Brave Bogdan can’t stop Spurs

Tottenham are on their way to Wembley, where they will play Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final after battling past Bolton on an emotional night at White Hart Lane.

Bolton had weathered wave after wave of Tottenham attacks, with goalkeeper Adam Bogdan in inspired form, when Ryan Nelsen finally breached the dam with a 74th-minute back-post header.

Three minutes later, Jermain Defoe teed up Gareth Bale for the second to effectively settle a quarter-final tie that was rearranged after Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest in the original fixture.

Kevin Davies came off the bench to score a late consolation goal for Bolton but Louis Saha applied the coup de grace for Spurs, beating Bogdan from 25 yards with the final kick of the game.

It was tough on Bogdan, whose heroics had kept Bolton in the game for so long. However, Spurs’ performance was dominant.

The match was preceded by a warm minute of applause and chants of “Fabrice Muamba”, which were reprised, significantly, after 41 minutes, the time he suffered a cardiac arrest in the original tie.

Dr Andrew Deaner, the Spurs fan and heart specialist who ran from the stands to assist in Muamba’s treatment and has continued to oversee his recovery, was a guest in the club’s boardroom.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle was realistic after a match where he admitted there had been “a range of emotions” as Wanderers returned to the scene of Muamba’s collapse.

He said: “In a football context then it was disappointing losing the game but we cannot argue Tottenham were better over the duration of the game.

“Football-wise they kept going. I was delighted with how they went about it. We played in the manner befitting.”

Tottenham passed with pace and purpose, carving holes in the Bolton defence and it was only Bogdan’s brilliance under siege that kept the match goalless for so long.

Bogdan was equal to Bale’s powerful early drive before pulling off the first of two top-class double saves, to deny Jake Livermore and Luka Modric from close range.

Bolton had nothing going forward and it was Bogdan who kept them in the game, producing another double save from Emmanuel Adebayor and Bale after good work from y Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Rafael van der Vaart rattled the bar with a free-kick early in the second half and then picked out Ledley King but the Spurs captain headed just over.

Bogdan continued his heroics to first deny Van der Vaart and then Adebayor before Spurs broke the deadlock on 74 minutes.

Bogdan could not reach a corner from the right and Nelsen rose at the far post to head in.

Within three minutes Bogdan was beaten again when Defoe released Bale, who finished expertly.

Davies slid in a late consolation before Saha wrapped up the Spurs win and a meeting with Chelsea that Bale is relishing.

He said: We’ve got difficult opposition with Chelsea but we’ll give it a good go.

“We probably deserved to win on [Saturday, a 0-0 draw], we had the best chances but we were unable to take them. We’ll give it our best shot.”

TOTTENHAM: Cudicini, Walker, King, Nelsen, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Livermore, Parker (Defoe 71), Bale, Adebayor (Saha 79), Van der Vaart (Rose 80).

BOLTON: Bogdan, Alonso, Boyata (K Davies 76), Knight, Ricketts, Reo-Coker, M Davies, Pratley (Ream 28), Eagles, Klasnic, Miyaichi (Sanli 79).

Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).