FOOTBALL Live

Saturday August 16, 2008 Finished Reebok Stadium

Logo 3 - Logo 1

Bolton Wanderers

  • Steinsson 34’
  • Davies 41’
  • Elmander 45’

Stoke City

  • Fuller 90’
  1. Bolton punish naive Stoke

    Bolton punish naive Stoke

    Bolton Wanderers gave Stoke City a tough introduction to life in the Premier League, beating them 3-1 at the Reebok Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Bolton Wanderers
    • Stoke City
    • 90' Referee Chris Foy blows the final whistle. Bolton have begun the new campaign with a comfortable home win over Stoke, who will face a real struggle this season if they carry on playing as they did today. The Potters were shaky in defence and devoid of ideas upfront. On the other hand, Gary Megson will be chuffed that his two most expensive summer signings - Muamba and Elmander - were the stars of the show.
    • 90' GOAL! Bolton will be annoyed not to have kept a clean sheet, but Ricardo Fuller's headed goal - from a Carl Dickinson cross - has come against the run of play and is nothing more than a consolation for Stoke. Still, it was created and scored by two of Tony Pulis's substitutes, which suggests the Potters boss has done something right this afternoon. In the play leading up to the goal, Stoke's Liam Lawrence was cautioned for a thoroughly unnecessary foul on Jlloyd Samuel.
    • 87' Bolton are utterly dominant, despite the tactical withdrawal of Elmander. Taylor and Muamba have both shot wide left, but the chances continue to come for the Trotters.
    • 78' Matthew Taylor carves out an opportunity for himself with some clever play in the Stoke penalty area. But Sorensen is up to the task of tipping Taylor's shot around the near post. Gavin McCann, who has just come on for Elmander, takes the resulting corner to little effect. Stoke have made their final substitution, bringing on Carl Dickinson for Andy Wilkinson
    • 72' The game exploded into life towards the end of the first half. It's pretty lifeless at the moment, so let's hope something similar happens this half.
    • 65' Stoke make a second substition. Ricardo Fuller replaces Mamady Sidibe.
    • 63' Olofinjana becomes the first Stoke player to go into the referee's book. He fouled Kevin Davies.
    • 59' Having scored the game's first goal, Bolton's Steinsson now earns the game's first yellow card for tripping Richard Cresswell. Stoke are proving a better match for Bolton in this half, but Fabrice Muamba remains the game's dominant midfielder, and Johan Elmander it's most dangerous striker.
    • 56' The first substitution of the game is made by Stoke. Liam Lawrence is hauled off, and replaced by Glenn Whelan.
    • 51' Elmander's causing the Stoke defence no end of problems. This time, Sorensen races to the edge of his area to clear the ball away from the on-rushing striker.
    • 49' Stoke start the second half quite brightly, but it's Bolton who have the first clear-cut chance - Elmander's curling shot missing Sorensen's left-hand post by less than a yard.
    • 46' The Trotters and the Potters return for the second half. But surely this match is now beyond Stoke?
    • 45' The half-time whistle blows. Bolton will be delighted with the first 45 minutes of their season, new boys Stoke less so. Sam Allardyce is long gone, but Wanderers are as big a physical presence as ever.
    • 45' GOAL! Bolton are running riot. On the stroke of half-time, debutant Johan Elmander powers home a header from six yards out. The big Swede looked like a man against boys as he rose to meet Joey O'Brien's free kick. Stoke are being taught a harsh lesson about life in the Premier League.
    • 41' GOAL! The Trotters double their lead, thanks to Kevin Davies. The Bolton strongman won an aerial challenge with two Stoke defenders and neatly flicked the ball past Sorensen.
    • 34' GOAL! Bolton full-back Gretar Rafn Steinsson breaks the deadlock. From the right-hand corner of the area, he finds the top left-hand corner of the net with a delightful volley. A goal from the top-drawer, if he meant it.
    • 32' Unsurprisingly, this match between two likely relegation contenders is getting a little scrappy.
    • 30' Long-throw specialist Rory Delap is working overtime for Stoke, but again nothing comes of the ball into the Bolton box.
    • 25' At the other end, Dave Kitson proves the equal of Elmander as he fails to convert a chance to score on his Stoke debut.
    • 20' Johan Elmander fails to take advantage of a great opportunity to open his Premier League account in his first game for Bolton.
    • 10' Stoke will be buoyed by a period of pressure that culminates in an attacking throw-in taken by Rory Delap.
    • 4' Bolton looking promising in the early stages, but yet to threaten the Stoke goal directly.
    • 1' The match begins in Bolton!!!
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of Bolton v Stoke.

