Nolan steers Bolton to win over Spurs

Bolton 1 Tottenham 0

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson came to the Reebok Stadium to cast an eye over the five Tottenham players in his squad for the friendly against Argentina on Saturday.

He must have left the ground, however, full of admiration for Bolton midfielder Kevin Nolan, born and raised in Liverpool.

The 23-year-old is relishing the responsibility of being named club captain and grabbed the winner with his seventh goal of the season.

Bolton moved up four places in the process to claim third spot in the table ahead of Manchester United.

It was only Tottenham’s second defeat of the campaign and came against opponents who have chalked up five successive wins and five clean sheets.

Spurs have made remarkable strides, though, under Martin Jol, who celebrated 12 months in charge as coach at the weekend.

Such is their emergence, Paul Robinson, Ledley King, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe are all in the current England squad.

Bolton, however, set the tempo from the start with Michael Dawson having to look alert, heading away a free-kick from Stelios Giannakopoulos after he had brought down the Greece winger.

Then Abdoulaye Faye cracked in a shot that went narrowly wide of Robinson’s post.

Bolton won another free-kick when Paul Stalteri tripped El-Hadji Diouf. Tal Ben Haim floated the ball in only for Kevin Davies, with his back to goal, to head wide.

Spurs hit back and Dutch star Edgar Davids tried to pick out Mido only for Jussi Jaaskelainen to make the interception.

Bolton made the breakthrough in the 31st minute with a marvellous strike from Nolan after the ball had been laid back to him by Davies.

Spurs hit back and Defoe found the net two minutes later only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

Then Young-Pyo Lee squandered a great chance of grabbing the equaliser in the 36th minute, sending a weak shot wide when clear on goal.

Nolan almost added a second for Bolton in the 41st minute, his effort coming back off the post following a neat build-up involving Diouf and Davies.

The industrious Davies appeared to be struggling and was replaced by Jared Borgetti in the 49th minute.

Defoe had been having a quiet game for Spurs and blasted a shot wide four minutes later after Ricardo Gardner’s clearance fell to him.

The visitors were beginning to dictate the pace of the game and Carrick cut inside only to see his effort blocked by midfielder Abdoulaye Faye.

Giannakopoulos was then left clutching his face after being caught by King’s boot as they tussled for the ball in the corner.

The Greece international was replaced by Hidetoshi Nakata in the 59th minute after Mido weaved his way into the area for Spurs only to be crowded out.

With his team still trailing, Jol decided to go for broke in the 62nd minute and brought on Robbie Keane for the South Korean Lee.

Davids was trying his best to drag Spurs back into the match but Bolton were again proving difficult to break down.

The home side pushed forward again in the 67th minute but Jaidi’s header from a corner by Gary Speed went wide of the post.

Mexico striker Borgetti turned quickly in the 74th minute and made space only for Robinson to block his effort.

Bolton rode their luck in the 84th minute when Speed blocked a bicycle kick from Jenas, then Mido’s effort came back off the post.

Jaaskelainen was beaten in stoppage time but Stalteri’s effort came back off the top of the bar and the home side breathed a sigh of relief.