Toffees come unstuck at Bolton

A late Ivan Klasnic strike sealed a win for Bolton in a frantic North West derby against Everton.

Trotters leapfrog Toffees after five-goal thriller

A late Ivan Klasnic strike sealed a win for Bolton in a frantic North West derby against Everton at the Reebok Stadium. Gary Megson's side heaped more woe on the Toffees after their 5-0 demolition at the hands of Benfica in midweek, despite Everton coming from two goals down to equalise in the second half. South Korean midfielder Lee Chung-Yong opened the scoring on 16 minutes, half-volleying past Tim Howard after Sam Ricketts had pulled the ball across goal from the right. Gary Cahill then doubled the lead with a header from a Matthew Taylor free-kick, before Everton striker Louis Saha pulled one back for the away side with a superb shot into the roof of the net from outside the area. Marouane Fellaini struck a fierce equaliser for the Toffees 10 minutes after the break, before substitute Klasnic, who was out cold minutes before, latched onto a Kevin Davies flick-on and smashed the ball low into the net. John Heitinga and Lucas Neill returned to the Everton defence after being cup-tied for the Europa League fixture Thursday, and with Ayegbeni Yakubu ruled out, Saha came back into the starting line-up to play up front with Jo. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who scored his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw against Wolves last week, did not make the squad after injuring his calf in Lisbon, while youngster Seamus Coleman dropped to the bench. The 2-1 defeat to Manchester United had been Bolton's first for six matches and the hosts looked set to continue their good run in the opening stages, making a positive start to the game. Jlloyd Samuel floated a cross in for an unmarked Tamir Cohen in the third minute, but the Israeli sent his header across goal and two minutes later Kevin Davies connected with a delightful free-kick from Matt Taylor, only for the captain to direct his header down into the turf, the ball bouncing up over Tim Howard's goal.

Reaction

Everton attempted to hit back but Jo lost his footing on the edge of the box and shot tamely at Jussi Jaaskelainen before sending a glancing header wide from a corner. With 17 minutes on the clock, it was Bolton who made a deserved breakthrough, Sam Ricketts beating Tony Hibbert on the right and sending a bouncing ball across the box which evaded the Everton defence and found Lee, who coolly slotted past Howard. Again Everton attempted to rally but the visitors were showing little conviction in front of goal and Bolton doubled their lead on 27 minutes. Taylor sent in another wonderful delivery from a free-kick on the left and centre-back Cahill rose tallest from a crowd of players in the area to loft the ball over Howard. Everton looked like they might crumble completely, yet within five minutes, they had found a response out of nowhere. There appeared to be little on when Neill found Saha in space midway into the Bolton half, but the Frenchman caught the entire ground by surprise as he advanced a few yards before rifling the ball into the top corner to put the Toffees back in the match. Everton finished the first half the stronger side and having emerged for the second looking similarly purposeful, drew level within 10 minutes of the restart.

Equaliser

Neill was the provider once again, lofting the ball towards the Bolton box where Fellaini brought it down, turned Cahill and then smashed it into the roof of the net from a tight angle. Suddenly Everton were in the ascendancy and as Bolton's passing game broke down, their frustration became apparent, with Cahill and then Samuel both booked for rash tackles in quick succession. David Moyes' side looked like they might win it with 15 minutes to go when Dan Gosling broke clear, but he ran out of steam before getting a shot away and, having survived that scare, Bolton managed to regain their composure. Davies wasted a glorious opportunity from six yards after misdirecting a header from Lee's inswinging corner, but Wanderers' tails were up and it was the substitute Klasnic who had the final say with just three minutes remaining. Jaaskelainen hit a long ball straight into the Everton box and when Davies managed to head it down for Klasnic, the Croatian made no mistake, drilling it past Howard to notch his first goal in English football and Bolton's first home league victory of the campaign.

Bolton Wanderers	Team Statistics	Everton
3	Goals	2
2	1st Half Goals	1
5	Shots on Target	5
5	Shots off Target	7
3	Blocked Shots	6
4	Corners	4
15	Fouls	16
2	Offsides	2
3	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
63	Passing Success	75.6
18	Tackles	13
66.7	Tackles Success	76.9
41.6	Possession	58.4
55	Territorial Advantage	45