Bolton too much for Boro

A fine display from Bolton gave Gary Megson's side their third away win of the season at Middlesbrough.

Lively Bolton end Middlesbrough's five-game unbeaten run

A fine team display from Bolton Wanderers gave Gary Megson's side their third away win of the season at Middlesbrough. Goals from Gretar Steinsson and Matthew Taylor gave Bolton a thoroughly well-deserved 2-0 lead, although Emanuel Pogatetz's 77th-minute strike gave the hosts hope for the final 13 minutes. However the industrious Johan Elmander killed the game off less than 60 seconds after the restart to secure all three points for the visitors. Steinsson gave Bolton the lead after eight minutes, rising at the back post to head home Taylor's free-kick off the back of Kevin Davies' head and over Justin Hoyte and keeper Ross Turnball. Taylor doubled Bolton's lead two minutes later, latching on to Steinsson's cross and sending his strong right-footed finish in off Turnball's right upright. Boro reduced the deficit to 2-1 on 77 minutes when Pogatetz lashed home David Wheater's flick-on after Davies failed to clear Stewart Downing's corner. But Elmander wrapped things up just one minute later, chesting Jlloyd Samuel's cross from the left wing and dragging his shot past Turnball.

Record signing

Bolton's record signing Elmander finally showed a glimpse of the reason why Megson stumped up £10million for him in the summer with his stunning late strike. The Swede had been axed by his national team and endured countless votes of confidence from his manager after failing to hit the net since the opening day win over Stoke. But today Elmander provided the best possible answer to his critics when he chested down a Samuel cross in the 78th minute before lashing an unstoppable left-foot shot past Turnbull. The truth was Boro never deserved a thing from an afternoon in which they started appallingly and found themselves two goals down with just 10 minutes on the clock. Shell-shocked Boro had started like anything but a team in the midst of a confident unbeaten run and it could have been even worse with Gary Cahill glancing a header into the arms of Turnbull with seconds on the clock. Then Turnbull had to be wary of his flat-footed defenders to race out and deny a clean run for Kevin Nolan, who had been sent scampering through the Boro back-line by the lively Elmander.

Inevitable

By the eighth minute a goal for the visitors seemed inevitable and it came when Taylor floated a deep free-kick across goal for Steinsson to head into the net via a wicked deflection off Davies. Boro did not learn their lesson and two minutes later were further behind when Taylor found space in the box with a delightful twist past Gary O'Neil before lashing home a right-foot shot off Turnbull's far post. Rattled Boro belatedly rallied and were only denied a goal of their own two minutes later when O'Neil drilled a low shot through a crowded box only for Nolan to punt it clear off the line. Boro came close again in the 23rd minute when Afonso Alves scampered down the left flank and cut neatly inside Cahill only for his attempted cross into the box to be booted away by Samuel.

Frustration

But the match was predictably becoming a fractious affair with Bolton happy to keep what they had and Boro's frustration showing when Didier Digard was the second man booked for hacking down Davies. Boro looked better at the start of the second half and came close in the 48th minute when Tuncay helped on Justin Hoyte's deep cross only for Andy O'Brien to steer the ball out for a corner. The busy Tuncay was just squeezed out again in a similar fashion in the 56th minute and one minute later Bolton should have gone further ahead when Elmander sent Fabrice Muamba clear but he shot woefully wide from 12 yards. Bolton continued to be more than content to let Boro's blunt strike-force have most of the possession and sporadically threatened on the break, Taylor dipping a lob just over the bar in the 72nd minute. The game threatened to burst into life in the 75th minute when Bolton failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Pogatetz who lashed home a superb left-foot shot from the right side of the box. But just moments later Bolton replied with a stunning strike from Elmander, who chested down Samuel's pass and crashed in a left-foot drive of his own to effectively seal the win. There was still time for Tuncay to come agonisingly close to reducing the deficit again and for Cahill to boot another O'Neil effort off the line - but thanks to Elmander the points were safe.

Middlesbrough	Team Statistics	Bolton Wanderers
1	Goals	3
0	1st Half Goals	2
6	Shots on Target	5
14	Shots off Target	6
5	Blocked Shots	2
8	Corners	0
11	Fouls	17
5	Offsides	3
2	Yellow Cards	5
0	Red Cards	0
85	Passing Success	65.8
8	Tackles	24
100	Tackles Success	70.8
69.5	Possession	30.5
52.4	Territorial Advantage	47.6