Bolton Wanderers vs Derby County. Sky Bet Championship.
University of Bolton StadiumAttendance14,096.
Craig Noone is on target as Bolton end winless run.
Sunday 30 September 2018 17:33, UK
Bolton ended a run of five Sky Bet Championship games without a win as they denied Derby the chance to move up to fourth in the table with a 1-0 victory at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Frank Lampard's side dumped Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup earlier in the week with a dramatic penalty shootout win at Old Trafford but they were frustrated by a battling display from Wanderers.
Derby came into this game with just one defeat in their last eight games in all competitions but they struggled to create many clear opportunities despite dominating possession.
A 10th-minute goal from Craig Noone proved to be the winner for Bolton as he headed home a Will Buckley cross from a tight angle.
Moments earlier, Derby had a lucky escape when a poorly judged backpass by Craig Forsyth ended up with Buckley but he was unable to react in time and Fikayo Tomori was able to recover and clear the danger.
Despite enjoying plenty of possession, Derby were unable to create a clear chance. In the 20th minute, Harry Wilson lined up a free-kick from 30 yards out but he tamely fired straight into Bolton's defensive wall.
Bolton picked up two yellow cards in three minutes with Josh Magennis booked for a late challenge on Bradley Johnson and then Mason Bennett was fouled by Pawel Olkowski just outside the Wanderers penalty area.
Buckley had a 32nd-minute penalty appeal waved away by referee Scott Duncan after he appeared to be blocked by Jayden Bogle.
Derby's Johnson was booked two minutes before half-time for a heavy tackle on Erhun Oztumer and a third Wanderers player was yellow carded in stoppage time - Jason Lowe with a lunge on Wilson.
Seconds before the half-time whistle, Oztumer was narrowly wide with an ambitious snap shot from just outside the box after a mix-up in the Rams defence.
Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson was hugely relieved to see the ball miss the inside of the post after he was left flat-footed.
Derby looked to up the pace in the second half but Bolton remained relatively untroubled at the back while offering a threat on the counter.
In the 56th minute, the Rams made a double substitution with Jack Marriott and Tom Lawrence replacing Mason Bennett and David Nugent respectively.
Within moments of coming on, Marriott shot wide from distance but the better chances continued to fall to Bolton.
Noone was narrowly wide with a first time shot then Carson had to get down quickly to save well from Buckley.
Bolton boss Phil Parkinson made a double change with 16 minutes remaining - Christian Doidge replaced Magennis and Noone made way for Gary O'Neil.
Lampard made his final change moments later when Martyn Waghorn came on for Wilson.
There was a standing ovation for the busy Oztumer when he was replaced by Josh Vela with four minutes remaining.
Having been relatively untroubled for much of the game Matthews, who was a late replacement for the injured Ben Alnwick, made a superb close save from Mason Mount in the last minute of normal time to secure all three points for Bolton.
Bolton assistant manager Steve Parkin: "It was an outstanding display against an outstanding team. I have been to watch Derby a couple of times over the last four weeks and I think Frank's got a fine balance of experience and youth.
"We knew they had some extremely gifted players and we knew we'd have to be at our best and I think we probably were. The goal helped settle everyone given our home form has not been fantastic. The spirit, drive and concentration of the team to do the job that we set out to do was impeccable."
Frank Lampard: "It is very frustrating to lose after good performances in the last two or three games. We did not show enough creativity. We weren't at it with our passing and we weren't crisp enough to get into the area we normally get into.
"When you concede early against a team that will defend well as they did it makes the afternoon difficult. We have come back in games a few times this season, but you can't keep doing that. It is something we said to the players beforehand."
