It has been quite an action packed week for the Wanderers with events on and off the pitch taking centre stage but they where brought back down to earth with a bump at The Valley this afternoon in a game which saw El-Hadji Diouf miss a penalty and Kevin Davies red carded.

Bolton last lost a game in South East London nearly seven years ago and they where looking to extend their impressive sequence of five games unbeaten at that particular venue but it wasn't to be.

New Wanderers signing Nicolas Anelka could only watch from the sidelines as England striker Bent scored twice in twenty mad minutes to give Charlton their first maximum points of the new season.

Bolton showed good attacking intentions early on and this was evident as early as the third minute when the recalled Stelios Giannakopoulos set up fellow forward El-Hadji Diouf with a volley.

Giannakopoulos himself then spurned two good chances to give the visitors the lead. The first shot didn't have enough accuracy on it to sufficiently trouble Charlton keeper Scott Carson and the second was cleared away to safety after he took too long when put in a good position by Ivan Campo's superb pass.

Moments earlier Addicks striker Bent had beaten his marker Henrik Pedersen to the ball but the resulting shot was cleared out of play for the first corner kick of the game.

Kevin Davies had a chance to add to his goal tally for the season on 14 minutes but his header from a weak Hermann Hreidarsson clearance was gathered easily by keeper Carson.

Three minutes later Charlton had the ball in the net for what they thought was the opening goal but the referee's assistant ruled that the effort from Darren Ambrose was offside.

Gary Speed and Diouf combined well down the left flank for Bolton to set up Giannakopoulos just before the half hour mark but the Greek international misdirected his header the wrong side of Carson's post.

The games first major talking point came on 27 minutes when much travelled Icelandic defender Hreidarsson appeared to fling an elbow into the face of Davies. Match referee Mike Dean had no other option but to issue a straight red card to the former Ipswich Town player for dangerous play.

Wanderers hoped that their numerical advantage would pay off and fourteen minutes before the break Carson's goal was once again tested as Davies attempted an acrobatic shot.

Addicks manager Iain Dowie brought on the dependable Radostin Kishishev for Darren Ambrose in an attempt to block off the Wanderers attacks and for the remainder of the first half things began to settle down for the home team.

Midfielder Bryan Hughes tried a shot from distance in an bid to give Charlton the lead but Jaaskelainen was alert enough to keep out the attempt which appeared to swerve on its way to goal.

A minute after the re-start a free kick from Charlton debutant Andy Reid was headed wide of the Bolton goal by the experienced Moroccan defender Talal El-Karkouri.

On 57 minutes the Wanderers had a glorious chance to take the lead after Diouf appeared to be felled in the area by Djimi Traore but the Senegal star could not repeat his antics at Fulham as Carson saved the resulting spot kick.

This proved costly for the Wanderers as eight minutes later Charlton took the lead through Darren Bent's penalty. The striker went down in the box following a challenge from Tal Ben-Haim and despatched the resulting kick past Jaaskelainen to open the scoring.

A few minutes later referee Dean reached for his cards again after Wanderers striker Davies appeared to have elbowed Addicks midfielder Amady Faye. Again, like with the Hreidarsson sending off earlier in the game the Wirrall official had no option but the produce a red card.

Bolton then made a couple of changes in an attempt to get themselves back on level terms. Adboulaye Faye came into the play in place of makeshift left back Pedersen and Idal Tal was given his Trotters debut when replacing Nicky Hunt in a tactical switch.

There was to be no comeback however as with just five minutes to play Bent scored his second of the game to win the contest for Charlton. The front man used his pace to get past Wanderers defender Abdoulaye Meite and fire the ball under Jaaskelainen.

Substitute Tal could have pulled a goal back for Bolton soonafter but the former Everton player was denied by Carson who pulled off yet another spectacular save to send the Trotters home without anything from the game.

The international break now dominates the football calendar over the next couple of weeks but the Wanderers will be looking to get something out of their next two games which are home fixtures against Watford and Middlesbrough at the start of September.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (Idan Tal), Abdoulaye Meite, Tal Ben-Haim, Henrik Pedersen (Abdoulaye Faye), Kevin Nolan, Ivan Campo, Gary Speed, El-Hadji Diouf, Kevin Davies, Stelios Giannakopoulos (Ricardo Vaz-Te)

Subs Not Used: Johann Smith, Ian Walker

Charlton Athletic: Scott Carson, Luke Young, Talal El-Karkouri, Hermann Hreidarsson, Djimi Traore, Darren Ambrose (Radostin Kishishev), Bryan Hughes, Amady Faye, Andy Reid (Matt Holland), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Marcus Bent), Darren Bent)

Subs Not Used: Dennis Rommedahl, Thomas Myhre

Referee:

Mike Dean

Attendance:

23,638

Booked:

El-Hadji Diouf (Bolton)

Amady Faye (Charlton)

Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton)

Tal Ben-Haim (Bolton)

Kevin Nolan (Bolton)

Sent Off

Hermann Hreidarsson (Charlton)

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

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