Bolton draw 1-1 to Spurs after penalty save

Jussi Jaaskelainen was Bolton’s hero as the Finland goalkeeper saved Tom Huddlestone’s second half penalty to force a 1-1 draw against Tottenham in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.

Bolton dominated the opening period at the Reebok Stadium and deserved their lead after Kevin Davies finished off a fine passing move.

But Spurs equalised when Jermain Defoe fired in his fifth goal in five games and Huddlestone could have won it from the spot, only for Jaaskelainen to earn Bolton a replay with a fine stop.

Bolton may be facing up to a relegation battle but they backed up manager Owen Coyle’s insistence that they still wanted to enjoy a long cup run.

The hosts made a bright start and Fabrice Muamba sliced wide from just outside the area before Johan Elmander had a close-range effort deflected wide by Michael Dawson.

Zat Knight shot straight at Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes after Peter Crouch headed away from Paul Robinson’s deep free kick.

Tottenham finally posed some sort of threat when Gareth Bale cut in from the left and shot well wide.

But Bolton were still dominant and Swedish striker Elmander should have done better than the sliced effort he came up with after being played through by Ricardo Gardner.

Despite Bolton’s greater possession, Gomes had not really been worked until he produced a fine low save to push a Taylor free kick around the post.

Tottenham wasted a good opportunity when David Bentley hit a corner to the edge of the area, only for Huddlestone to volley well off target and Peter Crouch also dragged wide from distance.

Bentley had a header easily saved by Jaaskelainen and then cut in to shoot straight at the Bolton goalkeeper after a quick Tottenham breakaway.

But 11 minutes before the break, Bolton got the goal they deserved with a strike of real quality.

They kept hold of the ball for some time before it was worked out to the right and South Korean midfielder Chung-Yong Lee sent Elmander into the area.

The Swede crossed to the far post and Davies beat Gomes with a low shot into the corner.

The pressure continued after the restart with Lee’s cross being laid off by Elmander before a Davies drive was deflected wide by Dawson.

A quick counter attack saw Davies flick Elmander into space and he teed up Muamba, only for the former Arsenal midfielder to slice wide.

Tottenham finally created a decent opening when Bentley crossed from the right and Crouch beat Jaaskelainen in the air only for his header to come back off the bar.

A minute later the bar saved Bolton again as Wilson Palacios drove into the box and crossed before the ball bounced off Paul Robinson and on to the woodwork.

But in the 61st minute, Tottenham pulled level with a neat goal of their own.

Gretar Steinsson backed off, allowing Bale to break into the box and the full back crossed for Defoe to stab past Jaaskelainen.

As Tottenham pressed hard for a second, Jaaskelainen was forced into a fine save from Spurs sub Niko Kranjcar.

With 20 minutes left, referee Phil Dowd penalised Sam Ricketts for a handball as Crouch attempted to lift the ball over the Bolton defender.

But Jaaskelainen guessed right and pushed away Huddlestone’s penalty to keep Bolton on level terms.

The Finnish goalkeeper was called into action again, pushing away a bobbling effort from Defoe.