Tottenham Hotspur's Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar fires home his team's first goal past Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen yesterday.
Tottenham Hotspur's Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar fires home his team's first goal past Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen yesterday.

Davies gives Capello a nudge



Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, watched his side fail to end their miserable run at the Reebok Stadium and miss out on second place in the Premier League table. But their character in twice coming back from behind showed why he is happy to be part of the London club. On Friday, he had to fend off speculation about his future, denying rumours that he would be returning to take charge of Portsmouth again.

Yesterday, he saw his high-flying side fail to sparkle, but battle for a much-needed point. The Croatian pair of Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka, with their first goals for Spurs, gave them a point at a ground where they have never won, going into the match without a victory there in nine attempts. It could have been worse for Redknapp, with Bolton, and particularly their captain Kevin Davies, deserving greater reward.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, who was in the directors' box possibly checking on the credentials of Bolton's much coveted centre back Gary Cayhill among others, looked on intrigued. He might not have Davies in his plans for the World Cup next year, but maybe he should. There is no doubting the frontman's ability to trouble the best defences. His work-rate is commendable and his bravery unquestionable.

The way he launched himself to head home Tamir Cohen's left-wing cross from a tight angle in the 69th minute - despite a chance of colliding with a post - was testament to that. At the other end there was Peter Crouch, who is desperately trying to keep himself in contention for club and country. He had an immediate chance to make his own impression after the Davies goal, but Jussi Jaaskelainen blocked his six-yard effort on to the bar after the Bolton keeper had spilled a shot from Jermain Defoe.

Crouch despaired, but Corluka spared him with the second equaliser in the 73rd minute, heading in a Krancjar corner. It ended an engaging encounter with both defences enduring a battering. There is little surprise that Bolton's recent good form - unbeaten now in five games - has coincided with the return of Ricardo Gardner. A hamstring injury left him on the sidelines at the start of the campaign and his dashing and daring play was badly missed.

But it is no longer on the left wing that the Jamaican's creativity is providing a source of danger. An attacking midfielder, he revels in space afforded to him, as Spurs found to their cost in only the fourth minute. A long throw by Fabrice Muamba caused problems and it was Gardner who headed on for Chung-Yong Lee in space. His instinctive shot was pushed out by the Tottenham goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini into the path of Gardner who calmly slotted in the rebound for his first goal since April.

It was poor defence from Tottenham, clearly not aware of the fact that all eight of Bolton's previous goals had come from set-piece plays. Gardner then turned provider, cutting in from the right and threading in a pass for the energetic Cohen. He swept by a static Sebastien Bassong, but failed to get a proper connection and Cudicini spread himself well to block. Feeling lucky, Gardner then had two efforts from distance, one drifting wide and Tom Huddlestone's knee timely stopping one that was heading goalbound.

Bolton were dominant, but there is a bit more fight in this Spurs side under Redknapp and they are not short of their own attacking threat, restoring parity in the 34th minute. It was simple, direct and so effective. Wilson Palacios sent over a long ball looking for the head of Crouch. He did not disappoint, nodding down into the path of Kranjcar to finish on the half-volley. The visitors did not allow Bolton to dictate as much in the second half.

An aerial battle ensued with Davies and Crouch playing key roles at both ends. The Bolton striker edged it with the goal and will be hoping Capello took note. @Email:akhan@thenational.ae

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Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
What is graphene?

Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.

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It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.

It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.

Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

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