Skipper Kevin Nolan had fired Bolton into a twelvth minute lead but some late Arsenal pressure ensured that Sam Allardyce's side drew their third game in quick succession.

Bolton welcomed back Abdoulaye Faye into the fold and it proved to be an eventful and hostile afternoon for the Senegalese international who was constantly jeered by the Arsenal crowd following a two footed challenge on Jose Antonio Reyes.

The visitors came out of the blocks the quickest as Gunners keeper Jens Lehmann saved well from Nolan in the opening minutes of the game with the resulting corner from Stelios Giannakopoulos headed against the crossbar by the experienced Bruno N'Gotty.

Arsenal's inexperienced defence looked dis-jointed and the Wanderers looked to exploit the fact that the likes of Sol Campbell, Lauren, Ashley Cole and Kolo Toure where missing from the line up.

Swedish youngster Sebastian Larsson was moved to left-back despite the fact that he normally plays as a midfielder leaving Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou at the heart of the home defence.

Bolton took a deserved lead in the twelve minute when Nolan flicked the ball over Lehmann following some good work in the build up by Hidetoshi Nakata, Matt Jansen and Ricardo Gardner.

The Wanderers captain could have doubled his sides advantage ten minutes later when collecting Jansen's through ball but was denied by Arsenal's recent signing Abou Diaby.

Jansen himself had a chance to make it two for Bolton but the former Blackburn forward hesitated and was beaten to the ball by German custodian Lehmann in the Arsenal goal.

On the half hour came the game's major talking point as Faye challenged Reyes in a tackle which meant that the Arsenal attacker had to leave the field of play early on a stretcher.

Match referee Howard Webb saw fit to book the Wanderers midfielder despite some strong protests by the Arsenal faithful to send the African player off the field.

Only two weeks ago Gunners midfielder Abou Diaby had broken Ivan Campo's foot in an FA Cup meeting between these teams and tempers threatened to flare once Reyes had left the action.

Goalkeeper Lehmann flattened Bolton striker Jansen en-route to goal whilst the in-form Ricardo Gardner was needing treatment following a tangle with Arsenal midfielder Flamini.

Bolton where happy to go into the interval leading the game and Arsenal where asking all the questions of themselves but Arsene Wenger's half time team talk ensured that the hosts came out in the second half in better spirits.

The hard working Jansen's effort was comfortably saved by Lehmann but substitute Robert Pires gave the Wanderers a hard time down the flanks and was looking to add to his recent good scoring record against the Lancashire side.

On 58 minutes the French World Cup winner Pires fired in a superb free kick which looked goalbound but for the timely intervention of Bolton's goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

This was to be one of many occasions in the second period that the Finnish stopper kept a cool head to keep a tiring Bolton side in with a chance of preserving their early lead.

Both sides made changes with Arsenal bringing on veteran forward Dennis Bergkamp in place of novice defender Larsson in an attempt to salvage something from the contest.

This tactical switch was immediately counteracted by Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce who brought on Nicky Hunt in place of the barracked Faye. Joey O'Brien moved into a holding midfield role with England U21 player Hunt settling into his usual right back role.

With just over ten minutes to go Jaaskelainen was at full stretch to once again deny Pires and was in action soonafter to keep out another effort as Arsenal teenager Cesc Fabregas directed the ball goalwards.

The pressure from the home side came back to haunt Wanderers in the cruellest of circumstances as Gilberto Silva lashed the ball past the Bolton goalkeeper Jaaskelainen in the third minute of injury time.

Sam Allardyce's men take a break from league action for the next fortnight with key games in the FA Cup and UEFA Cup to follow, by which time the African contingent are likely to be back into the swing of things

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben-Haim, Bruno N'Gotty, Ricardo Gardner, Kevin Nolan, Abdoulaye Faye (Nicky Hunt), Hidetoshi Nakata, Matt Jansen (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Kevin Davies, Stelios Giannakopoulos (Jay-Jay Okocha)

Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Jared Borgetti

Arsenal: Jens Lehmann, Mathieu Flamini, Johann Djourou, Philippe Senderos, Sebastian Larsson (Dennis Bergkamp), Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby (Freddie Ljungberg), Gilberto Silva, Jose Antonio Reyes (Robert Pires), Emmanuel Adebayor, Thierry Henry

Subs Not Used: Manuel Almunia, Alex Song

Referee:

Howard Webb

Attendance:

38,193

Booked:

Gilberto Silva (Arsenal)

Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (Bolton)

Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes