre of the field, referee Stuart Attwell deemed Cahill to be the last defender and brandished a straight red card.
Brad Freidel was brought into action in the Spurs goal soon after, tipping a deflected strike from Chris Eagles over the bar.
From that point on, Spurs always looked the most likely goalscorers and Bolton had Jaaskelainen to thank for keeping the score at 1-0.
Jaaskelainen was in superb form, keeping out strikes from Emmanuel Adebayor, Bale and Defoe in quick succession, before somehow denying Adebayor five minutes before the break after Lennon had played the forward clean through on goal.
Then, with the final attack of the half, Jaaskelainen was beaten as Bale flashed the ball across the face of goal. Defoe through himself at the cross but couldn't make contact, meaning their advantage at the break remained at one.
Five minutes after the restart, though, Tottenham doubled their advantage. With acres of space in the Bolton half, Defoe picked out Lennon the left flank. He cut inside the challenge of Gretar Steinsson, played a dummy to Zat Knight and fired past Jaaskelainen.
On 55 minutes, Benoit Assou-Ekotto went down inside the Bolton box under the challenge of Kevin Davies. Everybody in the ground expected a penalty to be awarded, only for Attwell to award a corner.
Then, on the hour mark, Spurs sealed the points by adding their third goal of the afternoon. Modric's corner was flicked on at the near post by Bale and Defoe reacted quickest to get ahead of his marker and poke the ball past Jaaskelainen.
Modric came close to adding a fourth moments later, only for Jaaskelainen to tip his fierce strike over the crossbar.
Parker and Bale were next to be denied by Jaaskelainen as Spurs continued their push for goals, before Defoe hit the post on 75 minutes with the Finn beaten.
A rare Bolton attack resulted in Nigel Reo-Coker shooting narrowly wide of the post with 12 minutes to go and Knight saw a header cleared off the line four minutes later.
The final attack of the game came the way of the hosts. Jaaskelainen blocked a shot from Defoe and despite being beaten by the rebound, the game ended at 3-0 as Defoe's second attempt was headed off the line.
Defeat at White Hart Lane is Bolton's 11th reverse in 14 Premier League outings this season and leaves them in 19th position in the table. Next up for Owen Coyle's side is the visit of Aston Villa to the Reebok Stadium next Saturday afternoon.
Tottenham Hotspur: Freidel, Walker, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (van der Vaart 73), Modric, Parker (Livermore 85), Bale, Adebayor, Defoe
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Bassong, Corluka, Pienaar
Goals: Bale 7, Lennon 50, Defoe 60
Bolton Wanderers: Jaaskelainen, Boyata, Cahill, Knight, M Davies, Eagles, Muamba (Steinsson 27), Reo-Coker, Robinson, K Davies (Pratley 62), Klasnic (Ngog 72)
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Tuncay, Petrov, Kakuta
Booked: Robinson, Boyata
Sent Off: Cahill
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Attendance: 35,896