Defoe saves Spurs after Harry’s rant
BOLTON WANDERERS v/s TOTTENHAM
TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp gave his side a half-time rollicking as Spurs kept their FA Cup hopes alive in a classic game of two halves at the Reebok Stadium.
Redknapp was furious with a below-par opening 45 minutes which culminated in Kevin Davies handing the Trotters a deserved lead.
But after a few choice words at the break, Spurs came out fighting with Jermain Defoe bringing them level with his 21st goal of the season.
Indeed, Spurs were left wondering how they didn’t go on to seal a place in the last eight – Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios hitting the crossbar while Tom Huddlestone had a late penalty saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
But Redknapp was still left fuming by the first-half display, and admitted his dusting down during the interval did the trick.
“Bolton were terrific in the first half and we were poor,” he said: “We never got out of the blocks and at half-time we needed to sort things out. The second half was a completely different game. We totally dominated them and had all the opportunities.
“It was nothing to do with tactics or doing anything too clever, it was just about competing, picking up second balls and doing the other side of the game. We were a different team completely, that’s how we’ve played all season and that’s how we’ve got to play.”
Johan Elmander let Spurs off the hook with a hat-trick of early misses before Davies eventually put the hosts ahead, finishing a neat 16-pass move with a shot on the turn.
Redknapp’s words obviously had the desired effect as Spurs suddenly found their feet.
Crouch’s header and Palacios’ deflected effort both came off the woodwork before Defoe rifled the equaliser past Jaaskelainen from Gareth Bale’s pass.
But Spurs’ big chance to win the game came on 71 minutes when Crouch’s flick struck Sam Ricketts’ hand and Huddlestone, taking over penalty duties from Defoe following his miss against Leeds in the last round, saw his shot well saved.