Bolton Wanderers vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.
University of Bolton StadiumAttendance18,178.
Saturday 24 October 2015 20:02, UK
Steve Evans is still unbeaten as Leeds boss after Mirco Antenucci's penalty denied Shola Ameobi a match-winning debut for Bolton.
Saturday's Sky Bet Championship clash at the Macron Stadium ended 1-1, but Evans may have wanted all three points in his second outing after rock-bottom Wanderers played the last 19 minutes with 10 men due to Prince-Desire Gouano's red card.
Ex-Newcastle striker Ameobi's first goal in 530 days had earlier handed Neil Lennon's basement boys a 32nd-minute lead, but Bolton, with only one win in their first 13 games, could not hang on to lift themselves off bottom.
Bolton suffered an early setback after 11 minutes when striker Gary Madine left the field with suspected concussion following an innocuous looking clash with Liam Cooper.
That brought a sooner than anticipated debut for Ameobi.
He was preferred to Emile Heskey as a replacement off the bench, getting his first game time since playing for Crystal Palace against Stoke on March 21.
Five minutes later, Leeds almost made the breakthrough. Cooper flicked on Luke Murphy's corner and Tom Adeyemi sidefooted against a post from eight yards.
Wanderers carved out a chance of their own after 20 minutes. Referee Simon Hooper played a good advantage and skipper Darren Pratley slid in Liam Feeney, whose angled left foot drive skidded just wide of Marco Silvestri's goal.
And it was Bolton who took the lead after winning a cheap corner on the half hour when Silvestri flapped at Feeney's cross.
From Jose Casado's flag kick, the ball broke to Ameobi who fired low and hard from 12 yards to stun Leeds fans massed behind Silvestri's goal. It was his first goal since netting in a 3-0 win for Newcastle over Cardiff on May 3, 2014.
Ameobi then turned provider with a pinpoint through ball for Feeney, whose first time effort was blocked by the Leeds keeper on the penalty spot.
Sam Byram's crude 37th minute challenge on Pratley might have merited more than his eventual yellow card, but Leeds' luck was out again just before the break.
Poor defending allowed an unmarked Chris Wood a great opportunity from 10 yards only for Ben Amos to produce his only save of note in the opening period.
Stephen Dobbie replaced Mark Davies at half-time for Wanderers while Murphy made way for Alex Mowatt as the visitors, backed by 4,419 fans in a crowd of 18,178, looked to get back on level terms.
Dobbie was almost played in by Ameobi's 40-metre cross-field pass as Wanderers sought to increase their advantage.
And the precarious nature of that lead was underlined when, after 56 minutes, Adeyemi hit the post for a second time with a left-foot effort. Leeds were now dominating possession and Ameobi, after his long spell out of the game, visibly tiring.
Amos did well to deflect Antenucci's cross away for a corner as the pressure intensified. So, it was against the run of play when Dobbie curled a low shot palmed away by Silvestri.
Then came the tuning point as Prince slipped to allow Antenucci a run on goal. Attempting to recover his error, he brought down the Italian as he broke into the area.
Hooper adjudged Prince last man and sent off the Frenchman before Antenucci converted the spot kick for his fourth goal of the campaign. Leeds had two late penalty shouts for handball turned down to finish with a second successive 1-1 draw to start Evans' reign.
Bolton boss Neil Lennon:
"I'd like to offer [Shola Ameobi] a long-term contract and if that's the case it means he is doing pretty well for us. I hope he will play a consistent run of games and make us better. He had a fantastic game. I am disappointed we didn't win the game because an individual error costs us three points. I have no complaints with the sending off or the penalty. Their keeper makes a great save to stop it going 2-0 and two passes later we gave away a penalty and lost a man."
Leeds boss Steve Evans:
"It was a game we dominated for long spells, missed chances at key stages, and then like Fulham, gave a silly goal away. I was disappointed too with the final ball in the final third of the pitch, especially in the last 10 or 15 minutes when they had 10 men. We got good fortune with the boy (Prince) slipping and when we get through to win the penalty. We were unfortunate not to get a second penalty."
