James Morrison cancelled out a Johan Elmander strike as West Brom and Bolton shared the spoils.
Goalscorer produces man of the match performance
A clinical James Morrison header cancelled out an earlier Johan Elmander strike to see West Brom and Bolton share the spoils at The Hawthorns.
The midfielder had looked dangerous all afternoon and got his just rewards for an impressive display when he connected with an inch-perfect Peter Odemwingie cross - despite a hint of offside during the build-up not being given.
That goal cancelled out an earlier Elmander finish after the Swede latched onto an expert lay-off from the experienced Kevin Davies in the second-half.
Before then both goalkeepers had very little to do with Gary Cahill failing to trouble Scott Carson in the first-half with an unmarked header.
Chris Brunt was superb throughout and very nearly got on the scoresheet, but his strike was parried away by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Martin Petrov and Odemwingie had similar chances to put their side in front but both saw their rushed efforts blaze wide with only the 'keeper to beat.
Both sides went into the contest looking to build upon impressive results from the previous weekend against two of the Premier League's top title contenders Manchester United and Arsenal, however neither side could make the breakthrough in a tightly-contested encounter.
It was the hosts who carved out the first opportunity with just two minutes gone when Brunt whipped in an inviting cross towards the far-post which just evaded the out-stretched boot of Morrison.
Davies had a chance to fire a header past Carson from a Lee Chung-Yong cross, however the forward failed to get any power behind it as the shot-stopped gathered comfortably.
Blazed over
Cahill came back into the side following the conclusion of his three-match ban and should have buried a header from a Petrov corner, but the England defender blazed over.
Brunt was looking busy all afternoon and drilled a shot and Jaaskelainen did well to punch it away after the effort took a slight deflection on the way through.
Baggies frontman Odemwingie provided a threat for Roberto Di Matteo's side with Zat Knight being troubled on many occasions with several fouls awarded against the centre-back as he tried to tame the tricky striker.
Odemwingie, the Premier League player of the month for September, worked a yard of space for himself when he turned on the edge of the area and drilled a low shot narrowly off target.
The Nigeria forward then had a header later in the half which he could not keep down and failed to add to his tally of three goals in five games in his debut season.
Brunt again tried his luck with a swerving strike that bounced off Jaaskelainnen. Elmander could then have supplied a goal-scoring opportunity for Davies but Jonas Olsson managed to nod away the danger.
Denied
Gretar Steinsson pulled away from his marker well to direct a header on goal but Carson caught the chance comfortably.
Bolton started the second half the likelier to open the scoring when Petrov forced a brilliant save from Carson and Cahill later saw his header cleared off the line by Nicky Shorey.
Carson also denied a Davies strike as Bolton piled on the pressure which paid off in the 64th minute.
A neat build-up led to Davies laying the ball into the path of Elmander, who broke into the box and finished to notch his fourth goal of the season.
Odemwingie had a great chance to equalise after pouncing on an error by Knight, however the 29-year-old dragged his shot wide.
But rather than dwell on his goalscoring chance the forward soon made amends when he seemed to come back from an offside position to loft in a wonderful cross for Morrison who showed good strength to head home and make it 1-1 with 12 minutes to go.
Moments later Odemwingie teed up another opportunity when he pulled the ball back to Brunt, but the midfielder was denied by a brilliant save from Jaaskelainen at the death.
Substitute Matthew Taylor saw his free-kick sail just over the bar and later flashed a strike across goal wide in a game with either side could have won.
| West Bromwich Albion |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 7 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 8 |
Corners |
4 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 73.5 |
Passing Success |
62.3 |
| 14 |
Tackles |
35 |
| 78.6 |
Tackles Success |
57.1 |
| 57.1 |
Possession |
42.9 |
| 51.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.9 |
|
