English FA Premiership/Tottenham 1-0 Bolton: As Tottenham inched closer to a first European Cup campaign in 44 years yesterday, controversy was again their bedfellow.
The post-match debate should have been about the goalscorer Aaron Lennon's compelling case for World Cup selection but instead it was about how, for the second time in eight days, Spurs' opponents were writhing with indignation at the perceived injustice of events.
It seemed a clear penalty when, 74 minutes in and with Bolton a goal down, Michael Dawson brought down Stelios Giannakopoulos with an arm and leg. The Greece international had been eight yards from goal; the referee Alan Wiley put his whistle to his lips but chose not to pursue the matter.
"It's clear for all to see that that's a blatant penalty," said the manager Sam Allardyce. "Because it's so blatant, I have to criticise the referee publicly. It's a major cost to us. You're not allowed to tackle anyone from behind at all and he doesn't even touch the ball. You can see Alan put the whistle to his mouth and then decide against it. Quite why he decided against it is absolutely baffling."
This result puts Tottenham seven points clear of Arsenal in the chase for next season's Champions League, and no doubt the decision will again have had Arsene Wenger apoplectic. That was how it was eight days earlier, when he reacted to Edgar Davids setting up Robbie Keane for a goal after two Gunners players had clashed.
Yesterday Spurs' manager Martin Jol had another a cheeky jibe for the Arsenal manager. "I haven't seen the incident yet," he said with an impish grin. The Dutchman had plenty of other reasons to smile. Before this match his team were already in Europe for the first time in 23 years but if they are to be displaced from the top competition Arsenal must win all three of their remaining matches while hoping Spurs slip at West Ham.
Arsenal's other recourse will be winning the Champions League final against Barcelona on May 17th, but Tottenham have begun their campaign to remain in the elite competition should that occur.
"It's an injustice, everybody would agree," said Jol, "if you see the strength of this league, where a team that's near the bottom (Middlesbrough) can play in the Uefa Cup final. Then Liverpool came fifth in the Premiership and still won the Champions League. . . Maybe Arsenal will be fifth and win the Champions League, but why should that cost us our place?"
Spurs almost took the decision out of Uefa's hands after being outplayed throughout the first half. After nine minutes Kevin Davies, whose performance eclipsed that of Jermain Defoe and may have given the watching Sven-Goran Eriksson something to consider as he contends with a World Cup striker crisis, delivered a diagonal cross from deep for Jared Borgetti.
The Mexican rose above Paul Stalteri - whose place in Spurs' European campaign will be threatened by Jol's pursuit of Ajax's Nigel de Jong - and headed down for Hidetoshi Nakata. The Japan international's hooked shot crashed against a post to give Spurs a taste of what would come. Ivan Campo then shot over from Davies' flick on the half hour, then 10 minutes later the Englishman touched the ball on for Giannakopoulos, whose shot Dawson cleared off the line. Robbie Keane, the victim of an ankle injury after a strong tackle from Davies, was withdrawn at half-time, forcing Jol to shuffle his side.
Teemu Tainio came infield to exert greater influence and it produced instant dividends. Ricardo Gardner had to clear Dawson's effort from the line and the resultant corner saw Danny Murphy send a shot fizzing wide.
As the tide began to turn, Lennon embarked on an electric run which ended in a skewed shot, but within 15 minutes of the restart Spurs had their advantage. The little winger brought the ball infield from wide and dabbed it to Michael Carrick, who beat two players before squaring back to Lennon on the edge of the box; he advanced and fired beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen.
It should have sparked talk about how two of England's young hopefuls might propel them into World Cup contention; Dawson's trip erased that. When, in injury-time, the same defender handled in the box in front of Davies, it merely compounded Allardyce's fury.
