Villa deny Megson debut win

Luke Moore's second half goal denied Gary Megson a winning start as Bolton manager as Aston Villa earned a 1-1 draw at The Reebok.

Luke Moore's second half goal denied Gary Megson a winning start as Bolton manager as Aston Villa earned a 1-1 draw at The Reebok. Nicolas Anelka gave Bolton the ideal start with the opener on 22 minutes with a superb free kick from the edge of the box. Moore came off the bench in the second half to draw Villa level on 57 minutes when he diverted Gabriel Agbonlahor's shot in off his chest. The point helps lift Bolton off the bottom of the table on goal difference, while Villa climb up to ninth spot. With only one victory in 11 games these are desperate times but at least they have a player in Anelka, who can change the face of a game in an instant. The France striker delivered a marvellous free-kick from the edge of the area in the 21st minute and although Stuart Taylor got a hand to the ball he could not prevent it going into the net. Anelka almost added a second goal in the 27th minute when El-Hadji Diouf played the ball into his path. Instead of shooting first time, Anelka took a touch and tried to curl his effort beyond Taylor but it went narrowly wide of the post. Villa came out of their shell a minute before the break when Shaun Maloney cut inside the penalty area and cracked in a shot. It was spilled by goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen but Bolton managed to scramble the ball away. Villa boss Martin O'Neill decided to shake things up at the start of the second bringing on Patrik Berger and Moore for Isaiah Osbourne and Maloney. However Martin Laursen put Taylor under pressure in the 54th minute with a careless back pass. Anelka quickly moved into position but the goalkeeper was alert enough to make the block. Villa drew level in the 56th minute when Moore chested the ball in at the near post after Agbonlahor had played it in. It was an instinctive effort, Moore getting just ahead of Joey O'Brien to equalise. Anelka then set up Kevin Nolan in the six-yard area but the skipper scuffed his effort wide of the target. Bolton should have regained the lead in the 84th minute following a scuffed clearance from Gareth Barry. Ricardo Gardner latched onto it and his effort was spilled by Taylor. However Diouf only succeeded in clearing the bar with his effort.

Bolton Wanderers	Team Statistics	Aston Villa
1	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	3
9	Shots off Target	6
4	Blocked Shots	1
7	Corners	3
18	Fouls	14
2	Offsides	0
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
66.2	Passing Success	70.3
26	Tackles	25
73.1	Tackles Success	76
49	Possession	51
50.7	Territorial Advantage	49.3