Bolton Wanderers moved off the foot of the Premier League table following a dramatic 3-1 away victory over Wigan Athletic.
The Trotters defeated Wigan 3-1 at DW Stadium
Bolton Wanderers moved off the foot of the Premier League table following a dramatic 3-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors broke the deadlock after just four minutes through Nigel Reo-Coker, but the Latics equalised on 40 minutes when Mohamed Diame found the target with a brilliant curling effort.
However, Wigan's hopes of a home win were short-lived as Bolton restored their lead on the stroke of half-time through David Ngog, and although Kevin Davies went on to miss from the penalty spot in the second half and Victor Moses hit the crossbar, Chris Eagles' injury-time strike sealed the points for the Trotters.
First-half action
Wigan never recovered from a fine start by Bolton, with Owen Coyle's men getting a dream start in the fourth minute when Eagles crossed for Reo-Coker to prod home from close range.
Bolton's storming start continued with Darren Pratley finding room in the box and firing a curling shot which was well saved by former Trotters goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.
Roberto Martinez's men gradually started to claw their way back into the game, but it was still the visitors who had the clear-cut chances with N'Gog coming close.
The home side were having to rely on set-pieces and Ben Watson came close to an unlikely equaliser on the half-hour when his dipping corner almost eluded Jussi Jaaskelainen.
But when Wigan's big chance came it was brilliantly executed by Diame, who unleashed a curling right-foot shot from outside the box which blazed past Jaaskelainen on 40 minutes.
But Bolton went back in front in first-half injury-time when Davies dispossessed Steve Gohouri and fed Ngog, who shot home low to Al Habsi's right.
Second-half frenzy
Martinez threw on Hugo Rodallega at half-time after a month out with a knee injury but Bolton had the first chance of the second period when Martin Petrov forced a save from Al Habsi.
Emmerson Boyce shot into the side netting from a tight angle before Rodallega blasted his first effort which was blocked at close quarters by Wheater.
Rodallega came close in the 53rd minute when Moses fed him at the second attempt from the right and the striker's bobbling shot was gathered well by Jaaskelainen.
Wigan's forward moves were becoming more urgent, with Moses cutting inside and clattering a low shot off the legs of Paul Robinson before narrowly missing the resulting Boyce corner.
Moses won a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the box in the 67th minute after a foul by Dedryck Boyata, but Rodallega spooned his set-piece over the bar.
Boyata should have made the points certain for Bolton in the 70th minute when he met a Petrov free-kick with a low header at point-blank range but diverted it wide.
And moments later Al Habsi was almost guilty of a horrendous blunder when he spilled a harmless shot from Eagles out for a corner.
From the set-piece Caldwell was judged to have hauled down Boyata, but Al Habsi redeemed himself with a brilliant save from Davies, and Boyata blazed the rebound over.
Moses then struck the Bolton crossbar from an acute angle, but the visitors wrapped up victory in injury-time when Eagles seized on a mistake by Antolin Alcaraz to cut inside the Wigan box and drill a low shot past Al Habsi.
| Wigan Athletic |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 1 |
Goals |
3 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
10 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
17 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 4 |
Yellow Cards |
4 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.2 |
Passing Success |
71 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
33 |
| 72.7 |
Tackles Success |
69.7 |
| 54 |
Possession |
46 |
| 47.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.3 |
| 445 |
Total Passes |
372 |
|
