Sam Allardyce's men have often been criticised by the national media due to their direct and physical approach to games, but the contest against City was anything but as Jared Borgetti and Kevin Nolan scored two well worked first half goals to secure the three points.

It was a good overall team display by the Wanderers against a City side riding high following their Manchester derby win over rivals United just a few days ago and it was fair to say that home goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen had little to do throughout the game as the visiting forward line was not on song.

Forgotten man Ivan Campo was recalled to the Bolton starting eleven due to the suspension of Hidetoshi Nakata and the veteran Spaniard played very well in a midfield which also included good performances from Khalilou Fadiga and skipper Kevin Nolan.

Fadiga's participation in the action lasted only twenty minutes due to injury but it was clear to see that the African winger would have had much more of an impact on the game had fate not spelled his hasty departure.

City had the first clear shot on goal on three minutes but left winger Albert Riera saw his attempt blocked en-route to goal and the ball eventually went out for a corner. This was to be the nearest the Mancunians came to breaking the deadlock in the first half.

Around the quarter hour mark Campo's deep ball into the box from the right caused confusion with Citezens keeper David James flapping at the ball and almost handing Stelios Giannakopoulos the chance to open the scoring.

The England custodian had come to collect the cross with all good intentions but the presence of Bolton's Mexican forward Borgetti meant that the former Liverpool man was caught out in no mans land to therefore give the little Greek his chance but the City defenders spared the blushes of their goalkeeper as Richard Dunne hacked the ball away.

On 23 minutes Campo was again involved as his free kick was headed over at the near post by Kevin Davies who was once again operating in a wider role due to the inclusion of Borgetti in the first eleven.

Indeed it was Davies who paved the way for the deadlock to be broken on 37 minutes as his determination down the right let in Nolan who in turn dragged the ball back to Giannakopoulos who saw his moment of glory stolen by Borgetti who celebrated scoring his first Premiership goal in English football from close range.

The move for the goal was typical of what the Wanderers had tried to achieve throughout the half and whilst not littered with chances the game showed lots of passing and movement especially from the home side. This is a tactic which some quarters have felt has been lacking from the Reebok this season but the variation in play for the opener shows that Bolton are much more than just a one trick pony.

Five minutes before the break lively substitute Ricardo Vaz-Te hit an effort from a good 20-yards which looked goal bound all the way until James intervened at full stretch with a good save. Vaz-Te was at his most dangerous during the game when running at defenders and this attempt was a good indication of what he can do when at his best.

On 41 minutes the Bolton lead was doubled as Stelios Giannakopoulos left wing free kick was fired home by Nolan after the ball had bounced off City defender Dunne and into the path of the Wanderers captain.

Two minutes later Nolan could have had his second and the Wanderers third but James tipped the dipping shot over the crossbar at the last minute to deny the young midfielder from increasing his goal tally for the season.

Had the Nolan shot arrived on goal a mili second or so sooner then it was under no doubt that the Wanderers would have been well on their way to celebrating their second biggest Premiership win of the season.

The second half saw City try to force themselves back into the game but the double introcution of Robbie Fowler and Antoine Sibierski did little to improve things as the hard working Trevor Sinclair came closest to pulling a goal back with a header from a Joey Barton corner.

Blues defender Dunne incensed the Bolton crowd midway through the half as he appeared to thrust an elbow into the face of goalscorer Borgetti but referee Rob Styles took no decisive action against the Republic of Ireland international.

Bolton introduced Matt Jansen for the final ten minutes as the Reebok faithful rose to their feet in appreciation of Borgetti and in anticipation of seeing Jansen who was making his home debut following his recent move across Lancashire from Blackburn Rovers.

Maybe not the most action packed of games but Bolton performed to a high standard to get a good result on the board in the first of what will be three consecutive games held at the Reebok Stadium going into next month.

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben-Haim, Bruno N'Gotty, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Nolan, Ivan Campo, Khalilou Fadiga (Ricardo Vaz-Te, Nicky Hunt), Kevin Davies, Jared Borgetti (Matt Jansen), Stelios Giannakopoulos

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Jarostaw Fojut

Manchester City: David James, Sun Jihai, Richard Dunne, Sylvain Distin, Stephen Jordan, Trevor Sinclair, Stephen Ireland, Joey Barton, Albert Riera (Antoine Sibierski), Darius Vassell (Lee Croft), Andy Cole (Robbie Fowler)

Subs Not Used: Nedum Onuoha, Kiki Musampa

Attendance:

26,466

Referee:

Rob Styles

Booked:

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Sun Jihai (Manchester City)

Tal Ben-Haim (Bolton)

Trevor Sinclair (Manchester City)

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