Tottenham inflicted more doom and gloom upon Bolton boss Owen Coyle running out comfortable 3-0 winners at White Hart Lane to stay within two points of second place Manchester United.
It was a tenth game unbeaten for Harry Redknapp's side with Gareth Bale scoring the opener before dedicating his goal to Wales boss Gary Speed who tragically passed away last weekend. Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Defoe scored after the break to keep the Trotters firmly rooted in the relegation zone although they will feel extremely hard done by after Gary Cahill was controversially sent off. The England defender was dismissed by referee Stuart Attwell after 17 minutes following a foul on Spurs midfielder Scott Parker. The home side made their superiority count as they strolled to their fifth successive win at White Hart Lane. In truth the chasm between the two teams couldn't have been wider and Tottenham could have easily scored 10 if they had been wearing their shooting boots. However three sufficed and it was Bale who got them off to the perfect start on seven minutes.
Luka Modric was the provider with his corner finding the Welsh winger at the near post with his flick beating Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal. Bale immediately removed is left boot and held it aloft in front of the awe supporters in a tribute to Speed who also played for the Trotters. Controversy then descended on North London after Attwell decided to send Cahill for an early bath after he hauled Parker down on the left wing 10-yards from the halfway line. The decision is sure to ignite the debate over determining when a player is the last man with the referee deeming Cahill to be preventing a goalscoring opportunity despite the foul taking place on high up the field. That decision made Bolton's task of coming from behind extremely difficult with Attwell receiving both barrels from Coyle at half time.
The decision gave Spurs a clear advantage but they just couldn't find a way past Jaaskelainen who kept his side in the game thwarting Bale, Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor with some fine goalkeeping. Despite his heroics the Finn was finally beaten on the hour mark with Lennon getting his name on the score sheet cutting in from the right before smashing the ball home. Defoe then wrapped it all up sweeping the ball into the net after Modric's corner was flicked into his patch by Bale. It put the cap on Tottenham's 10th win in 11 games and pushed Bolton back into 19th with Coyles men now two points from safety.
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