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Controversial draw for Leicester, Bolton
A blunder from Leicester keeper gifted Bolton Wanderers a point and Leicester drew with Bolton 1-1.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:05 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Leicester:
The sign proclaimed 'Foxes never quit' as Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers took the field at the Walker's Stadium and if anyone embodied that spirit on Tuesday night then it was the evergreen 37-year-old Les Ferdinand. The former England international striker led Leicester's line brilliantly as they fought to get out of the Premier League relegation zone. When Ian Walker's long punt forward was chested down by Ferdinand, Ricardo Scimeca's first-time cross was met by the striker once more with a fierce header which Jusski Jaaskelainen parried before Ferdinand fired the loose ball into the net. One-nil to Leicester and the replay proved that Ferdinand's initial header was also over the goalline. Then the controversies began. Bolton's tactic at free-kicks - placing players in a 'passive' position before the ball becomes 'active' - took advantage of the change in rules but two Bolton players were 'interfering with play' as they lay in offside positions on both occasions as Youri Djorkaeff struck the ball. However, the visitors exploited this change in interpretation, a tactic that saw Kevin Nolan hit the post from the first Djorkaeff free-kick. Disaster then struck for Walker after 31 minutes as he allowed Kevin Davies's shot to somehow squirm between his legs and over the line for an equaliser from another Djorkaeff free-kick. But replays showed once more that Nolan had retreated again from an offside position across Walker's eyeline before Djorkaeff had struck the ball and Davies had advanced into the six-yard box. Leicester nearly regained the lead after 38 minutes when Steve Guppy's cross was headed on by Ferdinand and skipper Dickov volleyed home but the goal was this time ruled out for offside. The second half was always going to be a sideshow after that and the nearest anyone came to a winner was when Guppy played in Dickov and his shot was well saved by Jaaskelainen after 65 minutes. Leicester remain third from bottom after this controversial one-all draw while Bolton climb to eighth but the headlines on Tuesday night concerned this 'new' interpretation of the offside rule. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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