Tottenham Hotspur gave recuperating manager Harry Redknapp the perfect tonic after his heart surgery with a 3-1 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Redknapp, 64, has been advised to stay away from soccer for four to five weeks after having two stents inserted to unblock coronary arteries on Wednesday. He missed Thursday’s Europa League defeat at Rubin Kazan and was absent from the dug-out again at Craven Cottage, but Redknapp’s spirits would have been lifted by Tottenham’s victory, which moved the north London club into fifth place in the Premier League, level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea with a game in hand.
Gareth Bale put Tottenham ahead in the 10th minute when Aaron Lennon’s cross reached the Welsh winger, who scored with a shot that deflected in off Chris Baird.
The second goal came in first-half stoppage-time when Lennon’s surging run tormented Baird and ended with a fierce shot that flashed past Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Fulham got one back in the 57th minute when Tottenham defender Ledley King headed Danny Murphy’s corner against teammate Younes Kaboul’s back and the ball cannoned into the net for an own-goal, but Spurs survived several scares and Jermain Defoe’s 90th-minute goal clinched their seventh win in eight league games.
The defeat left Fulham one point above the bottom three and it was especially disappointing for boss Martin Jol, who had been hoping for a win over his former club.
“Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel was probably the best player on the pitch. We had 26 or 30 attempts on goal after halftime and yet we just couldn’t sneak one in. We deserved at least a point, for sure,” Jol said.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Wolverhampton Wanderers boosted their bid to avoid relegation with a crucial 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic at Molineux.
Mick McCarthy’s team started the day just three points ahead of bottom-of-the-table Wigan, but goals from Jamie O’Hara, David Edwards and Stephen Ward secured their third league win of the season.
While Wolves are looking up, Wigan, who had briefly been level thanks to Ben Watson’s equalizer, face a long battle to stay in the top flight after their eighth defeat in 11 league games and Wigan’s day got worse amid allegations that Latics defender Antolin Alcaraz spat at Wolves defender Richard Stearman in the 83rd minute.
Referee Lee Probert took no action, but, asked if he had been spat at, Stearman said: “Yes, but I’m not going to speak about it.”
Wolves boss McCarthy was furious about the incident.
“Spitting is taboo, if that’s what happened,” the Wolves boss said. “If it has been shown, that is unacceptable behavior and anyone here who was spat at would act accordingly.”
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez said: “I haven’t seen the replays yet. If that is the case, I’ll look into it and I’ll find out.”
Bolton Wanderers avenged last season’s traumatic FA Cup semi-final defeat with a 5-0 demolition of Stoke City at the Reebok Stadium.
Owen Coyle’s side remain in the bottom three despite the victory, but they are now only a single point from safety after two goals each from Chris Eagles and Ivan Klasnic and one from Kevin Davies secured their first home points of the season.
After losing eight of their last nine league games, and with memories of last season’s 5-0 loss to Stoke at Wembley still painfully fresh, it was a cathartic moment for Bolton and Coyle, who will hope their biggest-ever Premier League home win acts as a springboard to clamber out of trouble.
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