
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.
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