Ledley the enforcer in row over ‘stamping’
ENGLAND’S new enforcer Ledley King w a s a t t h e centre of a stamping row last night after an ugly clash with Bolton’s Greece winger Stelios.
King appeared to put his foot down on Stelios’s face after the Bolton player had fallen to the ground in the second-half incident.
Stelios clutched his face but King, who will take on the midfield holding role for Sven Goran Eriksson’s side against Argentina on Saturday, went unpunished.
Eriksson was watching Tottenham’s quintet of England players but it was Bolton’s Kevin Nolan who will have caught his eye with a stunning goal sent his club in to third place in the Premiership.
Nolan, a Liverpudlian, was considered for inclusion against Argentina in Geneva and the 23-year- old provided ample evidence why as he swept a vicious first-half shot past Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson to drag a poor game to the exalted levels of ordinary.
Nolan’s seventh goal of the season — and his third in three consecutive 1-0 victories — gave Sam Allardyce's team a win they just about deserved.
After the clash of the Premiership giants at Old Trafford on Sunday, this was a meeting of two upwardly mobile clubs with hopes of stealing one of the four Champions League places.
Allardyce’s Bolton came perilously close to gatecrashing that particular party last season, while Tottenham have progressed so far during the year that Martin Jol has been in charge that they also have reason to believe they can sail into previously uncharted waters.
That said, these two teams managed to produce a quite dreadful first half that was going absolutely nowhere until Nolan arrived to thump Bolton into the lead after 32 minutes.
Allardyce’s side are routinely accused of playing unattractive football and much of that criticism is unfair. However, it must be said that the location of their stadium does not help their cause.
Perched high on an outcrop off the M61 motorway to Preston, the Reebok is a wonderful structure that has done much for the club’s image. But the wind that routinely whistles off the Pennines and across the playing surface does nothing to assist any team that aspires to play football.
It was blowing a gale last night and both teams struggled to pass the ball with any confidence on a pitch that is already beginning to look a little rutted.
Thank heavens, then, for Nolan’s strike.
The midfielder has made great strides in the last 12 months after losing his place in the side for a while, and his creativity and energy are perfect for Bolton’s hightempo game.
Last night he made a crucial intervention just when the game appeared destined to remain goalless at the interval.
Lurking 30 yards from goal when Bolton striker Kevin Davies received possession with his back to goal, Nolan called for the ball and when it was laid into his path he struck a wonderful shot with his right foot that whistled past Robinson.
It was a terrific effort and one that did much to lift the spirits in Lancashire. He almost repeated the feat four minutes before the break when he received possession from El Hadji Diouf on the right side of the penalty area and struck a low shot that cannoned off the far post and away to safety.
It was another impressive effort but a two-goal deficit would have been unfair on Tottenham, who rallied well after the goal and twice came close to equalising.
First, Jermain Defoe received possession from Temmu Tainio and beat Jussi Jaaskelainen from eight yards. He was ruled offside but replays suggested the linesman had erred.
Tottenham had no one to blame but themselves soon after when Young- Pyo Lee was played in — again by the clever Tainio — but scuffed his shot when he only had the goalkeeper to beat.
The first third of the second period featured a rash of substitutions as the injured Davies was replaced by Jared Borgetti and Stelios made way for Hidetoshi Nakata after his tangle with King. For Spurs, Lee made way for Robbie Keane as the visitors sought an equaliser.
The action was as scrappy as it had been for much of the first half, though there were more goalmouth incidents.
Bolton midfielder Gary Speed would perhaps have doubled his side’s lead in the 50th minute had his closerange shot not struck Edgar Davids in the midriff, while Tottenham also had opportunities to equalise.
Mido did well to snake his way in to the Bolton penalty box just before the hour mark only for his shot to be blocked, while Michael Carrick should have done better after beating two men on the right.
Tainio had the next chance but blazed over with 20 minutes left after a cross from Paul Stalteri reached him at the far post.