  • Team Stats

    Bolton Wanderers Stats Stoke City
    56% Possession 43%
    15 Shots 9
    5 Shots on target 2
    1 Saves 2
    4 Corners 3
    15 Fouls 14
    2 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    21 Tackles 8
    239 Accurate passes 170
    60 Bad passes 43

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Bolton Wanderers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      22 Jussi Jaaskelainen 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 2 0
      5 Gary Cahill 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 18 2 0
      3 Jlloyd Samuel 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 27 13 3
      15 Grétar Steinsson 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 18 1 2
      31 Andy O'Brien 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 14 0 0
      4 Kevin Nolan 0 2 1 1 2 1 1 23 3 1
      6 Fabrice Muamba 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 27 4 6
      8 Joey O'Brien 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 39 13 1
      7 Matthew Taylor 0 5 1 2 2 0 0 18 14 1
      14 Kevin Davies 1 2 1 5 4 0 0 27 3 2
      9 Johan Elmander 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 12 2 2
      11 Ricardo Gardner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      26 Ali Al-Habsi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      2 Nicky Hunt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      25 Tamir Cohen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Danny Shittu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Gavin McCann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 3
      17 Riga Mustapha 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Stoke City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      29 Thomas Sorensen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 0
      5 Leon Cort 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 9 1 0
      2 Andy Griffin 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 19 1 2
      28 Andy Wilkinson 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 19 12 2
      17 Ryan Shawcross 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 12 3 0
      4 Seyi Olofinjana 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 14 3 0
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 25 8 1
      24 Amdy Faye 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Dave Kitson 0 3 0 1 3 0 0 17 3 1
      11 Mamady Sidibe 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 7 5 0
      9 Richard Cresswell 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 14 2 0
      7 Liam Lawrence 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 11 0 0
      31 Carl Dickinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 0
      1 Steve Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Salif Diao 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Vincent Pericard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Ricardo Fuller 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 0

  • Summary

    • 90' GOAL! Bolton will be annoyed not to have kept a clean sheet, but Ricardo Fuller's headed goal - from a Carl Dickinson cross - has come against the run of play and is nothing more than a consolation for Stoke. Still, it was created and scored by two of Tony Pulis's substitutes, which suggests the Potters boss has done something right this afternoon. In the play leading up to the goal, Stoke's Liam Lawrence was cautioned for a thoroughly unnecessary foul on Jlloyd Samuel.
    • 45' GOAL! Bolton are running riot. On the stroke of half-time, debutant Johan Elmander powers home a header from six yards out. The big Swede looked like a man against boys as he rose to meet Joey O'Brien's free kick. Stoke are being taught a harsh lesson about life in the Premier League.
    • 41' GOAL! The Trotters double their lead, thanks to Kevin Davies. The Bolton strongman won an aerial challenge with two Stoke defenders and neatly flicked the ball past Sorensen.
    • 34' GOAL! Bolton full-back Gretar Rafn Steinsson breaks the deadlock. From the right-hand corner of the area, he finds the top left-hand corner of the net with a delightful volley. A goal from the top-drawer, if he meant it.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of Bolton v Stoke.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Bolton Wanderers

    Manager: Gary Megson

    Captain: Kevin Nolan

    Starting line-up

    • J. Jaaskelainen
    • G. Steinsson Goal Yellow Card
    • G. Cahill
    • A. O'Brien
    • J. Samuel
    • J. O'Brien
    • F. Muamba
    • K. Nolan
    • M. Taylor
    • K. Davies Goal
    • J. Elmander Goal Substitution Out (76′)

    Subs

    • G. McCann Substitution In76′
    • R. Gardner
    • D. Shittu
    • N. Hunt
    • T. Cohen
    • A. Al Habsi
    • R. Mustapha

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Stoke City

    Manager: Tony Pulis

    Captain: Andy Griffin

    Starting line-up

    • T. Sorensen
    • A. Wilkinson Substitution Out (76′)
    • R. Shawcross
    • L. Cort
    • A. Griffin
    • S. Olofinjana Yellow Card
    • R. Delap
    • G. Whelan Substitution Out (56′)
    • R. Cresswell
    • D. Kitson
    • M. Sidibe Substitution Out (65′)

    Subs

    • S. Diao
    • A. Faye
    • S. Simonsen
    • V. Pericard
    • R. Fuller Substitution In65′ Goal
    • L. Lawrence Substitution In56′
    • C. Dickinson Substitution In76′

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None