Stuart Holden's late goal earned 10-man Bolton a battling 2-1 win over Blackburn in their local derby.
Bolton climb into top six with derby win
Stuart Holden's late goal earned 10-man Bolton a battling 2-1 win over Blackburn in their local derby at the Reebok Stadium to send them back into the top six.
American midfielder Holden hit the winner two minutes from time just seconds after Blackburn substitute Mame Diouf had cancelled out Fabrice Muamba's opener for Bolton.
After a dour first half the game burst into life when Mark Davies was sent off for a second bookable offence after catching Blackburn midfielder Phil Jones with his elbow.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Bolton broke the deadlock on 65 minutes when Muamba cut inside Ryan Nelsen and drilled his shot low past Paul Robinson.
Blackburn looked to have salvaged a point when Jason Roberts fed Diouf inside the box and the on-loan Manchester United man lifted the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen on 87 minutes
But Holden had the last word when he volleyed home Kevin Davies' knock-down just a minute later to send the home fans into raptures.
It was a dramatic way for Coyle's men to bounce back after last week's disappointing loss at Manchester City, with Holden the only change in favour of Muamba, who started on the bench.
Rovers, on a high after their win over Wolves, fashioned the first chance in the opening minute with Roberts flicking a cross by El-Hadji Diouf just wide.
But Coyle's men soon grew into the occasion and began to look the better side, with Mark Davies drilling a low shot at Robinson and Morten Gamst Pedersen's cross almost finding Martin Olsson.
Petrov turned provider to fire in a superb low cross in the 10th minute, with the stretching Kevin Davies almost connecting on the edge of the six-yard box.
A mazy run from the impressive Petrov ended in a low shot the wrong side of Robinson's right-hand post in the 21st minute as Bolton continued to press.
An incisive through ball by Bolton defender Paul Robinson sent Johan Elmander tearing clear down the right flank only for him to be tripped by Jones, who was booked by referee Mark Clattenburg.
Improved
But Blackburn improved as the half went on. Roberts almost raced clear on to a Jones through ball after 34 minutes but was pulled down by Zat Knight, who was fortunate to escape with a booking.
Then Pedersen's dangerous free-kick was parried by Jussi Jaaskelainen into the path of Gael Givet, who miscued horribly off target from the corner of the six-yard box.
Tempers began to fray in a ragged start to the second half after Gary Cahill had seen a shot blocked at point-blank range and former England goalkeeper Robinson parried well from Holden.
Davies was issued a second yellow card by Clattenburg for his apparent elbow on Jones, then Martin Olsson and Elmander were booked in quick succession.
Rovers sought to exploit their extra man advantage with Christopher Samba's header booted off the line by Kevin Davies, and Givet firing the rebound high and wide.
Lead
Bolton grabbed the lead out of nowhere when substitute Muamba - with virtually his first touch of the match - finished superbly when afforded too much space on the right.
Rovers' push for an equaliser left space at the back and Kevin Davies almost capitalised when he directed a Petrov cross just wide in the 75th minute.
Rovers did grab their equaliser three minutes from time when a superb touch by Roberts played in Mame Biram Diouf to squirt a left-footed effort past Jaaskelainen.
But the home side grabbed the points straight after the restart when striker Davies headed a long ball into the path of Holden, who controlled superbly before lashing his winner past Robinson.
| Bolton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Blackburn Rovers |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
9 |
| 3 |
Corners |
10 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
16 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 62.7 |
Passing Success |
65.8 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
13 |
| 82.4 |
Tackles Success |
84.6 |
| 49.7 |
Possession |
50.3 |
| 46 |
Territorial Advantage |
54 |
|
