League Cup : Home To Manchester City
Bolton Wanderers 0 – 1 Manchester
Ground: Reebok Stadium | Attendance: 15,510 | Referee: Howard Webb
- [86] Elano (penalty) – Man City
Another night of disappointment for Bolton Wanderers as they are cruelly knocked out of the League Cup.
As Joey O’Brien limped off less than ten minutes before half-time no-one would have predicted that his replacement would be the reason for Bolton’s defeat in an important match that could have given The Wanderers some form of success in a season that has been tainted with misery.
Part of the misery is the fact that Joey O’Brien has so far missed much of this season due to injury and what looked like a hamstring problem could mean that the useful Irish lad could be out for six weeks.
Slovakia international Lubomir Michalik had referee Howard Webb pointing to the Bolton penalty spot after a brief consolation with the linesman. Michalik was thought to have handled the ball in the area enabling Brazilian Blumer Elano to take the local rivals ahead after the closely matched teams failed to turn their chances into goals.
Either side could have taken the lead late in the first half. City’s Michael Johnson shot from an acute angle sailed past Jaaskelainen and Danny Guthrie fired from distance for Bolton but his spectacular 25 yard effort skimmed past the post as half-time approached.
Guthrie also created a chance for Meite with a neat chip into the box but watched as Abdoulaye’s header also missed by a tiny margin in the last seconds of the first half.
Meite was called into action again early in the second half – this time defending well and making sure that Elano and Samaras failed to combine successfully.
On the hour City stepped up the pace and Samaras and Elano made another attempt but Elano could not keep up with his team-mate’s overhit through ball.
Vassell, who had replaced Garrido just before an hour of play, failed to test Jussi after a speedy and threatening run into the area. However, at the other end City’s goalkeeper, Andreas Isaksson, was tested by Greek star Stelios Giannakopoulos a few minutes later who forced a super save with a low shot.
Overall the second half was much more entertaining. Elano’s free-kick hitting the wall amused the home fans while Guthrie’s second attempt at goal agonised as it flew over the bar.
The aforementioned penalty spoilt the match for the home fans but sent a third of the spectators into rapturous celebration. Although late in the game Elano’s penalty goal did not kill off Bolton’s determination.
A free-kick was awarded to Bolton which El-Hadji Diouf took only to hit the crossbar with his decent effort. Bolton’s last chance to take the game into extra time was down to Gavin McCann whose header was cleared off the line by Michael Ball, much to the delight of the travelling fans.
Manchester City go through to the last 8 but Bolton should not be disheartened by their performance.
