Bolton snatched victory against Manchester City on Sunday after an injury time penalty from Gary Speed earned the Trotters a 1-0 win at the City of Manchester stadium.
Richard Dunne’s needless handball gifted Sam Allardyce’s men the chance to take the three points and send City, who hit the woodwork four times, reeling to their first defeat of the season.
A combination of goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and the woodwork kept Manchester City at bay for 90 minutes as Bolton rode their luck to move up to fourth in the table, leap-frogging their opponents and ending City’s 13-match unbeaten run in the Premiership.
Four times the Finnish keeper was beaten by rasping shots, only to be relieved when the frame of the goal came to his rescue.
Jaaskelainen played his part as well, making a number of crucial stops as his beleagured defenders chased shadows around the park.
Bolton were clearly suffering a hangover from their midweek UEFA Cup 2-1 victory against Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
City’s Antoine Sibierski was the first to be denied by the woodwork on the half hour as his header from the edge of the box beat Jaaskelainen but hit the frame of the goal and went behind for a goal kick.
Joey Barton was the next to be denied as he shot past the Finnish goalkeeper only to see his strike rebound to safety after striking the foot of the left-hand post three minutes into the second half.
Kiki Musampa then became the third player to be denied by the woodwork when his fierce left-footed drive from 18 yards also failed to squeeze in.
Jaaskelainen was doing his bit to keep the light blue tide at bay as he made world class saves from Dunne and Claudio Reyna in the second half.
There was still time for City to hit the bar again, this time through Sun Jihai in the last five minutes and Jasskelainen made another stunning save from Darius Vassell. – Sapa-AFP