Television replays confirmed Jermain Defoe’s first half effort should have stood. Tottenham’s immediate response to the home side taking the lead was instead ruled offside by the assistant and Spurs only ever came close on a couple of occasions to restoring parity after that.
Head Coach Martin Jol said afterwards, "I can appreciate it’s a very hard job to be a referee, and I never like to criticise, but this was very harsh on us. They can apologise after the game which they did do but we should have had something out of this game."
Assistant Coach Chris Hughton added, "We’ve had the opportunity to see it again and he’s definitely onside. For us, it was a vital period of the game and to go in at 1-1 would have given us a real lift before half-time."
A point would have lifted Jol's side back up to third but the defeat meant Bolton moved behind the top two instead. It created a gap in the table between themselves and Spurs who along with Manchester City in seventh place have each taken 20 points from their opening 12 games.
"Perhaps we didn’t do enough to win the game but I think we did enough to deserve a draw. I don’t think you can do much more in an away game."
"You know their style of play and they always create chances but they didn’t do that and we did everything right. You have to be a bit lucky but we hit the post, hit the bar, Teemu Tainio had two half-chances, we had more possession of the ball and dominated them for long spells but we couldn’t score.