Tottenham 3 Bolton 1

Harry Redknapp’s team will deservedly take their place in the FA Cup semi-final on April 15, but all the excitement of the prospect of a forthcoming London derby against Chelsea at Wembley was contained on Tuesday night by the circumstances of this most emotional sixth round tie. First and foremost, after Fabrice Muamba’s collapse with a cardiac arrest when the match was first played 10 days ago, this was a night when football moved on with a sense of dignity, relief and gratitude. Muamba was apparently kept updated on the score via text message to his bed in the London Chest Hospital and is certain to have been made aware of the huge outpouring of goodwill. Both sets of players warmed up in T-shirts with the words 'Uniting for Fabrice’ on the front and there was a rapturous pre-match minute of applause. Muamba had been visited before the game by Bolton players and staff, with Owen Coyle later paying public tribute to the support from Tottenham and, particularly, Harry Redknapp, who has been requesting daily updates on Muamba’s condition. “We obviously feared the worst, but it has been a miracle to see the boy recover,” said Redknapp. Coyle made it clear that this match had only gone ahead because of the ongoing improvement in Muamba’s condition and his animated touchline demeanour was certainly one of a manager desperate to win. His team, though, were overwhelmed pretty much from the first to the last whistle, with Tottenham mustering an impressive 48 shots on goal during the 90 minutes. That the final scoreline was only 3-1 in Tottenham’s favour was ultimately down to a genuinely inspired performance from Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan. Jake Livermore was again impressive in the centre of Tottenham’s midfield and, after a swift exchange of passes with Adebayor, broke behind the Bolton defence in the seventh minute. His first-time shot was parried by Bogdan, with the Bolton goalkeeper then recovering brilliantly to tip Luka Modric’s follow-up shot over. Adebayor quickly provided two further passes from which Gareth Bale forced saves from Bogdan. Bolton were unable to assert themselves and their rhythm suffered further disruption in the 28th minute when Darren Pratley had to be taken off on a stretcher - he was also shown a yellow card - after suffering a lacerated knee following a foul on Bale. Pratley was taken to hospital and Coyle now fears that he could lose his midfielder for up to six weeks. “I think his injury did affect our players for a period of time,” said Coyle. Pratley’s lunge summed up Bolton’s increasing difficulty in containing Bale, who shot narrowly wide twice in quick succession with swerving drives from the edge of the penalty area. Scott Parker was also pushing forward into goalscoring positions with one shot, on the stroke of half-time, turned around the post by Bogdan. After the interval Modric, playing in a more advanced midfield position, immediately got behind Zat Knight but was clumsily upended. From Rafael van der Vaart’s resulting free-kick, Bolton’s Hungarian goalkeeper was finally beaten, only for the cross-bar to deny Tottenham. Bolton provided only sporadic moments of menace on the break. Ryo Miyaichi, on loan from Arsenal, occasionally threatened with his pace but Ivan Klasnic forced the first save from Carlo Cudicini, after 70 minutes. Tottenham’s utter dominance was rewarded with two goals in three minutes. Firstly, Ryan Nelsen rose to head Van der Vaart’s delivery past Bogdan for his first goal for Spurs, and then Bale pounced on a through-ball from Jermain Defoe to effectively seal Tottenham’s place in the semi-final. Kevin Davies’ late finish ensured a nervous finale but his consolation was cancelled out with the last kick of the game by Louis Saha. The bookmakers now make Tottenham the favourites to win the FA Cup but Redknapp believes the four remaining teams are equally matched.