Wanderers had hoped to prove victorious in their first home game of the new campaign but they where left to rue a number of missed first half chances which Everton eventually capitalised on.

The game initially started at a slow pace with the home side having the majority of the possession, however neither side could create anything clear cut within the first quarter of an hour

Bolton's Henrik Pedersen had the first clear cut chance of the game when he hooked a Kevin Davies flick on over the crossbar on 19 minutes. The Dane was starting his second consecutive match in preference to Stelios Giannakopoulos who has been the subject of hefty transfer talk in recent weeks

Six minutes later defender Radhi Jaidi saw his powerful header cleared off the line thanks to a culmination of Nigel Martyn's goalkeeping and Tony Hibbert's alertness. Had the effort crossed the line then Jaidi would have scored in consecutive games against the Merseysiders

Everton struggled to force a clear attack but the aeriel presence of Duncan Ferguson was as usual proving to be a handful for the Bolton defenders Jaidi and Tal Ben-Haim

Just after the half hour mark Italian full back Alessandro Pistone was stretchered off for Everton with a knee injury following his mistimed challenge on the Bolton player Pedersen. Pistone was immediately replaced by substitute Leon Osman and ex-Manchester United player Phil Neville moved from central midfield into defence.

Sam Allardyce's Wanderers then missed two chances to go in front shortly before half-time. Ex-Everton captain Gary Speed headed a Diouf corner over Martyn's crossbar whilst fellow midfielder Kevin Nolan fired just past the keeper's right post following a trademark Okocha throw-in. The interval saw the game goalless, but Bolton will rue not having taken at least one of the chances that fell to them.

The closing half began in a similar fashion to the first period as neither Kevin Davies nor Kevin Nolan could test Martyn. For Nolan in particular a goal would have been the perfect reward for an excellent turn to create the initial chance

The Merseysiders then took the lead against the run of play through Bent. A long ball was hoisted into the box towards Ferguson and the big Scot found Tim Cahill coming in from the left and he squared the ball back for the much-travelled Bent to give the Toffees the lead

Bent was later to leave the field of play himself after picking up a knock in a footrace with Ricardo Gardner. The ex-Blackburn Rovers player was replaced by the versitile James McFadden

Everton's advantage had deflated the Wanderers slightly as they became less fluent and a tad bit edgy, fortunately for them the Toffees where unable to increase the lead

On the hour Kevin Nolan wasted a good chance from the edge of the box after Okocha's free kick was only half cleared by the Everton defenders who had matched the Trotters aeriel ability

A number of changes where made by the Wanderers management in the last 20 minutes of the game as Stelios Giannakopoulos, Ivan Campo and Ricardo Vaz-Te all entered the fray in place of Henrik Pedersen, Nicky Hunt and Tal Ben-Haim

Indeed this proved to be a breath of fresh air for a below par second half Bolton side as Vaz-Te exploded down the right to fire in a low shot which was to test the veteran goalkeeper Martyn

The final clear cut shot of the game deserved a goal as Bolton's former Liverpool striker El-Hadji Diouf smashed in a shot which cannonned of the underside of the crossbar following excellent play by substitute Campo who was once again deployed as a right back following Hunt's withdrawal.

It's still early in the season so no one needs to panic just yet, this game wasn't the type of end to end game we saw between the two sides last season and unfortunately for Bolton the scoreline did not represent the balance of play. However, David Moyes will be delighted at the fact that the Toffees have got last weekends defeat to Manchester United out of their system

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (Ivan Campo), Tal Ben-Haim (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Radhi Jaidi, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Nolan, Jay-Jay Okocha, Gary Speed, El-Hadji Diouf, Kevin Davies, Henrik Pedersen (Stelios Giannakopoulos)

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye

Everton: Nigel Martyn, Tony Hibbert, Joseph Yobo, David Weir, Alessandro Pistone (Leon Osman), Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, Kevin Kilbane, Duncan Ferguson, Marcus Bent (James McFadden)

Subs Not Used: Richard Wright, Simon Davies, James Vaughan

Referee:

Alan Wiley

Attendance:

25,608

Booked:

Kilbane (Everton)

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