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Having secured Bolton Wanderers' place in this tie with a second-half winner at Wigan on Wednesday, his first goal since October, Klasnic supplied the crucial strike again to take Bolton into the last eight of the FA Cup for the first time in six years.

Klasnic was arrested in October after a 17 year-old alleged she had been raped in a Manchester city centre apartment but the striker discovered last week that he would face no charges.

Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager, admitted that the allegations had upset the 30 year-old. He said: “We were delighted to be told there was no case to answer, which we always knew. But the thing about it is in terms of his fan base in Germany and Croatia. A lot of people looked up to Ivan and it was horrible for them to read that. He has tried to deal with it with a smile on his face but there is no doubting from a family perspective he felt that they were hurt more than anything. Hopefully we can see the best of Ivan in the run in.”

Klasnic claimed the winner in the 19th minute and while there was no denying Bolton their victory, the game was not helped by erratic refereeing from Stuart Attwell.

The official failed to take action in the first half when Moussa Dembele appeared to be the target for some heavy challenges, and Fulham manager Mark Hughes said: “I felt there were situations where he was saying he was playing the advantage but in and around the opposition box you don’t want the advantage, you want free-kicks and set plays, which we didn’t seem to get.

“There were a couple of situations where you think the referee needs to make a positive decision and just waving your hands and saying 'play on’ can be a cop-out. You’ve got to be able to be strong enough to make decisions when they are needed.”

Hughes should have been equally unhappy with his players for squandering enough chances to have at least earned a draw.

Bobby Zamora’s return, off the bench, five months since he broke a leg against Wolves, appeared to strengthen Fulham but they could not break down a resolute defence which has now kept five clean sheets in the last six games.

Bolton were without the Cup-tied Daniel Sturridge but still dominated and before the goal Stuart Holden wasted a chance when Fulham failed to clear Fabrice Muamba’s attempt and the ball fell to Chung-Yong Lee. Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland could not clear his cross and Klasnic responded with his second goal in five days.

Shortly before the interval Fulham threatened when Clint Dempsey’s raking shot flew wide of the left post and Andy Johnson saw an offering blocked by the Bolton defence.

Bolton could have sewn the tie up in the 65th minute when they counter-attacked with Martin Petrov attempting to feed Kevin Davies but Chris Baird made a timely intervention. Before the end Dempsey went close to securing an equaliser and the American should have done better with a late header, from Danny Murphy’s corner, which sailed over the crossbar.

Labels: Bolton, character, Coyle, Klasnicaposs, Manager, salutes, striker, Telegraphcouk

Celtic manager Neil Lennon praised his side’s performance at Ibrox after their 2-2 draw with Rangers. The Hoops came from behind twice and had to deal with the dismissal of goalkeeper Fraser Foster.

In an action packed game, Rangers went ahead after just three minutes when Jamie Ness rifled in a shot from outside the box but Celtic bounced back with a Kris Commons equaliser. Foster then saw red for fouling Steven Naismith in the box and Steven Whittaker restored Rangers lead from the spot.

Celtic were a man down when Scott Brown scored in the 64th minute but Naismith was sent off in the 75th minute to level the numbers. Lennon’s side had the upper hand in the latter stages but, despite not finding a winner, the manager was delighted with his side’s efforts.

"I thought we were absolutely brilliant," said Lennon. "Every one of the players. We had to overcome a few setbacks but played with no fear and played the way we wanted them to play.

“They set their stall out in the second half and played wonderfully well. They showed a lot of character and belief, scored two goals and created lots of chances.

"We knew at half-time that Rangers would sit it in and try to counter-attack and that would be our only danger. At half-time I said to them that there was no point in playing well and losing and that people don't remember the losers in Old Firm games.

"We controlled the game even when they had the penalty we were the dominant side and to come here and control the game is very pleasing.

"The amount of chances we created and some of the football we played was top class."

The result sets up a replay at Parkhead and guarantees seven Old Firm games this season. Asked how he felt about another Glasgow derby, Lennon said: “Absolute torture!

"I think some times it can be over-egged a bit but it's just the way the fixtures have been brought on. These are the fixtures you want to play in if you are involved in the Old Firm. These are the games that define you.

"And I will take a helluva lot of pleasure by the way my team played. I am very proud of them.

"They were brave on the ball, brave in the tackle, worked tremendously hard and when were down to 10 men we were the better team."

Labels: Celticaposs, character, impressed, Lennon, stvtv